Hm. Several month ago I heard some people were going to re-start the comic series Gen 13. When I went to the comic shop Thursday for board games I noticed the first issue on the shelf, and picked it up (I missed the start of Jack of Fables -- oops -- so I have issue three of that). It's very good. Some of the storytelling features are novel and interesting, like the introductory zoom-in-and-out -- though usually we associate that with movies, where the camera zooms in on one object/person and pulls out on something similar in another scene.

The characters are much more realistic than they were before, visually -- they're still fairly superlative: Caitlin Fairchild (if that's her last name in this version) still looks, well, the way she did before, but now her physique wouldn't be totally impossible for someone to end up with. Just very improbable. Also, for what it's worth, a woman (Gail Simone) is writing, so probably there should be less worry over sexism? Was that a problem in the first? I wasn't old enough/sophisticated enough to notice.

Bobby does have some weird-ass hair, but whatever. It's done a very good, almost uncomfortable job capturing the way people act around sixteen-seventeen. All the characters are surrounded by douche-bags -- they're not so great themselves, mostly. I mean, Caitlin is pretty much a wet dream for a lot of guys, as she's an attractive genius, and that's all we see of her in the first issue, but Bobby's convinced the other kids are in on the conspiracy, and so on. Grunge, whatever the hell his name is, just wants to skate. Which, really, was relevant back then, but not so much anymore. But it's still funny.

It astounds me, by the way, that they're giving writers first billing on comics now; did they always do that? I mean, I know they used to hide that info. in the masthead, and now they put it on the cover, so maybe it was always in this order and I just didn't notice? Anyway, given how obsessed most comic fans are with art (they seem to view the story as just a thing that's there, like air or squamous jellies) it just seems odd, that's all.

So, with all of one issue read, I would recommend Gen 13. It looks as though they're revamping the origin a bit. Probably it would be best for anyone who wasn't a fan originally to wait for a trade collection.