Review by Ian Keogh

Translated from the Cantonese, the term Ah Ma becomes Granny, and that’s how Ash refers to her grandmother, now an elderly lady living in the family home, but prone to becoming lost if leaving the house. However, Ah Ma has a secret…

Melanie Lee and Arif Rafhan don’t keep readers waiting long for the revelation that Ah Ma has super powers. Conveniently for Ash’s sake so does she, as they manifest with every second generation in the family, in her case the day after discovering her grandmother’s secret and when threatened by the neighbourhood bullies. It doesn’t take long for Ash and her friend to convince Ah Ma they should be superheroes.

Even young readers with enquiring minds are advised to block them off as Lee is in a rush to head toward the action, and the random acquiring of super powers is just a means to an end. There’s no explanation as to how both Ash and Ah Ma display a whole array of powers, and when it’s noted that feeling too much while using powers means a loss of control, it’s an obvious signpost. That’s among much preparation and practice, but not much actual superheroism.

Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma is aimed at the younger end of the reading market, so Rafhan keeps the art simple and brightly coloured with no distractions to the backgrounds. The costumes, though, are design riots. Despite the simplicity, any change of mood transmits, but Rafhan has an incredibly irritating way of drawing noses, highlighting it by colouring them differently to the remainder of the face.

Lee sets the series in Singapore, and it’s pleasing to see it embedded in local culture. The speech patterns reflect the location, as does the variety of the people. While Ash, Ah Ma and friends are enthusiastic, Ash’s mother is nicely underplayed as strict and wanting the best for her daughter.

Considering Lee’s made such an effort to keep everything good-natured and cheerful it’s a real shock when she changes the tone as we head toward the end. Ah Ma is suffering from dementia, and there’s an uneasiness about the switch between clarity and fogginess being used for story convenience. More trivially, by the end practically the entire neighbourhood knows Ash and Ah Ma have super powers, which is certainly a break from tradition.

Even allowing for the target audience, Lee just glosses over too much, but with the parameters established perhaps Coming of Age will prove stronger.