A witty, wildly diverting romantic SF thriller.
In Perillo and Cardoselli’s graphic novel, a robot in a dystopian future fights for the woman he’s just fallen in love with.
JoJo is a round-bodied, thin-limbed robot living in a crowded city. Even though he drives a taxi for humans who don’t mask their hatred of robots, he stays positive and appreciates life’s “little extraordinary things.” His own life takes a pleasantly unexpected turn when Gilda Atkinson Pedretti hops into his taxi cab. She’s a beautiful woman who, like JoJo, has a fondness for Nina Simone and old black-and-white movies. They make a date, but then Gilda seemingly vanishes. When she finally calls, she fearfully asks for help before the call is cut off. As JoJo soon learns, Gilda is the lawyer for the Polpette Mafia, and the mob boss’ son is apparently obsessed with her. The tenderhearted robot, convinced this woman is his only chance at happiness, has no qualms about facing off against trigger-happy gangsters if there’s a chance he can save her. Perillo’s writing, coupled with Cardoselli’s artwork, delivers a smashing blend of sci-fi, romance, and noir (JoJo’s bug-eyed cat Frida narrates with the cynicism of a world-weary detective). The author wisely keeps the narrative simple while providing glimpses of characters’ backstories, including those of Gilda and robots in general. The handful of bullet-riddled action scenes include delightful touches of humor; JoJo doesn’t carry a gun like the mobsters and uses what he can for a weapon (a phone proves especially handy). Cardoselli sublimely captures all of this chaos in pages bursting with vivid visuals (like a recurring gag of heavily advertised Perillo’s Cakes and Donuts) in jumbled panels fighting for space. And while JoJo is an undeniably winsome hero, it’s gleefully self-absorbed Frida who steals the show.
A witty, wildly diverting romantic SF thriller.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781545812020
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth.
Superman confronts racism and learns to accept himself with the help of new friends.
In this graphic-novel adaptation of the 1940s storyline entitled “The Clan of the Fiery Cross” from The Adventures of Superman radio show, readers are reintroduced to the hero who regularly saves the day but is unsure of himself and his origins. The story also focuses on Roberta Lee, a young Chinese girl. She and her family have just moved from Chinatown to Metropolis proper, and mixed feelings abound. Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane’s colleague from the Daily Planet, takes a larger role here, befriending his new neighbors, the Lees. An altercation following racial slurs directed at Roberta’s brother after he joins the local baseball team escalates into an act of terrorism by the Klan of the Fiery Kross. What starts off as a run-of-the-mill superhero story then becomes a nuanced and personal exploration of the immigrant experience and blatant and internalized racism. Other main characters are White, but Black police inspector William Henderson fights his own battles against prejudice. Clean lines, less-saturated coloring, and character designs reminiscent of vintage comics help set the tone of this period piece while the varied panel cuts and action scenes give it a more modern sensibility. Cantonese dialogue is indicated through red speech bubbles; alien speech is in green.
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth. (author’s note, bibliography) (Graphic fiction. 13-adult)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77950-421-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times...
A bland, uninspired graphic adaptation of the Bard’s renowned love story.
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times oddly psychedelic-tinged backgrounds of cool blues and purples, the mood is strange, and the overall ambiance of the story markedly absent. Appealing to what could only be a high-interest/low–reading level audience, McDonald falls short of the mark. He explains a scene in an open-air tavern with a footnote—“a place where people gather to drink”—but he declines to offer definitions for more difficult words, such as “dirges.” While the adaptation does follow the foundation of the play, the contemporary language offers nothing; cringeworthy lines include Benvolio saying to Romeo at the party where he first meets Juliet, “Let’s go. It’s best to leave now, while the party’s in full swing.” Nagar’s faces swirl between dishwater and grotesque, adding another layer of lost passion in a story that should boil with romantic intensity. Each page number is enclosed in a little red heart; while the object of this little nuance is obvious, it’s also unpleasantly saccharine. Notes after the story include such edifying tidbits about Taylor Swift and “ ‘Wow’ dialogs from the play” (which culls out the famous quotes).Pub Date: May 10, 2011
ISBN: 978-93-80028-58-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Campfire
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
