ITW: “It’s the writing.”
Among other elements. We’ve been looking forward to this series for some time. It debuted last week, and, yeppers, the world thinks it’s awesome. Big TVWriter™ Congratulations to Rebecca Sugar for exceeding all our expectations. (And they were pretty damn grand in themselves.)
Review: ‘Steven Universe’ is a gem
by Robert Lloyd
Rebecca Sugar — who is already a star in the world of people who love “Adventure Time,” for which she has been a storyboard artist and writer and composer — has her own cartoon series now. It’s very good.
Titled “Steven Universe,” it premieres Monday on Cartoon Network. It’s the first CN series from a solo female creator — which doesn’t put that network behind the rest of the world, especially. With a few rule-proving exceptions, animation was a sexually segregated industry for many decades, relegating women to the ink-and-paint department. There were noted outsiders, such as Faith Hubley and Sally Cruikshank, animating in the days of yore, but you will not exhaust your fingers and toes counting them. Things are changing, but it’s still mostly dudes running the show.
Steven (Zach Callison) is a chubby boy of indeterminate preteen age who seems to live in the custody of but also fights alongside three universe-defending superwomen, the Crystal Gems: Garnet (the British R&B singer Estelle), Amethyst (Michaela Dietz) and Pearl (Deedee Magno). Each is embedded with a magical, mystical jewel that confers distinct special powers.