The 90s brought many creative works to people worldwide. Most people think of television with Power Rangers, Batman Beyond, and X-Men dominating Saturday morning airwaves. However, the 90s was also popular for introducing many notable written works. Now, one of those franchises is making a comeback, with the wildly popular Animorphs series returning in a new format.
Animorphs: A Fan-Favorite Franchise Returns
Animorphs: The Invasion by Chris Grine aims to retell the classic 90s story to new readers. Grine scripts, draws, colors, and letters the series himself. He revealed the news to The AV Club and spoke about revitalizing the saga and admits to being a fan of the series. Similarly, the graphic novel shares the same name as the first book in the series. Furthermore, the story seems to be a bit darker and is intentionally ambiguous to give the feeling that the events of the story could be happening anywhere.
Animorphs began in 1996 with Animorphs: The Invasion, the first in a series that ran along 54 books and ten side stories. The series was written by K.A. Applegate, which was the pen name of husband and wife duo Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant. Six teenagers fight an intergalactic war against a parasitic alien race known as the Yeerks. However, the human race doesn’t realize there is an invasion happening. Therefore, the Animorphs are on their own.
The Animorphs possess the ability to morph into animals they come into physical contact with. Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, and Ax use their powers to battle the alien invasion. However, they must work in secret as anybody could be a Yeerk agent. Each character takes turns giving their own accounts of the team’s adventures in each book. For example, Jake narrates one book, with Rachel narrating another, and so on. Though Animorphs uses young protagonists, it is renowned for its themes of war, freedom, and responsibility.
Animorphs: The Invasion graphic novel releases on October 6, 2020. Are you a fan of the series? Do you think the Animorphs story will hold up in this modern retelling? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!