Neill CameronRezensionen

7/10

7/10

It's hard to explain the difference I see between the US and UK imprints of Scholastic's graphic novel publications. David Fickling Books has several titles that have been popular in our library and they have nothing inappropriate in them, they just feel like they have a little bit more of an "edge" as it were.

Anyways, this latest title doesn't really break any new ground but it caught my interest nonetheless. Brothers Alex and Freddy are your typical, squabbling kids. Except they're also robots. They're living their life, arguing over video games, trying to get to school on time, but unbeknownst to them there are things going on in the background. Their mom is dealing with government officials who are skeptical of her work, trying to show the value of her cybernetics while also protecting the robots she's come to think of as her children. And then things start going wrong...

Throw in an existential penguin robot, some high-stakes shenanigans, and some dark dreams, and this is a fast-paced, superhero adventure with a twist. It's funny but also thoughtful, reflecting on what it means to be alive and a family. Colorful art and a futuristic, scifi world add to the intrigue. All of the characters, including Alex and Freddy's parents, display a wide range of diversity, as well as several characters in hijabs.

Verdict: Sure to intrigue HiLo fans, this is a must-have for your graphic novel collection.

ISBN: 978133818959; This edition published 2018 by Scholastic; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

If I had a 10 year old son or daughter and I wanted to show them how cool comics can be... this is the book I'd give them. Its premise - a school where the kids take part in giant robot battles controlled by their mobile phones while their teachers remain blusteringly ignorant - speaks to the inner 10 year in us all without once talking down to them. For adults who grew up watching Grange Hill, you'll warm to the scenes of flying bananas in the cafeteria, but there's also enough giant robot smashing action to keep even the most attention-deficient pre-teens interested. As if creating a comic for kids wasn't enough of a challenge, Neill has pitched Mo-Bot High at girls, making them the heroes of his adventure (he wittily explains that the unimaginative boys spend all their time playing Mo-Bot football). That's not to say lads won't enjoy the book - I wasn't put off by stories with girls as the central characters when I was a kid... as long as there was plenty of action and excitement and they didn't spend all their time talking about ponies.

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I started out a little disappointed because I realized it was about nerd shit--you could have fit a lot more awesome in if you'd limited yourself to like 10% spandex as opposed to 90%--but "M" is for "Modok's Melancholy Mousketeer Memories", which goes a long way with me. And they have some good/hilarious little vignettes ("T" is for"Tintin and a Timelord Taking Tea in Tibet") and character choices (Ranma 1/2, the Ninky-Nonk of In the Night Garden fame. But then it ends with zombies. I fucking hate zombies. Yellow card! (In LibraryThing reviews, a yellow card is a half-star penalty. For a red card, see my review of Frank Norris's The Octopus.)½