children's early reader (grades 1-3 and up?) graphic novel

very similar feel to Captain Underpants, with more space robots and less underpants (though if you are interested, there are some robot poop/butt jokes). Pretty light on story, but there are some fun sci-fi vocab words ("mecha" etc.) and kids should devour this series, no problem. ( )

This book was pretty funny and humors. Basically years ago scientists sent a rocket on Earth with cameras to end the universe and to see what they could see on Earth. The cameras was some how released and the cameras start following around Rob and Joe which are good friends but they are not the brightness and are annoying which there presents is captivated by the real world. So you take a journey with them unraveling what they have found. Good book for kids 8 and up and very funny. ( )

This beginning chapter graphic novel tries hard to mimic the success of similar black-and-white titles like Bad Guys but ultimately falls short.

The story begins with Earth scientists sending out an exploratory rocket with a space camera. After many years, most people (and scientists) have forgotten about the rocket but it finally reaches the end of the universe and the camera shows them… an alien planet! It’s Mecha Base One and everyone on it is a robot! The cameras are released and quickly found by a couple robots.

Extremely dumb robots named Joe and Rob. They spend a chapter taking turns swallowing the robot to start with. Eventually, they realize it’s a camera and start doing dumb tricks and making lame jokes. The kids on earth decide it’s their favorite show and only one scientist (the narrator) believes the bots are real. A little tension is added with a tiny female robot named Tinny, who realizes the cameras are real and wants to rule/destroy the universe, but it seems unlikely that she will effect this goal. Meanwhile, the cameras follow Joe and Rob around their daily life.

The black and white illustrations show a robot universe, mainly by making everything more or less square and giving it antennae. There was no need to make the robots gendered, but the humans on earth are shown as a diverse group.

Verdict: This was really boring. Nothing happens, just a lot of lame jokes. Kids who are obsessed with Captain Underpants-style humor and spend a lot of time watching utube videos will probably like this, but there are so many other better things out there that I think I can pass on this.

ISBN: 9781534436886; Published 2019 by Simon and Schuster; Borrowed from another library in my consortium