Her Impact is off to a strong start as Sadie begins her path to fame and glory, choosing to follow in the footsteps of her father, Kazuki “The Show” Hiroshi. When we last left Sadie she was entering a gym to potentially rediscover her love for Boxing, having wasted too much of her life as as simple office worker.
Though this first official issue does not follow up where the prequel left us I can only assume Mikel and the team will eventually go back and fill in that missing void of time. For now it’s smart to begin Sadie off on her journey forthright and get straight to the Boxing. However, before we can get to the first match the majority of this issue is taken up by a flashback scene of a young Sadie at 4 years watching her father on TV.
Her love and admiration for her father, her hopes of living up to his legacy, come through completely in this. You can tell she’s striving for greatness and nothing less. And the art too conveys all of that with ease. I love the Shonen aspect of the art, how kinetic and dynamic everything is. Also in Mikel fashion there are some sweet full color pin-ups strung throughout the comic as well that give weight to Sadie in as she sits in the locker room quietly awaiting her time in the ring.
The one thing that did both surprise and confuse me was the beginning of the issue where it seems like Sadie’s father is with her in person before the match. Which is cool and all, but I assumed he was no longer in her life for whatever reason. So unless I read those first pages wrong it will be interesting to note how he came back into her life as the story progresses.
Her Impact is a culturally aware and inclusive, badass Boxing comic that I can’t wait to see more from. Though I feel it could do with less flashbacks, that’s a thing many Shonen Manga have in spades so in the spirit of them this story fits in real well. I look forward to the future of Her Impact.
Final Score: 4 Family Heirloom Jackets out of 5
Editor’s Note: Interested in getting yourself a copy of Her Impact #1? Then head here to the Manga Rock App Facebook page to find out how you can get your read on!
HER IMPACT #1 – PART 1
Self-Published [through the Manga Rock app]
Writer: Mikel Mellis
Artists: Digitkame, Jatibon, Jason Noromor
Art Cover: Sukma Agustriyana
Character Designers: Joe Sketch, Deo Keo (Mazu)
Editors: Lavender Khan, Mirror & Skeedaddle
Reviewer: Derrick Crow
Summary: Sadie prepares for her first match when she has a flashback of the time she saw her father on TV when she was young.