When I saw Quincredible was written by Rodney Barnes, I instantly put a request to read and review this book. While writing reviews for another site, I was introduced to Barnes via his Image Comics title, Killadelphia (which is very good and I’ll need to write up at some point). While the entry point was the Philadelphia setting, I fell in love with Barnes’s writing. And while Killadelphia is not the typical comic book I read, Quincredible definitely falls more in line with the type that I do.

Quincredible Volume 1 Quest to be the Best collects five chapters (and some extras) over 144 pages in this graphic novel from Oni Press and is set to release in early 2021. The story features Quinton West, your average high school freshman—who is invulnerable. In short, the story follows Quin, a small guy who goes from getting beat up to a small guy who can’t be hurt after “The Event”—a meteor shower that grants him no other powers than invulnerability (and something that I hope gets explored more someday).

Featuring a diverse cast set in New Orleans, Quincredible deals with some very real issues that face that area in the wake of Katrina and “The Event”. Quin dreams of being a superhero, but has a hard time thinking he can actually do anything with his power—sure, he can’t get hurt, but what are the limitations to his invulnerability? Aside from taking a punch, what can he do to help? Don’t forget about all that freshman high school work and pining over his crush.

What I really like about Quin is how relatable he is. And while I can’t speak for his experiences of living through Katrina or growing up Black, I can relate to “awkward, nerdy, teenager”. Whether that was Barnes’s intention or not, I’m not sure, but Quin reminds me very much of a Peter Parker type hero—powers don’t necessarily make his life any easier and he still has his life to worry about. The Peter Parker comparison doesn’t stop with how relatable Quin is, but even with his attitude… when we first see him interact with some bullies, he uses charm and wit to navigate the situation. We see his insecurities when it comes to the girl, Brittany, his powers, and his community.

The strength of this book is how it paints this community. Quin wants to help and is eventually inspired by other enhanced folks, particularly Glow who ends up being a sort of mentor. And when given the opportunity to talk about doing some good and helping stop crime, Quin is sort of the linchpin that connects the other heroes to the community. Yes, there are some people doing bad things, but the system made it so they had no other choice to survive. They’re being used by the ultimate big bad.

Quin’s relationship with his family is incredibly heartwarming. Especially, at least at first, how incredibly normal it is. Most superheroes tend to have parental issues as a focal point in their origin stories, but it’s nearly the opposite here. If I’m being honest, there’s a moment near the end of the book between Quin and his parents that, for me, is the highlight of the book.

If you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of Barnes’s writing. Quincredible feels right at home with Spider-Man, Static Shock, Batman Beyond, and other young superhero stories. The story is grounded in both reality and fantasy and Barnes makes sure our hero fails before being able to rise up and come out on top. If I had to pick one thing to nitpick, it’s that the villain, Alexandre Zelime, isn’t developed enough. His backstory is explored in 2 pages and I would have loved to see maybe another 10 to 15 pages.

Selina Espiritu’s art and Kelly Fitzpatrick’s colors are also top-notch in Quincredible. It stands toe to toe with any modern superhero comic book and then some. The shading is some of the best I’ve seen and the colors popped really well, especially purple! There are only one or two panels, out of the 144-page book, where it seems like characters are in weird positions or awkward angles, but it’s never distracting. I’m excited to dive into more of both Espiritu’s and Fitzpatrick’s work in the future!

Quincredible Volume 1: Quest to be the Best is a wonderful coming of age story about trying to find yourself while dealing with both normal and abnormal stresses that come with being an enhanced high school student. Not only is this a great story for adults, but it should also be on every kid’s bookshelf.

SCORE: 9.6/10

For full transparency: I received a review copy of this work from NetGalley. That said, this is an honest review, and receiving a review copy has not influenced my thoughts and rating of this work.

This book feels like a cross between Misfits and Invincible.
After another natural disaster hits his New Orleans parish Quin finds himself with superpowers. Combating bullies and social injustice he keeps his power a secret until he meets other supes.
You get a good look at the difficulties of waking up with powers but not having the physical capabilities of fighting crime. This is a funny book that feels like it would fit right at home with Marvel.

I really wanted to love this, but sadly it wasn't my cup of tea. While Quin was an inspiring superhero, I found the content to be pretty predictable.

