Their high school suffered a mass murder but Anouk, Callum and four other teenagers gained power there. They want to act, but how do you find the strength to fight when you almost lost everything? The Humanoides associates propose in Ignited to mix political narrative and high school story.
Ignited, getting up after the shock
Several months after a massacre in a high school, students return to school. The school council wanted to secure the school but by repressive rules: class bags will be transparent, teachers will carry weapons in class. The return to normal is difficult for everyone but it is even more complicated for Anouk. She seeks reassurance by focusing on daily actions but her thoughts remain stuck on the dead. Like any good teenage series, the relationship with parents is well highlighted. Although adults are willing, they are unable to support their children… until the second volume. For once, this relationship is not toxic but very gentle. One might find this naïve, but above all, it is so positive. Anouk cannot get out of this attack because journalists come to cover the start of the school year at Phoenix High School. Worse, a radio host claims that this massacre is a plot to limit the carrying of weapons with actors. These insults from the extreme right ("SJW, antifa, libertarian whore") hurt. All this depresses Anouk even more. However, a duo of masked activists spread a message on the internet to fight against the school's decisions. Anouk will lead the investigation to identify them and succeeds. It pushes teenagers to come together to take action. Their powers are very original and did not appear randomly. Their talents match their actions during the attack on the high school. In addition, the characters of its heroes correspond well to adolescence. For some, the image of themselves is essential while others want to act without caring about what others think. We can then find the setting of the first episodes of Spider-Man. Once the group is formed, everyone heals their trauma with friends and a character without a body is paradoxically the most touching. Phil Briones' very successful drawing is totally adapted to this story. Its fluid layout supports the action and the bright colors contrast with the subject. In the second volume, the still novice group begins to work as a team. They put the bazaar in an arms salon before attacking a presenter in a far-right radio. Despite these successes, tension rises between them when a stranger reveals their identity online. This reveals their divisions (should we go further or remain cautious?) and tensions over race privilege.
Part of a whole
With Omni, Ignited is part of a universe centered on ecology. With climate change, the Earth is undergoing unprecedented changes, people are getting powers but for what purpose? The series is written by the young Kwanza Osajyefo and Mark Waid, a well-known comic book author. They want to create a current comic but avoiding Manichaeism. Parents willing to do well accompany their son with machine guns. Obviously, the arrival of an armed brigade causes panic among some students while others support them. Starting from a real fact, the story focuses on realistic and current elements: how to hide in the age of social networks? We can also salute the edition of the Humanos which integrates as a bonus with testimonies of survivors, the portrait of the characters and all the covers. 
Behind the political discourse, Ignited is an excellent classic superhero story and very well constructed in a complete narrative in two volumes. The subject avoids the darkness often present in other series but offers an invigorating idealism and without naivety. The relationship to weapons is at the center of the narrative sometimes as an absolute evil at first, and elsewhere, as a tool of protection. If you are interested in stories of power and adolescence, you can find our review of Alienated and Ascender.
