ComicBook Finally got around to reading it, it's trash
Is it complete and utter garbage? Yeah kinda. Is it interesting? No. In the end, I Am Not Starfire is every single "I'm a teenager whose parent(s) don't understand me" story in existence except superpowers are involved and the parent isn't absent or neglectful, the latter of which lowers the quality massively. Mandy doesn't know her mother's Dark and Troubled Past? Sure, Starfire doesn't like talking about it and plenty of kids just assume their parents' lives were just fine. On the other hand, she gets mad at Starfire for wanting to discuss possible colleges she might go to, insisting her mother is being overbearing for... a completely normal topic between a teenager and their parent. "Mandy just wants to move to France and relax there forever!" Yes, typical teenage idiocy but she needs to actually communicate that. "She's bullied." She was not. She was insulted for refusing to even try in a sports game, and her solution was "Be a Jerkass to just about everyone, including friends who do anything to upset her". Not atypical of protagonists of a story like this, but never a positive unless they undergo significant Character Development to stop being a Jerkass. We don't really see that, or even see her apologize to her girlfriend after ripping into her for posting a selfie online. A girlfriend who seemingly likes Mandy for no reason since the girl is never actually nice or friendly.
Worst is how Starfire is treated. Every single time she's on the page, she's a loving, supportive, and doting mother. Despite being a superhero who is often in different galaxies, ON TOP of being a professional supermodel, she still makes time for her daughter and explicitly never missed a single birthday. In fact, despite Mandy constantly acting like a brat towards her, the only time ever that Starfire is shown being remotely upset with her is when Mandy ditches an important test and angrily shouts she's not going to college. Side note, Mandy's reasoning of "Not wanting to be in debt forever" is nonsensical as her mother is very well off.
So after mostly normal teenage drama that's half a shade different than the usual ("You're not special like your parent" changed to "You don't have powers like your parent" etc), Blackfire shows up and, for whatever nonsensical reason, decides to humiliate her niece in front of her school for her revenge plan. Why exactly? So she can have the throne of the planet she already conquered like twenty years prior. You know, on top of the standard "Kill my sister" thing she's had going since her character was introduced. Mandy gains superpowers at the last second, completely overwhelms her far older, more powerful, and more experienced aunt with ease, and now she loves superheroes because she is one.
So yeah, leaving aside the blatant Self-Insert nature of the story, the whole thing is every "misunderstood teen" story but far lower quality and featuring an unlikable protagonist and a more likable parent.
ComicBook NOT Starfire is not not good
Keen eyed readers might have cottoned on to the fact that I am not a teenage girl. I also am not someone who has ever read or watched Teen Titans. This puts me outside the target demographic for I Am NOT Starfire, a graphic novel that I only ever picked up to spite gatekeeping comic-bros who have chosen to massively over-react to its existence. Even the previews received review bombs and a ridiculously inflated, negative response from adult men who apparently can't tolerate the existence of YA women`s literature. I think I can give the comic a fairer shake.
I am Not Starfire tells the story of Mandy, an ordinary, chubby, gothy teenager who happens to be the daughter of the superhero Starfire. Having a superpowered, celebrity space alien mother is a bit of a drag for Mandy, especially as there is very little the two have in common. She has no superpowers of her own and must live under the shadow of her incredible mother. So Mandy rebels against her mother, walks out on her SATS, and aspires to skip college in favour of fulfilling her plan of travelling to France. The entire plan is just to travel to France, where everything will somehow be better. it’s all very Holden Caulfield. Mandy’s got to get her act together, and fast, because noy only has she formed a crush on the most popular girl in school, she has also been challenged to a fight to the death by her deadly supervillain Aunt.
NOT Starfire captures the essence of teenage angst. Mandy isn’t an idiot, but she lets her passion and resentment do the talking. It’s obvious to the reader that a lot of her ambitions aren’t realistic or sensible, and that Mandy is on a self-destructive path. Meanwhile, Starfire struggles to navigate her volatile daughter and nurture her wherever she can, but can’t bring herself to broach the harder talks they both need to have. The mother and their daughter are literally and figuratively from two different planets, neither able to figure out what the other wants.
Whilst that sounds like it could be a downer to read, NOT Starfire has a breezy tone. The visuals support this, with art that’s all cute curves and soft pastels. Whenever things are in danger of getting too angsty, the comic eases the tension out with Mandy chilling with the girl she fancies, or trading jibes with her only friend.
Despite not being the target audience, I found NOT Starfire very readable, and unless I’ve misunderstood teenagers (and given the point of the story, I may well have), they would find it relatable. It turns out NOT Starfire's biggest detractors are desperate to find offense, and in so doing have talked themselves out of reading a perfectly inoffensive and enjoyable story.