Emma Frost is best known to Marvel Comics readers as the White Queen, a busty telepath, a member of the Hellfire Club, and a frequent bane and occasional ally to the X-Men.

But in the days before her cocky self-assuredness made her a force to be reckoned with, she was a mousy little schoolgirl who was no one's idea of a threat.

Emma Frost: Higher Learning is a digest-sized collection of the soap opera that was young Emma's life. Raised in extreme wealth by a selfish, domineering father and a largely vacant mother, Emma and her problematic siblings never had what you might call a normal life. A lack of friends at her private academy made life even worse. But then Emma started suffering headaches and nosebleeds, and she seemed to know what people around her were thinking....

Higher Learning is geared more toward a young-adult audience and will likely appeal more to young women than men. (The cover makes its target audience plain.) Still, it's an interesting story that adds new dimensions to an otherwise stale character. Karl Bollers' richly layered storytelling and Randy Green's solid art make for an attractive package that any comics reader can enjoy.

by Tom Knapp
Rambles.NET
7 April 2007