The Only Living Boy #1

April 1, 2016

Gr 4-7-Twelve-year-old Erik is running away, and he stops to spend the night in the shelter of a rock outcrop in New York City's Central Park. When he wakes up, he finds himself in an alternate version of the city, complete with monstrous creatures baring their enormous teeth and an evil-looking dragon sitting atop the Empire State Building. Erik gets knocked out during a fight with the monsters and wakes up in a prison cell, where he learns that he is the only living human left in the world. He decides to free his fellow prisoners and fight back against their captor, an evil scientist named Doctor Once. Erik's escape leads him to further adventures in an underground kingdom, built under what was once New York City. This action-packed graphic novel is filled with vividly colored and incredibly detailed illustrations of a wide variety of fantasy creatures, some terrifying and some endearing. From start to finish, the story line proceeds at a breakneck pace, with sometimes abrupt scene changes and little room for character development. However, readers who enjoy constant action and huge fight scenes will find much to like in this volume, and they will arrive at the end breathless and ready for the next installment in the series. VERDICT A fun offering for comic fans who love action and adventure.-Sarah Reid, Broome County Public Library, Binghamton, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2016
Grades 4-7 Erik finally decided to run away, but he picked a terrible night. A downpour sends him under a rock for shelter, but when he wakes up, he is not in Central Park anymore. Instead, he finds himself in a strange world populated by monsters, most of whom want to capture him. Gallaher and Ellis' comic, originally a webcomic, follows Erik at a frenetic pace as he is imprisoned by Doctor Once, escapes with the help of new friends, washes up in yet another strange place, and discovers that he is closer to Central Park than he thought. Ellis' full-color art looks like something right out of a classic fantasy comic, and while his characters sometimes seem wooden, his imaginative settings are exciting. Though Gallaher's voice-over bubbles occasionally border on cliche, they do cultivate an apt sense of nostalgia and recall classic adventure stories. There's a lot packed into this slim volume, and the episodic plot and quick-fire pace will appeal to reluctant readers hoping for a big payoff from a small package.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)