Comic Strip Review: Supersonic Girl by Sandra Diaz
In a world where superheroes exist, but are generally one or two to a city, Radio City’s hero is Supersonic Girl. In her civilian life, Supersonic Girl is high school student Sonia Rockwell. She likes listening to tunes, and hanging out with her nerdy friends Ralph and Cassie. Unfortunately, “popular girl” Jennifer and her followers like looking down on Sonia and her “loser” friends. Since the death of her parents, Sonia’s been living with her Uncle Ben Voltio, a renowned scientist.
Using her great speed, enhanced strength and sonic abilities, Supersonic Girl fights crime and saves lives with the help of her videogame-obsessed pet/Mission Controller talking rabbit Sonic Bun. She faces menaces such as the Big Bad Bear Band and the candy-themed thief Treat. But balancing her civilian and superhero identities isn’t always easy!
I found this cute comic on the Webtoons site, where there are 71 chapters. It seems that Ms. Diaz has had some medical issues that interfered with her ability to work on the story, so it wraps up without resolving several subplots. That said, the ending is still very satisfyingly superhero.
The art is charming, and the characters generally likable. While the story says “high school”, the student characters look and act more in their early teens, so I am wondering if this is like my old school which combined junior and senior high. I’d rate this as being suitable for middle school readers on up.
There are some rough patches in the dialogue that make it evident English isn’t Ms. Diaz’ first language, but it’s readable and not too distracting.
Content notes: Bullying. Jennifer and her posse are mean to Sonia and her friends, and we later see that Jennifer gets some of this from her mother’s treatment of her. Another character introduced later gets bullied because of her vitiligo skin condition. A couple of the older female characters wear “fan service” costumes.
Overall: A fun comic strip for fans of children’s superhero comics. I hope the creator’s health issues can be resolved so that she can work on another project.
