Review: The Glorious Ladies Of Wrestling Hit The Road In GLOW vs. The Star Primas TP

by Brendan M. Allen

The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling are ready to take on the world—or at least L.A.—in this graphic novel based off the hit Netflix series! When the unthinkable happens and the women of GLOW find themselves ahead of schedule, Sam ruins the promise of a wrestling-free weekend with… more wrestling!

Robbed of blissful relaxation and forced to raise money to fund their way to the event, the GLOW team is less-than-prepared for their opponents: real gorgeous lady wrestlers. What could possibly go wrong?! Zoya the Destroya, Liberty Belle, and the rest of your favorite Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling take to the pages for new fights, new tights, and new drama!

In GLOW vs. the Star Primas, the ladies are anticipating a weekend off, which is unheard of, until Sam lets them know they all have to report to an indie event in Reseda. That’s more like it. Not only will they have to work on their weekend off, they’ll have to pay for the privilege. It just keeps getting better.
And then, when they arrive, they realize they’ve been double booked. There’s already an all-female promotion on the card, and there isn’t room for two. Now, they’ll have to either perform with a more seasoned crew, risking embarrassment and injury, or head home with their tails tucked.

Tini Howard does an excellent job tying this book into the Netflix series, without leaning too heavily on the source material. Every one of the ladies speaks and acts the way they do on the streaming series. Howard even nails down Sam’s acerbic wit. “Ask Ruth for your motivation. She loves that shit.” There’s also special attention paid to the ins and outs of indie wrestling. The pecking order, behind-the-curtain posturing, and the insane level of trust the performers have to have in each other.

Art by Hannah Templar and Rebecca Nalty is interesting. Templar’s linework is cartoony, almost a manga style, but somehow, the likenesses are ridiculously accurate. I don’t even understand how that works, but it does, brilliantly. Each character from the live action series is instantly recognizable, and each of the guest cast is unique and memorable. The action sequences are well planned, dynamic, and easy to follow. Nalty’s palette is slightly too bright, slightly too peppy, which makes it absolutely perfect for an eighties wrestling action comedy.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from GLOW vs. The Star Primas. The creative team toned down some of the R rated aspects, but kept the general feel of the show. Don’t expect any nudity, but this is still a solid PG-13. There’s swearing and drug use. Definitely not for the kiddies. All that aside, I enjoyed it. A lot. This is a fantastic, well executed arc, and it slides right into the show canon.

GLOW vs. The Star Primas, collects GLOW chapters 1-4, IDW Publishing, and is available now.
Written by Tini “Script Slayer” Howard, art/cover by Hannah “Saurus Rex” Templer, color by Rebecca “The Deadline Crusher” Nalty, letters/design by Christa “Bearacuda” Miesner, collection edits by Justin Eisinger and Alonzo Simon, edited by Elizabeth “Pitches Get Stitches” Brei, Megan “Shredditor” Brown, and group editor Bobby Curnow, executive producers Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch.