Morning Glories

Synopsis: What makes Zoe tick?

What's Good?

Oh, Zoe. Despite being a complete b***h, you still continue to be one of my favorite characters in this series. While all the characters have some distinctive backgrounds, Zoe's background is the one that sticks out the most for me.

Zoe's personality is really what make her stand out the most. She has that pessimistic attitude about relationships, high school life, and life in general. We know that Zoe is smart, quite possibly smarter than Casey in some areas. This may be because of her past, but it is mysterious on how she became the person that she is now when as a child she was just adorable showing no signs of killing people. Speaking of which, she has different motives on why she kills people:

-To help a friend out.

-She got really pissed off at a cheerleader.

And now in this issue we learn:

-She felt betrayed by her best friend (Implied).

-Jealousy?

Seriously, the latest kill surprised me. Zoe doesn't kill because she feels like it. It is possible that she has a crush on Hunter? The two have been interacting a bit recently. Or maybe she wants to help bring Casey and Hunter together. Either way, it's mysterious.

But what I'm not surprised about is how far she's willing to go. Judging by her flashback, she was willing to risk everything for her friend, but now, it may be just be for herself. I question why she helped Sarah. I don't think it was because she was her best friend. I'm thinking it was something much more.

But I admit, this issue isn't just about Zoe. Hunter has his moments as well, with the returning 8:13 reference, and another potential love interest (or was). Despite the 8:13 reference, I think Hunter is the perfect character for Zoe to talk to in this issue. I don't know about a possible relationship between the two, but who knows.

Joe Eisma really brings his A-game with the artwork. There are other characters in this issue, but thanks to the artwork, Zoe just sticks out more. It's also because of the emotions he portrays each character to bring Spencer's story to life.

What's Bad?

There was nothing particularly wrong with this issue.

Overall:

This was another great issue featuring Zoe. It really brings out her character even more. It appears like in the next issue Casey will be the featured character.

This my video review for Morning Glories issue 15. This issue is about learning about Zoe's past and how this will effect the present

Zoe. Come on, stop hiding in the shadows. Stop falling back into your naturally assumed bitch position and make friends the normal way. Unlike Ike, I want to not hate you. Ike is a magnificent bastard, and Zoe is Miss Queen Bitch. But we all know what happened last time she did something selfless. Zoe's past is explored even more, giving her the lead in terms of backstory information revealed. But it only tells us more about her as a person, not much about whatever it is that makes her special. But we touch touch upon what makes Hunter special, but with a bizarre twist to that. In fact, this issue really doesn't do a whole lot with the bigger mysteries. Even when the flag for Woodrun is in a laboratory looking room that shoots a laser beam, and Hunter starts babbling and vomiting after seeing a clock that really DOES say 8:13.... a lot of it feels like almost distractions in the background. This is a very character driven issue, and I appreciate that to a surprising extent.

You see, I was bothered by Casey at the beginning. Not so much her, as it was Hunter falling in love with her at first sight after bumping into her. I've felt an intense connection with Hunter, but since the start of the series the character I'd most wanted to give a big hug to and never let go of was the fragile and damaged Jade. That's the type of girl I always think I'll fall in love with. But Casey grew on me because she represented a lot of the qualities in the girls I generally actually date. But Hunter meets someone else here, a nerdy girl with an obvious crush on him; and I couldn't be happier for my proxy. They got chatting and I lost myself in how downright adorable it was to see both of them struggle with awkwardness.

But Zoe has to spoil my mood. I honestly can't tell where her speech is coming from. She essentially tells Hunter that Casey is literally too good for him, in some weird ways that made me a mix of angry and uncomfortable to read. I couldn't accept all of her words at face value, she doesn't magically know everything about everyone right? But there was a sting of truth to at least some of what she said, but I can't tell if she's bitter and lashing out at Hunter for what she said, jealous of Casey's easy ability to craft genuine friendship, is developing feelings for Hunter, or just stating the facts from an outside perspective. But still, I refuse to believe everything that bitch says. But it speaks volumes to Spencer's writing that I can focus so heavily on hating dialogue and directing my hatred towards the character and not the writer. I think she's wrong, but that's because I think she's mislead or being misleading; I'm not saying Spencer is wrong. But how can he be wrong anyways, its his own characters. Maybe I refuse to see Casey in such a bad light because Hunter refuses to. But she's not even on our minds right now, it's more about Maggie and the DVD's we're going to watch later. She seems normal for someone who's been here a while, maybe she'll shed some light on some things from a different perspective......

Oh wait.

Zoe you absolute bitch. I will never forgive you.

In Conclusion: 4/5

This score is absolutely personal. I'm not sure if it was really Zoe, considering the conflicting accounts of her accountability in all her stabbings, but god dammit, I'm really pissed about what happened at the end. The final moments of the issue made it painfully obvious, and I had to simply sit there and let events unfold. Seeing it coming made it a little more annoying though, because I felt it was a little too obvious. But there's a distinct possibility that I'm just taking it hard due to my powerful connection with Hunter. The writing and the synch are so strong that I frequently lose myself in Hunter, the lines blurring into a cloud of emotions that clouds my judgement. But that's one way that actually proves how excellent this series is.