| Title | : | Steven Universe (Greg Universe Special #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1681595656 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781681595658 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 33 |
| Publication | : | First published April 29, 2015 |
What’s to Love: There’s a lot of heart in Rebecca Sugar’s Steven Universe, and a big part of that comes from the relationship between Steven and his dad, Greg. We’ve gathered some top indie talent for a collection of Greg-centric shorts that are sure to warm your heart.
What It Is: Steven Universe and the rest of the Crystal Gems are bonafide heroes, saving Beach City day after day. But you know who else is a hero? Greg Universe! Steven’s dad might not have Crystal Gem powers, but he’s a valuable member of the team, too! This oversized collection of shorts features father-and-son fun, as Greg teaches Steven some valuable life lessons.
Steven Universe (Greg Universe Special #1) Reviews
-
Okay, Grace Kraft needs to join the crewniverse, she's really good at shattering my heart and destroying my soul...
-
these comics are so pure ;_;
-
Nothing but fluff!
I adore Steven Universe, one of three many reasons being his father Greg-- I had to get this! I wasn't disappointed. Every story was sweet and put Greg and his relationship with Steven and the Crystal Gems in the spotlight he doesn't often get in the series. -
"Steven Universe" is a kids' cartoon about a group of intergalactic warriors who are human-looking holographic projections of sentient gemstones. Their leader, Rose Quartz, fell in love with a human man named Greg Universe (a musician and, later, owner of a car wash), and managed to have a child with him. This resulted in her... death? destruction? rebirth? Nobody really knows. But their child, Steven Universe, is a totally unique being: someone who's half gem and half human.
This is a collection of several short comics centering on Greg Universe, the easy going beach bum single parent who misses his Rose every day and lets her warrior friends train his only child and put him in danger. Greg loves Steven, and accepts him unconditionally, and is a generally chill and loving dude.
It's nice to see some stories that center on him. He's a fairly peripheral character on the show, serving as a potential road block to Steven's dangerous adventures or as a tool to tell stories about Rose and her history. His presence is definitely felt, but he is far from a central character. He's got a lot of story in him, though.
It's especially nice to see a man, a dad, presented as loving and supportive. It's very much the opposite of the way so many male characters are depicted in media.
The stories are well written and the art is cute. They add a lot of little details to Greg as a character and his relationships with both Steven and the Gems, and underscore his love and support of Steven. My favorite is the first one, "Universe and the Moon," where Greg takes a brief moment after being in mortal danger to marvel at how beautiful the moon is, and to connect with Garnet. Greg's a pretty soulful guy. -
As much as I love the cartoon series, I never quite like the comics quite as much. They all read like filler episodes, which is fun but not as enjoyable as seeing the characters experience growth and learn from their mistakes, building as they go. But even though I miss that aspect (and the animated characters' vocal performances) while reading comics, these are still worth reading for any SU fan.
The paper issue I own has the cover by Ru Xu!
This issue contains the comics "Universe and the Moon," "Pink Elephant in the Room," "Now in 3D," "By Heart," "Gregarious Gamers," "Slam Buddies," and "Snap Shots."
"Universe and the Moon" (Short, color):
Plot: The Gems are on a mission and for some reason Greg is there--stuck riding on a giant bird's leg. After the Gems poof the bird, Greg's suddenly falling from the sky, so Garnet has to catch him. As she saves him and they drift back to Earth, they have a conversation about how wise and worldly the Gems seem to him because they've been so many places and seen so many things, and Garnet claims not to know everything. When she says she doesn't understand humans and Greg says humans don't understand humans, she agrees that maybe she does know everything then.
Notable: I thought this was really touching because we don't yet have much significant Greg/Garnet interaction in the show, and I love when he's honest with her and she listens to him. This short gets Greg really right--how he feels like he understands a very small world and he's good at what he does in that world, but sometimes he is envious of and curious about what's beyond.
"Pink Elephant in the Room" (Short, color):
Plot: Steven's dad gets inundated with car wash customers because of a sandstorm the previous day, and he calls on Steven and the Gems to help, but Steven can't seem to get them to join him. To speed things up, Steven tries to shapeshift his fingers into elephant trunks, but it doesn't work. But then an elephant shows up randomly, and Greg and Steven conclude Steven has somehow brought his car wash's elephant logo to life. The elephant runs around spraying all the cars (and spraying Greg). In the end, Greg is rewarded with lots of money from the fees, and Amethyst reveals she was the elephant--who seems disturbed that Greg is pleased with her contribution when she thought she was being mischievous.
