Do Earth Girls Have It Easy? ‘Shade, The Changing Girl’ #1 [Preview]

Shade the Changing Girl is a sight to behold. From the creative team of writer Cecil Castelluci, line artist Marley Zarcone, and color artist Kelly Fitzpatrick, the title is part of DC's Young Animal line, overseen by Gerard Way. Though it spins out of the classic Peter Milligan Vertigo series Shade the Changing Man, and protagonist Lorna is an admirer of the earlier Shade, this series looks set to stand on its own, judging from this first look.

The preview pages follow Loma as she arrives on Earth, and specifically at a hospital where she takes over the body of a nearly dead human girl. As she awakes into her new form, the hospital is overrun with zoo animals, animated skeletons, and other strangeness, which is probably an effect of the "madness coat" that she stole before fleeing her home dimension.

Zarcone's art and Fitzpatrick's colors make the visuals the most exciting part of the preview. The mix of realistic art with psychedelic imagery is fascinating, and seems a perfect fit for a book like this. It definitely feels like nothing else DC is doing at the moment, which may be a big part of the Young Animal mandate.

Here's the official word from DC:

Far away on the planet Meta, Loma's going nowhere fast. She's dropped out of school, dumped her boyfriend, and is bored out of her mind. She longs to feel things. That's where her idol, the lunatic poet Rac Shade, and his infamous madness coat come it. Loma steals the garment and makes a break across galaxies to take up residence in a new body: Earth girl Megan Boyer. Surely everything will be better on this passionate primitive planet with a dash of madness on her side and this human girl's easy life. Only now that she's here, Loma discovers being a teenaged Earth girl comes with its own challenges and Earth may not be everything she thought it'd be. Megan Boyer was a bully whom everyone was glad was almost dead, and now Loma has to survive High School and navigate the consequences of the life she didn't live with the ever-growing and uncontrollable madness at her side. Not to mention that there are people back on her homeworld who might just want Shade's coat back.

Written by Cecil Castellucci (THE PLAIN JANES, Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure), drawn by Marley Zarcone (EFFIGY) and overseen by Gerard Way, SHADE, THE CHANGING GIRL starts a whole new chapter in the story of one of comics' most unique series.