Pope, Paul. Battling Boy. New York: First Second, 2013.
Genre: Graphic Novel, Superhero, Action/Adventure
Intended Audience: 12 and up
Personal reaction to the book…
From the Eisner-award-winning author of Batman: Year 100 comes Battling Boy, a graphic novel done in an old school comic book style.
Battling Boy’s hero is the teenage son of superheroes from another planet. In order to prove himself and come of age, the boy is sent to Earth, to Arcopolis, a city which is currently being destroyed by monsters of all shapes and sizes.
The “Battling Boy” as he is come to be known, gets mistaken for having superhero powers when his dad assists him with squashing a monster in his first battle. Will the Battling Boy ever be able to prove himself and be honest about his powers?
I enjoyed this story quite a bit. It felt very vintage superhero mythology, but in a new and refreshing way. I liked that the hero was just an ordinary teen boy, albeit one with latent superpowers. The book had a genuinely classic feeling to it, and it was cool to see that there’s room for this superhero in the history of comic book superheroes.
Author Facts
- Pope and his sister were “latchkey kids” and developed an independence as a child from a very young age.
- Pope lived in Japan for his late 20s into his 30s and considers manga to be influential in his style.
- Pope used a Spanish artist for the art direction in Battling Boy
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