A fun comic book about a boy who's trying to fit into and help his community. For all that superhero stories are an escape from reality, this one doesn't shy away from shaping art through reality.

Quincredible breaks quite a few superhero tropes and I love it. Quin doesn't have to stumble through everything alone because he has a gang of other superheroes to help him. He doesn't seed lies and feel guilty for it because his parents find out fast when he decides to help the community. To be fair, there are still some clichés though.

The one thing I have to say is that I don't quite get the actions of the bad guy, though I understand the motivations. Nevertheless, it was still a good read.

We need more stories like this, where characters and perspectives are diverse.

Quincredible Volume 1 is such an uplifting and interesting story with a black kid as the main character, superheroes of color, and an overall diverse cast of characters. This is not your typical superhero story where it is bad versus good and the bad guys are bad and the good guys are good (though the good guys are pretty good). It's a graphic novel that speaks to human nature and the range that it entails.

Teenage boy Quin (aka Quincredible) is just a boy in New Orleans trying to live his life and find his place in it. But besides his incredible smarts and great personality, he is anything but normal...he is indestructible. Or as far as he can discern he cannot be hurt (that doesn't keep people from trying though). He has a good heart and he just wants to help his community and the people in it heal from Katrina and other disasters that keep happening to it.

He decides to use his power to help the community. But he soon learns that helping his community isn't just about putting the bad guys (who aren't really bad at all just people who are hurt and frustrated) behind bars. Doing this just continues the negative cycle. Instead, he reaches out to the other supes and helps form a long term plan to help the people around him change, grow, and pull themselves out of their grim situations.

With a cast of diverse and multifaceted characters as well as a compelling and fulfilling narrative, this graphic novel is one for the bookshelves!

10/10 will definitely read again as well as recommend to anyone who will stop and listen to me gush! Pick up a copy! You won't regret it!

I’ve been getting more into comic books/ graphic novels lately and this did not disappoint. I can't wait for the next book. I found it inspiring that the main character didn’t have the conference and slowly grew into it. I love that this story doesn’t go into stereotypes but tells a refreshing story on grown. I personally enjoyed it very much!

I am pretty captivated by Quincredible. As a character Quin is charmingly awkward & realistic. While other side characters (namely, the villain) could do with some more development, I look forward to seeing how that grows over the series. Admittedly, there are some panels where the illustrations were not my favorite, but overall I am a fan of this. I look forward to #2.

I am quite curious as to how this fits into the overall Catalyst Prime Universe.

For Libraries: A good addition to teen graphic novel shelves, especially where diversity and superheroes are in demand.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! The artwork was amazing and the relation to real life events was great. Watching Quin's journey of finding himself is definitely something I'd continue on with in the future.

Loved this it's a great adventure comic book set in New Orleans after Katrina and a meteor shower which Quin got caught up in and is now indestructible. His efforts to understand what this means, to keep his family safe and to do the right thing, lead him into various adventures and dangerous situations. He is a familiar hero, bit nerdy, has a crush on a girl but with the twist of being Black as demonstrated when he explains as Audre Lorde once did that the masters tools can not dismantle the masters house. The story is nuanced, the characters are well developed (especially his parents) and I really enjoyed the adventure and the political messages subtly included. The drawing is also clean and sharp and good use of colours. Thoroughly enjoyable escapism.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This comic book is fascinating! I can't wait for the next volume. Found it inspiring, Quin believed there was nothing he could do until he had a chance meeting with an Enhanced hero and received some advice. Quin then believed he can make a difference and starts working on it to become a hero like the enhanced heroes he looks up to.

Set in New Orleans, Quincredible tells the story of Quin, a sophomore in High School who became physically invulnerable after a meteor shower that gave a lot of people in the city superpowers. His everyday life already isn't a walk in the park and he doesn't what to do with those powers until he realizes he could help people. But that's not so simple.

I really liked the setting and the main character. However, I found that most of the story was a little too rushed. Everything went to fast, I didn't have time to rest or appreciate the situation. Also, I had o concept of time while reading. Everything really just sped by and it felt way unrealistic. That's a thing that happens quite often for me when I read comics/graphic novels but still. I don't know, It was a little frustrating.
All in all, though, I really did like this one and I plan on reading whatever comes next.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The story arc was great, the art style worked really well with the storytelling, and the characters were really relatable. I loved the fact that it wasn't just your average run of the mill superhero graphic novel.

