Authors Muro and Krajewski have created a funny, fierce superhero in Ashley Rayburn. And Lusky has drawn the art perfectly; and the coloring is phenomenal. This is a short graphic novel, so there is not a lot of time to delve into a realistic depiction of how a foster kid might react to a new foster family or how difficult it might be to open herself up to a new friendship. Instead, the book suspends all of that and offers foster parents with a great capacity to accept Ashley’s foibles and to support her artistic prowess when confronted with her sneaking out to spray paint graffiti on a wall. Ashley also quickly makes a friend at school, one that she instantly feels comfortable with and with whom she can share the secret discovery of a set of paints, hidden by her foster mom, that give the wearer super powers. The paint concept is fantastic; she can mix three colors, no more without painful consequences, to combine powers like Invulnerability, Speed, and Fire (she even figures out the mathematical configuration of exactly how many combinations are possible!). The government wants the paints and they send a massive soldier, who fights Ashley, but doesn’t know the “no-more-than-three-paints” rule. The end of the book leaves the reader with the threat of Ashley’s father recognizing her superhero alter ego. Is he coming for her? Hopefully, there will be more sightings of Primer in the future. This one will be gobbled up by readers ages 8 and up.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth