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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