Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Wow!
By Malteseterp
I finished this last night and it was one of the most enjoyable comics that I have read in a long time. Paul Pope's art is amazing - sort of Moebius meets Silver Age Jack Kirby and it is perfect for this tale. Pope is very clever with his art too - compare the last panel on page 98 with the last panel on page 117. Hilarious. It is the little details like that that shows how much effort Pope put into the art and why repeated readings will repay the reader. Story wise, the book is sheer fun and is written for all ages. I would have no problem giving this to my 12 year old grandson. However, it is not a kiddie story - Pope does not talk down to his readers. There is a lot that adults will like too - for example, Pope's satire on the politician's reaction to Battling Boy is priceless. The story even has a moral for kids about the consequences of lying. My only complaint is that I have to wait until next year for Volume 2!
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.Fighting monsters `stead of playin' with toys!
By Sam Quixote
I feel like Battling Boy should his own 80s kids cartoon theme music.Battling Boy! Battling Boy!Fighting monsters `stead of playin' with toys!Battling Boooooooooy!He's a space prince come to save the worldThere a Batman character who's also a girlThe boy's got a cape that's big and redHe's basically young Superman - yeah!Battling Boy! Battling Boy!Nothing rhymes with Battling Boy!(To the tune of something awesome and `80s rockin' with a montage of Battling Boy punching bad guys and then looking sheepish in the final shot)Paul Pope's Battling Boy sorta reminded me of 80s kids cartoons but the similarities in this book go beyond those shows and mines references across the cultural spectrum from the 1960s Batman show to the Golden and Silver Ages of comics. You have Battling Boy who lives in the Hidden Gilded realm (basically Asgard) and whose dad is unnamed but is pretty much Thor. As part of his coming-of-age ritual (he's a pre-teen) he has to undertake a "rambling" which is where he's taken from his home to another world on his "turning day" and made to overcome obstacles to prove he's a man (kind of like Hercules' Labours). Thor takes Battling Boy to a city called Arcopolis that's under siege from crazy monsters and he's left with a suitcase of interesting magical objects and a red cape that makes him look like a young Superman.There's also a Batman-ish figure in Arcopolis called Haggard West (a tribute to Adam West?), a cross between Batman and the Rocketeer and whose car is called the Westmobile(!). The main villain of the book is Sadisto, kind of like the Joker but looks like the Grinch wearing a ninja outfit with a hint of Mumm-Ra. But despite the numerous references to more familiar cultural figures, Paul Pope manages to make Battling Boy feel fresh and his own thing.Pope captures what being a boy who discovers he has superpowers really well. First off BB really seems like a boy - his personality is at times overconfident which leads to mistakes, innocent, which leads to situations he doesn't want to be in, and he can become scared and run back to his dad for protection (like he does when he faces his first monster). Being young, he's not as articulate as he would like to be and his natural politeness makes it hard for him to communicate how he truly feels - in one brilliant scene when Arcopolis' mayor is trying to use BB as a political tool, BB becomes frustrated and wordlessly scrunches up a metal paperweight with his bare hands before remaking it anew. It puts across his unique strength and otherworldliness while also letting them know he will not be their puppet all at once.One of the most inspired choices Pope makes is giving BB a dozen t-shirts with animal totems on them, with each shirt bestowing BB with that animal's attribute, eg. King Lion or Curious Orangutan or the Sly Silent Fox. It's similar to Bravestarr's powers ("Strength of the Bear! Speed of the Puma!" - there are those 80s kids cartoon references again!) but work really well here as we see BB figure out how to use these powers, failing to control them at first but slowly learning to.The book is fleshed out further with the excellent character, Aurora West, the daughter of Haggard West, the Batman/Rocketeer figure of Arcopolis. Haggard dies early in the book and, as a subplot to BB's main arc, Aurora, though only slightly older than BB, begins training to become the new hero of Arcopolis. So this book contains the origin stories of two heroes in one, both of whom are loosely analogues of arguably the two most famous superheroes in history. It's fantastically realised and fun to see, especially if you're a superhero comics fan like me.In terms of the audience for this book, Sadisto is kind of a disturbingly drawn figure and his unsettlingly vague mission of abducting children for an unknown purpose (it's implied they are abused) might make this not the most appropriate read for younger readers, but I think it's alright for young teens to pick up and it's definitely sophisticated enough for adults to get a lot out of it too.I just wrote a lengthy list of things I loved about this book and, though they're harmless observations that won't spoil the book for you, I deleted it anyway because I want the little touches Pope throws into the mix to be as much a pleasant surprise to me as they will be to you.Combine the many small but brilliant touches into the 12 Labours of Hercules-esque storyline, the characters of Battling Boy, Aurora West, and Sadisto, and Pope's AMAZING art, and you have one helluva book. As much as I've written about this book, there are lots of other things I haven't mentioned - Battling Boy contains multitudes. If you love superhero comics, you'll really get a lot out of this but even if you're not well-versed in superhero stories, it's still a really fun story that anyone can enjoy. For me, I think it's the best work Pope's done yet, and is one of the most enjoyable and original superhero stories I've read in ages. I had a blast and look forward to Vol 2 as BB and Aurora West team up to take down Sadisto and the remaining monsters of Arcopolis.Battling Booooooooy!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.Battling Boy fisticuffs it up; pounds monster butt!
By Matthew JLD Rice
Modern day comics master Paul Pope delivers yet again, this time with an all-ages friendly multi-volumed storyline. Typically veering toward the mature and self-gratifying tales of the bizarre and futuristic, Pope reigns in his talents this time in order to tell the story of a young demi-god who must prove his worth by coming to Earth and do battle against the horde of monsters that have now apparently plagued the planet. Armed only with a unique arsenal of weaponry, Battling Boy soon realizes the task is much bigger than he thought as he catches the attention of the one person on the planet that just might end up being his greatest asset (which is all set up at the end for a second volume). More or less an origin story, this volume provides a whimsical tale with fast-paced action energy crackling to life with Pope's every ink-brush stroke. The tone is definitely youth-friendly despite plenty of creepy monster activity and action-packed fight sequences. While this isn't quite Pope's BEST work to date, it very well could be by the end of this story, which is only just getting started.
