Recent Non Super Hero Awesome

I don't know why, but good stories for girls are not always easy to find. I mean, okay, I know why, but I'm not gonna get into it That's not the kind of discussion this blog is here for. But still, good stories for girls are rare, and good comics for girls sadly rarer. Rare-er? More rare. So when, last year, Marvel comics put out a three issue mini-series that was pretty much meant to cater to a female audience, it was a surprise, even though it had been announced several years prior. That it was also a really good story was also a surprise, and a nice one. In the past few years, however, there has been something of a more concerted effort to create stories for girls about girls, which is great. That they are producing these stories for girls about girls that are also good stories is even better. Which brings us today to 15-Love by Andi Watson (writing) and Tommy Ohtsuka (art).

Now, before we go further, two notes. The comic somewhat manga-esque, and the story is about a teenage tennis player who is also a model and there are a lot of fit, sweaty teenage girls in short skirts. But rarely if ever does the art ever get fan-service-y about what it's presenting. In my opinion, it serves the story very well.

Also, it's based on one of Marvel's oldest and long-lasting non-superhero franchises: Millie the Model. Now, about that comic and franchise I don't know much--it started in the 40s, ran through to the 70s, and ended before I was born. She had a few mentions and appearances afterwards, even appearing in Models, Inc. a miniseries Marvel put out at the end of 2009. Here's the cover to the first issue of that:

I'm not making any kind of value judgements, and in fact I've never read Models, Inc, nor heard anything about it one way or another. We're not here to talk about it, anyway. We're here to talk about 15-Love.

The title is cute for a couple of reasons. The character is 15 (although I don't that it's ever stated out-right, and her age makes one subplot kind of . . . icky), she plays tennis (15-Love being a score of one point to nothing; tennis scoring is weird), and there's a love subplot. Triple threat!

Here's out main character:

Millie Collins (she prefers Mill). This is the bottom half of the first page of the first issue (the top half shows her opponent serving, so yeah, Mill got aced). Not a great showing for our leading lady (don't worry. She gets better).

Intercut with scenes of Maya getting curbstomped on the court are images of this guy:

This is Walt (we never learn his last name). He's a former tennis coach. He's got a bit of a bad history--which is why he drinks too much--and is currently heading for the last match of the day, the one Mill is currently losing.

Losing until--

One good return doesn't mean Mill wins, though, but it's enough for Walt to see potential in her and try to become her new coach. Of course, he looks (and smells) like a bum, so it takes some convincing. Cue some lies told by her current coach and an overbearing aunt (also named Millie, implying that she's the classic Millie "The Model") and Mill fires her old coach, hires Walt, and gets pulled into a whirlwind of unexpected training, meets Walt's wife Wendy who has old modelling contacts and sees potential in Mill for that (as she says it, "always have a plan B.") and a potential suitor who has a history with Walt.

Each issue is almost 60 pages, so there's a good deal of story packed into the three issue miniseries, including some one-ups-man-ship and rivalry between Mill and the opponent who just beat her, Maya Benjamin. Maya is the best tennis student at the academy the majority of the series is set at, where Mill also attends. To make a bit of a long story short, Mill is the lowest ranked player until some coaching under Walt lets her tap into her potential and she makes it into the wild-card slot in the annual tournament. She wins her first two matches (the first because to her opponent forfeiting due to injury, but the second on merit), and has to face Maya in the semi-finals.

And then the comic stops just being pretty good and gets downright AWESOME.

In this corner, the wild-card, the one nobody expected to make it this far, the protagonist, Mill Collins. And in this corner--

--the top ranked seed of the tournament, who everyone expected to win, Maya Benjamin.

Who really should know better than to tempt fate.

Yup. Mill's returned it. Quite the contrast to the first image of her in issue one, huh? (Just scroll back up). Mill is no longer the worst player at the academy. She is now a contender.

But it doesn't stop there!

The match progresses, and Mill wins the first set. The second set is almost over, and Mill is one point from victory. She serves, and--

Maya returns, and the ball goes high, and--

Is there any doubt by this point?

Back the volley goes--

And Maya can't return it. The volley was good. The point scored. Mill just beat the highest ranked player in the tournament.

But believe it or not, the comic STILL isn't over! There's still the Quarter-Finals, and some drama to wrap up, and a happy ending (perhaps?)

15-Love was collected in trade, and you should be able to get it at a reputable dealer, online or in life. I don't know how big a production run the collection had, so you may need to act fast before they're all snatched up. The series was printed just last year, so the individual issues shouldn't be all that rare, either, if you want to go that route. Even if you don't want it for yourself, it'd make a great gift for a younger sister or niece or cousin who might be interested in comics (or who you want to get interested in comics).

Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; okay, so maybe the ending isn't exactly 100% "happy," but it's better than bittersweet.