Daniel McCloskey

This is CHAOTIC! Kaiju/monster fights mean girls bullying mechas threats of child protection services, etc. There’s a lot going on here.

Sometimes, panels feel a bit cluttered, but you can still figure out what’s going on. The humor’s supremely quirky and fun but gross (get a vomit bucket; it's everywhere). One highlight is when a character shoots literal daggers from her eyes haha. Pretty charming. Another thing I enjoyed was a twist that happened early on in the story. I was completely expecting Pen to command the mecha because she was overqualified, but NAH, son. Olive is the true main character. Nice, didn't see it coming.

I loved Pen(elope)’s confidence and brashness though I hated how she felt she had to always be the strong one. And her dad depended on her the most almost to a fault. I was also surprised to see she was black-ish(?) if the sleeping bonnet indicated anything.

Olive goes through the most character growth in this story. From a spineless wimp to a young girl just trying to figure things out. She doesn’t get it all right, but she tries. she had annoyed me by getting mad at Pen for not protecting her better, and I’m not going to say Pen didn’t antagonize the mean girls right back with no care to how it would negatively affect Olive, but like Pen’s not your mama. You have to stand up for yourself, okay baby. Their friendship was a bunch of fun to read.

The dolphin-brained boys were so stupid. So much fun. Just gold.

The climax had actual tension. When Olive’s parents were crying, I was about to cry too lol. Everything about the ending came together very well with all the loose ends.

I could see this working better as a cartoon. But I would read a sequel to this or another story set in this universe in a heartbeat.… (más)

I loved Cloud Town. I read this fast paced graphic novel in one sitting and was immediately sucked into Olive and Pen's adventures in saving their town and navigating life as teenage girls. I loved that both characters felt realistic. They experienced fear and anger, but they were also brave and not afraid to say sorry when they hurt someone. There are a lot of layers to the plot, but the art blends the story seamlessly and lets the story come to life visually. Five stars, would highly recommend.… (más)

Free Money, a story about hustling to get by in the not-too-distant future, financial literacy, and aliens. Our hero, Neema, is the Indiana Jones of day laborers. She has a preternatural knack for turning any given situation into a financial opportunity, so when a piece of alien technology falls into her lap, she sees dollar signs. But that piece of tech, a robot that Neema names Money, has an agenda of its own and Neema finds herself neck deep in conspiracy and conflict. And that wouldn't even bother her if it wasn't messing with her bottom line.… (más)