She Ra and the Princesses of Power: Legend of the Fire Princess, by GiGi D.G.

Not gonna lie: I am so loving all these graphic novel reboots of cartoons I watched as a child back in the 1980s (yep, guys, I'm that old). While I don't remember She-Ra as well as I do Jem and the Holograms, I still had fun revisiting the story and its colorful (literally) cast of characters.

Legend of the Fire Princess, by GiGi D.G. is the first graphic novel in the series. The story opens with a conference among the Princesses. Their leader warns the ladies (and Bo, don't forget Bo...the one and only guy in the whole story) of a growing power in the nearby wastelands. Legend tells that those very wastelands were once a rich and beautiful kingdom. But the ruler got hold of the powerful Fire Runestone. Mistakenly thinking she could control it and use its powers for good, the ruler attempted to wield it. She thought wrong...and destroyed her entire kingdom in the process. The Fire Rune was thought lost to time. But recently there have been stirrings where the stone was last seen. So Adora (a.k.a. She-Ra) and friends are sent to destroy it. But not all of the company think the stone should be destroyed. In fact, some think they are powerful enough to use the stone against the enemy Horde.

So it seems we have a very Lord of the Rings theme going on here, don't we Precious?

The ladies (and Bo) find the Stone...but so do Horde minions, Scorpia, Catra and Entrapta. An epic battle ensues. Complete with battle bots. And magic swords. And elemental powers. Pretty much, it could be anyone's win... But then Entrapta somehow activates the unstable and terrible power of the Stone, forcing everyone to evacuate empty-handed. The enemies flee back to the Horde H.Q., where they're sure to catch it from The Boss. Meanwhile, the Princesses (and Bo) use the power of Friendship to neutralize the stone and pretty much render it useless (I think). 

So no giant Eagles swooped in to save the day. But there were friendship hugs. So. Many. Friendship. Hugs. 

And a shocking little plot twist nugget that hinted at Adora's possibly dark past. Which I hope is expanded upon in future issues. I also hope the authors indulge my Scorpia-Catra ship (because there totally is Ship Potential there).

Overall, Legend of the Fire Princess was a quick and fun read. I 100% enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one!

--AJB