Bad Island by Doug Tennapel
Published by Scholastic Graphix, 2011
List Price: $10.99
Bad Island opens a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away as an alien race is celebrating the 100 year anniversary of their freedom from slavery. They didn't free themselves. They were liberated by huge Godzilla size sentient mech-like behemoths. The mechs are so huge that the freed aliens build entire cities on their backs. The aliens can also activate weapon systems and battle armor on the them and then pilot them into battle. The opening scenes of the book close with the return of the slavers, who have their own biological mechs, and a battle ensues.
Skip to present day Earth as a family is preparing to go on a weekend boat trip. Reese is the typical teenager who would rather stay home and party instead of going on a stupid vacation with his family. His little sis, Janie, is ok with at as long as she gets to take her pet snake, Pickles. It's Reese's dad that is really pushing the whole thing because he wants his family to get some downtime away from the hustle and bustle of modern life.
Of course, just like Gilligan's Island, the family runs into a big storm and ends up shipwrecked on a deserted tropical island. They soon find out it's not as deserted as they first thought. Rocks start coming to life, trees try to eat them, and instead of birds, they notice 6 eyed pterodactyl looking creatures flying around! Even the plant life seems totally alien. And who is the shadowy figure haunting their camp when they're all asleep?
Of course, the first thing you notice about a graphic novel is the art. The art is not very good, especially when he draws aliens, or battle scenes like the opening pages. His main problem, though, is transition panels. At the end of the intial battle, we see a huge panel of one of the giant mechs blowing away one of the slaver creatures with a huge arm cannon. You turn the next page and it just says "...present day" with Reese throwing a football. It just makes no sense and is really jarring. Why not have a blank page, or show Earth from a distance and slowly move to close up, THEN move to the football throwing. Tennapel shows his ineptitude again soon after the family boards their boat. There's a panel of the dad getting on the boat and saying "I don't get what's so bad about spending a little time with your family", then you turn to the next page and it's BAM!, it's like a hurricane with lightning, rain and huge waves. You're left wondering where the storm came from. Tennapel should have done some panels showing the boat moving out of port, and then maybe some conversation scenes, THEN one of the characters notices some approaching storm clouds or something.
Bad Island is entertaining in its own mediocre way, but reading it is not going to inspire you to seek out any of Tennapel's other work. Maybe his writing and layouts will get better but I seriously doubt it.
My Grade: C-
Interesting review. I, for one, appreciate the use of cinematic synechdoce in storytelling. It prevents the story from becoming drawn-out or losing its pace.
ReplyDeleteIn an adventurous tale such as this one, I would say it is used to excellent effect. For instance, one can safely assume that a family in the middle of a hurricane had to first enter the hurricane. If that transition was not critical to the author's intent, then why draw it out?
Although 'Bad Island' is not my favorite work by Doug TenNapel, I think it is a rather effective hybrid of sequential storytelling and cinematic language, albeit with a distinct graphic style.
I understand where some of your complaints are based- but cynicism does not do your writing justice. Using a phrase such as this-
"Maybe his writing and layouts will get better but I seriously doubt it."
-draws some credibility away from your review by selling it as flat criticism rather than critique. You have valid points to make about how your preferences compare to his storytelling angle. Sell those thoughts with straightforward, respectful but clear suggestions rather than subversive adjectives like "mediocre" where they are not required.
I would give the novel an A- compared to much modern graphic novel work. Compared to the entire spectrum of TenNapel's work, I would give it a B-.
Thanks for your insights! I'll check back later to learn more about the types of storytelling you enjoy!
>Tennapel's art is in black and white with little smidges of color here and there.
ReplyDeleteYou blind? This is a vibrantly colorful gn, especially compared to his other works under the Image Comics imprint, which I read first. What version of this could you have read? All of his gn under the graphix imprint are colored, at least the three newest ones he's had published. What problems do you have with the way aliens or battle scenes are drawn, specifically? Other than the fact that you don't like them.
>Pacing, "I don't get what's so bad etc" to Bam, hurricane, etc.
Irony. Its a difficult concept to pin down, but its at work in what you're failing to see in the transition here. Its a blow to your credibility as an experienced reader of texts that you don't recognize this fairly common device. If anything, that might be a legitimate criticism of Bad Island or Tennapel's other works.
>Tennapel should have done some panels showing the boat moving, conversation, character notices ad nauseam
All of these suggestions would make sense if this were an animation. In gn as a medium, less is more, and panels conveying mere transition or "filler" conversation bog down the reading when any engaged reader has already filled in the blanks and is already anticipating what's coming next. A panel that does nothing interesting gets skipped over, essentially. In what you call a flaw, I see an expert economy of writing and pacing.
Yeah, what I read is an early version of Bad Island, so, yes, it is in black and white. So there were just a couple of pages that had a bit of color in them. I went back and took the black and white comment out in the Amazon review. But that was never a criticism of the book itself.
ReplyDeleteAnd I guess I do expect more of a film experience from graphic novels because I read manga as well. They take more time to layout situations and characters than Western comics.
But everyone can have their own opinions about it. I didn't hate it. I just didn't think it was very good. I'm not writing a literary thesis on it. A review IS an opinion. I read it. I said what I thought about it.
If you read the same manga I read, I would call that a serious flaw of the medium. Some serialized manga have been padded out for years by being "cinematic" in their layout and presentation. This is nothing to cheer them for.
ReplyDeleteGranted, a review is an opinion. But opinions can be wrong, or ill-informed. I'm not going to call your overall impressions wrong - you feel how you feel about something, and you're entitled to that - but if you're publishing a review to a site like amazon, which people do read and which does make a difference to the authors who sell their wares there, you have some ethical responsibility to acknowledge your biases, or at the bare minimum, make sure you're reviewing a final product. If I hadn't called you out on that one, would you have done your due diligence?
I only found your review because I'm already a fan of TenNapel and his works. Call that my bias. I'm all the more interested in reviews that aren't wholly positive because I like to have perspective on the things I like. I know you weren't crazy about it, and that's fair. There's been one or two of his books that left me feeling a little cold too. If you're putting on a reviewer's hat, though, and you want people to care about what you think, you gotta show that you're being fair not only to the work, but to the people who are taking the time to consider your opinion of it. Its fine to say "its just my opinion" and "I said what I thought about it" - if you want anybody else to care, you need to put in more effort than that. Call that my review of your blog.
Well, I really DON'T care what people think about my reviews. I really don't. Honestly, my Amazon reviews are just what I think about the books that I read or movies that I watch or whatever. If I wanted to be a professional critic, I would write my reviews in a totally different way. And honestly, Amazon reviews have really just become a feeding ground for trolls. If someone doesn't like a book, then they are personally attacked as being incompetent, dumb, or that they aren't qualified to do a review by the fans of the said book. I write for my blog, THEN I put it on Amazon, not the other way around. Any reviews I read on Amazon, I always take with a grain of salt. Because, in the end, a review of a book is going to be completely subjective. And "called me out" is a bit strong. I read the book Amazon sent me. My reviews carry no more weight than any other person. Write your own review if you are not satisfied with mine.
ReplyDelete