I loved the premise of this graphic novel. The art style was my favorite part. Full color, bold and vibrant.
Basically it's a story about Quin who goes on a journey of self discovery and exploring his new powers as a super hero. I wasn't a huge fan of the fact that this was part of an ongoing universe and some of the characters are already well established.

3.5 stars

I liked the story. It felt like the creator took things from the current situation we're living and blended it with the superhero story line which is somehow traditional in a lot of comic books and I really liked it on this one.
My thing is that... i didn't fully clicked with Quinn. He felt too unrealistic for me.
Also, it was me or it looks like Quinn's face in the cover and end pages looked different than the one inside the storyboard? I don't know but that bugged me.
Anyway it was an entertaining story and to be honest ill happily read more of Quincredible!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely adored this comic! I thought it was amazing and that it showed so much character development. In this story we follow Quinton on his journey and I loved seeing all the events that evolved around him.

The art style of this comic is really good and intriguing. The main characters all have good dialogue which thank god, we all know how shitty it is when you read a comic with bad dialogue. The whole flow of the story was good. And there were no plot holes that I was concerned enough about to be annoyed about so to say!

I loved this comic so much and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a genuine and fun read. I will definitely re-read this in the future and I'm hoping for a volume 2 soon :D

Quincredible Vol. 1 is a fun and thought-provoking introduction to a new super-powered world. With a truly diverse set of characters and a background of a community trying to heal from a natural disaster, we follow an absolutely relatable young man, Quin, as he navigates high school in a time of adversity. And, like many high schoolers before him (in the world of comics), he is faced with a great responsibility he may, or may not, be ready for. Quin is invincible, but only in the physical sense.

It's been a long time since I've read a comic that brings about the feelings of nostalgia like this one. In some ways, Quin is comparable to Peter Parker, but he's not your run of the mill hero like Spider-Man. He's relevant and ultra relatable for the modern teen, not blessed with any power other than the inability to get hurt. He's not strong, he's not, well particularly amazing, and that's what makes him incredible. He's facing the same issues youth are facing today, and he's an example that really anyone can make a change for the better.

I'm thoroughly excited about this series and am looking forward to the future of this universe and Quin's growth as a character.

I enjoyed this but also found it a little lacking.
I think this volume does a nice job of setting the stage for an interesting series but it did feel a bit simple.
You get to know about the city and the social issues that are going on in the community. You also get a good sense of who this character is and why he wants to help.
I felt like some of the side characters could have been more fleshed out. I also wish I got a keener sense of where this story was going.
It's a decent start and I do think many people will enjoy it.

A solid superhero graphic novel with an interesting social economic undertone, great illustrations and a likeable main character...not amazing in a way I'm desperate for volume 2 but I would definitely continue reading it.

Thank you Netgalley and Oni Press for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.
Overall: ✰✰✰✰ Characters: ✰✰✰ Plot: ✰✰✰✰ Art: ✰✰✰✰✰
In a New Orleans beaten down by hurricane katrina and a meteor shower, where everyone's presumed to be guilty unless proven innocent, Quin dreams of being a superhero. He doesn't have powers, but he's not defenseless either because he can't get hurt. This short graphic novel deals with some general teenager issues -like being in love with your friend or bullying- but also handles hard topics in a smooth and easy way -like police brutality, racism, prejudice and even censoring of opinions and information-.
This was the first time I read a graphic novel, and I highly recommend it if you haven't read a graphic novel yet. I only read it in a few hours, and found it was super easy to follow, and the superhero theme made everything even more interesting. The way it portrayed world issues was handled perfectly, and it even made me reconsider some things about our world, as well as it had some very quotable moments, all of them relevant to current world issues.
I'll definitely be looking forward to reading the next volumes.

I am not much of a comic guy. But I really enjoyed this one! The story was entertaining and the characters had one of the cutest relationship I've ever read. I can't wait for the second one!
The drawing style was typically comical and I especially liked Quin's father. Such a supportive character!
Free copy provided by Netgalley, thank you!