Notable: Callback to "Cat Fingers" when Steven mentioned having turned his fingers into cats before! (Also, I don't know if it's possible for him to bring inanimate objects to life, but he has animated plants before, so it's not too strange that someone thought he could do that.)
"Now In 3D" (Full-length, color):
Plot: Steven and Greg go to see the 3D Cookie Cat movie, and Steven says he wishes the Gems could have come too--only to find out they're there! But when Garnet tries to take a seat, she blocks everyone's view, so she's forced to fold herself into a compact package to avoid spoiling the view for everyone else. Meanwhile, Pearl is complaining that the movie's plot is predictable and its pacing is off, while Amethyst gets behind the screen and plays pranks on the viewers--beginning with shadow projections behind the screen and ending by emerging shapeshifted as a giant monster. But Steven and Greg thought it was part of the movie, which convinces Amethyst that she entertained everyone.
Notable:
1. Garnet has special Cookie Cat glasses that have a lens for all of her eyes!
2. There are numerous references to the "Cookie Cat" song from "Gem Glow."
"By Heart" (Two-page short, color):
Plot: Greg remembers a song he used to sing with Rose, and he teaches it to Steven. When Steven plays it, Greg has visions of Rose because Steven's performance reminds him of her, and he gets misty-eyed.
Notable: That's one of the best things about the show--that Greg is obviously so in love with Rose Quartz and that his love for her follows him around and haunts him at certain moments, just like in real life. Oh, and I like that he calls Steven "Stuball" at one point, since he does that in the show too.
"Gregarious Gamers" (Short, color)
Plot: Greg is dismayed that video games don't come with instruction booklets anymore, since his always did. Steven takes one of his dad's instruction booklets with him and unexpectedly gets attacked by video game characters. Steven uses the instruction booklet to figure out how to beat the characters, realizes the game has a corrupted Gem on it, and manages to trap it. Then he plays video games with his dad, helping out with reading the instruction books to him since he's grounded and can't play himself.
Notable: Steven mentions being grounded until 3014, which I guess is supposed to be a reference to having been grounded from television in "Fusion Cuisine." He was never grounded from video games anywhere in the show or comic, so I don't know what he means here. Plus Greg says he doesn't want Steven to "get in trouble," which means he interprets that grounding as coming from the Gems, even though Greg participated in that punishment.
"Slam Buddies" (One-page short, color):
Plot: This is a commercial for action figures based on Beach City Underground Wrestling heroes. Mr. Smiley rattles off the features of the figures and encourages you to buy them.
Notable: All the drawings of the action figures are actual characters from "Tiger Millionaire": Purple Puma, Tiger Millionaire, the Loch Ness Bloggster, Dashing Danny Doober, Handsome Hank Hackleschmidt, Concrete Heat, and Chunk Truck!
"Snapshots" (Short, color):
Plot: A montage shows us Steven confiding in his dad about Gem missions that went well, went disappointingly, or scared Steven. Despite not being a Gem and not having the experience, Greg gives Steven fatherly advice about believing in himself, having confidence, not being too hard on himself, and being able to move on from memories that are holding him back--and he learns a thing or two about his own attitude while helping Steven put things in perspective. -
This was a great collection of Steven Universe shorts filled mostly with precious moments between him and his dad.
-
This heartwarming collection of comics about Greg Universe--Steven Universe's father--was a real treat to read, even if it's a little better watching him on TV. Greg is a really special character, being that he's a regular old guy with a super-powered half-alien son, and he still manages to teach his kid lessons and be there for him even though he worries and sometimes can't relate. I like how they brought music into this comic here and there too, since that's Greg's life, and everything was just the right touch of sweetness.
-
I loved the cute little bonds that Greg and Steven have. This showed that no only does Greg teacher even hoe to relax but Steven also helps Greg with some problems of his own
-
it's funny , lovely and sweet ^_^
-
We all need a dad like Greg.
