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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
"Can Stud solve this problem with his shiny hammer hands? He’s going to try!"
The idea behind this graphic novel is really fun and the general plot has a lot of room to grow and branch out.
The copy Netgalley provided is unfortunately extremely difficult to read. The text is okay but the images are very grainy/blurry so I wasn't able to get the full effect of the book. The text looks like it was copy & pasted on TOP of the grainy images so its clear enough to read luckily.
Our main character Stud is energetic and very eager, the collection of characters we meet in volume 1 are diverse and interesting so I think theres a lot of promise here.
The idea behind this graphic novel is really fun and the general plot has a lot of room to grow and branch out.
The copy Netgalley provided is unfortunately extremely difficult to read. The text is okay but the images are very grainy/blurry so I wasn't able to get the full effect of the book. The text looks like it was copy & pasted on TOP of the grainy images so its clear enough to read luckily.
Our main character Stud is energetic and very eager, the collection of characters we meet in volume 1 are diverse and interesting so I think theres a lot of promise here.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. There’s a lot to like in this action-packed graphic novel. The main character is named Stud Hammer (yep), whose father is chasing an adventure. Stud just wants some friends and for his dad to be around more, but when he’s looking in the locked room his dad won’t let him in he discovers a book that appears to be a story about his parents. He falls into an underwater world and gets involved in some conflict there. For me, I loved Stud’s character but the scenes in the underwater world were harder to follow, especially since it’s black and white. I will definitely be recommending to my action/manga/graphic novel readers. Recommended for grades 6+.
Man, I first read this when it was on Webtoon and I was ecstatic when it appeared on there. The designs are fun, expressive, and highlight how diverse characters and worlds can get. I mean when's the last time someone can see merfolk with tails and legs at the same time?
The action is top notch, combining the thrills of manga art from the likes of My Hero Academia with the slapstick action of animation ala Animaniacs.
And the story is nothing to sneeze at either. Stud Hammer is a kid who just wants to fit in and go on his dad's adventures, but his Dad doesn't want to endanger his son while finding his wife. And Stud's lifestyle living out of the areas around and his Dad's adventuring leaves him isolated. I couldn't help but feel the elitism coming from a mining owner's son. But it's not entirely unbelievable because Stud is socially stunted from living on society's outskirts. Which really stinks because he has a good heart and is capable in a sprawl after taking time to develop his unique abilities.
The other characters have really great depictions too. Detective Dan feels like he has a lot of expectations placed on him and feels like he needs to get stronger and set an example. But his lack of self-confidence beneath a facade of a stoic assertiveness comes from a real place that can rub people the wrong way.
Characters like these and lively worlds are the things I just wanna lose myself in. Definitely worth a look at.
The action is top notch, combining the thrills of manga art from the likes of My Hero Academia with the slapstick action of animation ala Animaniacs.
And the story is nothing to sneeze at either. Stud Hammer is a kid who just wants to fit in and go on his dad's adventures, but his Dad doesn't want to endanger his son while finding his wife. And Stud's lifestyle living out of the areas around and his Dad's adventuring leaves him isolated. I couldn't help but feel the elitism coming from a mining owner's son. But it's not entirely unbelievable because Stud is socially stunted from living on society's outskirts. Which really stinks because he has a good heart and is capable in a sprawl after taking time to develop his unique abilities.
The other characters have really great depictions too. Detective Dan feels like he has a lot of expectations placed on him and feels like he needs to get stronger and set an example. But his lack of self-confidence beneath a facade of a stoic assertiveness comes from a real place that can rub people the wrong way.
Characters like these and lively worlds are the things I just wanna lose myself in. Definitely worth a look at.
I picked this up not knowing anything about it, other than having heard about the publisher and some of their other titles and creators. I don't know what age this is geared towards, but my guess is elementary to middle school, so take some of this criticism with a grain of salt since I'm probably not the intended audience.
The dialogue is terrible. Filled with cliches and oddly wooden word choices. It doesn't sound like it's written for children as much as it sounds like it's written by children. Just wildly corny sounding and unnatural. It's like an impression of the most stereotypical English dub of a children's shonen anime.
This is a small but related thing that annoyed me throughout, but the bolding for emphasis is in all the wrong places. It doesn't help that it seems like the author sometimes just uses bolding for key nouns, and not to indicate how the character is speaking.
The art is fun, it's why I picked it up. It's always refreshing to see someone draw people in a way you haven't seen done over and over. That said, there are some real detail and over-rendering issues that make a lot of this incredibly hard to read. Like panels where every bit of wood grain on an entire interior floor is drawn with the same weight as all the characters and props in the scene. You have no idea where to look because it's a solid, uniform field of noise. I saw another review mention this too, but some assets are also clearly scaled down and placed in panels, so the line weight varies strangely throughout. All in all, too much of the art is incomprehensible in this format, which is a real shame.
The dialogue is terrible. Filled with cliches and oddly wooden word choices. It doesn't sound like it's written for children as much as it sounds like it's written by children. Just wildly corny sounding and unnatural. It's like an impression of the most stereotypical English dub of a children's shonen anime.
This is a small but related thing that annoyed me throughout, but the bolding for emphasis is in all the wrong places. It doesn't help that it seems like the author sometimes just uses bolding for key nouns, and not to indicate how the character is speaking.
The art is fun, it's why I picked it up. It's always refreshing to see someone draw people in a way you haven't seen done over and over. That said, there are some real detail and over-rendering issues that make a lot of this incredibly hard to read. Like panels where every bit of wood grain on an entire interior floor is drawn with the same weight as all the characters and props in the scene. You have no idea where to look because it's a solid, uniform field of noise. I saw another review mention this too, but some assets are also clearly scaled down and placed in panels, so the line weight varies strangely throughout. All in all, too much of the art is incomprehensible in this format, which is a real shame.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
At first, I found some of the paneling a bit confusing and the line width would get randomly thin in some parts, but the emotional aspect hooked me. I want to see Stud’s journey to making friends and mastering his powers. The ocean kingdom seems like a fun setting, so I would like to learn more about this world.