I have realized that I haven’t talked much about the wonderful comic Morning Glories. I was excited about it
before it came out, but once I got the first issue in my hands I was hooked. It exceeded every expectation I had. As the first arc comes to a close (and the first trade on sale February 16th for only $10) I felt the need to gush over it some more and decided that a fun way to do that would be to take a look at my favorite character of the book, Hunter. Hopefully in introducing him to you I can give you all a small taste of why I love this comic so much.
Morning Glories features an ensemble cast of six new students to the prestigious Morning Glory Academy. As to be expected from such an honor, all the kids are intelligent and gifted, although some have demonstrated their talents more than others at this point. Of course, there is more going on at the school than advertised and it may take every gift the students have just to survive.
One reason I like Hunter so much is that I relate to him. Looking at the kids in Morning Glories I think that I was somewhere between Hunter and Casey when I was in school. I wasn’t quite as shy and awkward as Hunter, but I also didn’t have Casey’s insane drive. In the initial teasers for this series Hunter was described as the “Most likely to quote Star Wars at inappropriate times.” And he has. And that is something I can see myself doing. All of the kids are “smart” but Hunter seems to be the only “nerd” in the group. And for that, I love him.
While many of the students seem to have had complicated home lives, Hunter’s seems to rank right up there with the worst. We only get a brief look at Hunter’s life before coming to the Academy, but it seems clear that even if they escape the school Hunter won’t have much to go back to. While I did not get an outwardly abusive vibe, I would say that it’s pretty obvious that Hunter suffers from severe neglect. His father seems to have already forgotten about him before he even walks out the door. I’m sure we’ll get a better look into it down the line, so for now I can only speculate on what kind of disconnect could occur to cause his step brother to refer to him as “Uncle Hunter.” But this sad home life has shaped him in many ways that I will get to in a moment.
Upon arriving at the Academy, Hunter immediately made a connection with Jun, physically the strongest of the new students. Jun recognizes Hunter as someone who doesn’t have the same toughness that he possesses and tells Hunter to stick with him if things get out of hand. As someone who is capable of defending himself and others, he sees that Hunter lacks this but is someone worth sticking up for. This is not an open offer for just anyone, as he tells their third roommate, Ike, to stay away from him. But Jun sees something in Hunter and he seems like the type of friend Hunter could really use in a place like the Academy. I hope that his relationship with Hunter will be explored in the issues to come.
Now that I have called Hunter weak and all, I want you to take a look at this picture. This picture was the whole inspiration for writing this post, as I was originally just going to post the picture and gush about it. But I realized that without a bit of context the image was pretty but didn’t have the same impact. This was
supposed to be the cover for issue 8, but recent solicitations have a different cover for the issue. I’m guessing that this cover has just been pushed back a few issues as it is a fantastic image and I can’t see them wasting it. *crosses fingers*
Here’s Hunter, and at first glance you can see that he isn’t the strongest of the bunch. I’d wager this is not Hunter’s first black eye. But if you take a closer look at the image (click on it for a larger version) you will see something in his eyes that speaks to an inner strength. This is a kid who is going to get knocked down, but you can see in his eyes that he’s still going to get back up again. There is a quiet determination there. He understands that if he gets up again he will probably end up back on the ground, but that isn’t going to stop him from doing it anyway.
I think I can explain a bit of his motivation here. In the comic, when Casey comes to him for help he agrees to help her before she can even explain what she needs help with. I would say that this behavior is only about 40% motivated by his teenage hormones and the fact that he has quickly developed feelings for her. The main factor in this behavior, I think, is his incredible excitement at being noticed. He gushes to Jun about how Casey came to him, him of all people, to help. As I said before, Hunter didn’t seem to have much of a home life. I would wager that Hunter’s good grades, and possibly even his application to the school, were driven by his need to be accepted by his father. It doesn’t seem like he was able to achieve this, but suddenly he has someone important in his life who notices him and confides in him. As such, he is very eager to please. He wants to help, wants to continue this relationship. And that has brought out a stronger side of him.
I think if you hit Hunter for no reason, or just because you like to beat up on other kids, he might not get back up. He’s not looking for punishment. But if he believes that his actions can help his friends, even a little, he will get back up and take anything you will throw at him.
Hunter has already had a few very strong moments in the comics. I won’t spoil them here for those who have not yet read the series, but rest assured that he is someone who you can trust in an emergency. He may not always know the right thing to do, but he is going to try his best to help out those few he is close to. And yet he’s still this awkward, geeky kid who is just trying to get by. Not all the kids like him or understand him which I think is something we can all relate to.
I look forward to seeing Hunter and the rest of the characters in action every month, and, if you’re looking for a great story with some great characters, you should give it a look too.
