Gunnerkrigg Court, Vol. 1: Orientation - Hardcover

Thomas Siddell is English, and resides in Birmingham. He has a day job as an animator for a video game company, and he rides the bus to work every day. He hates Boxbot. He really, REALLY hates Boxbot.

*Starred Review* The first 14 chapters of Siddell’s popular webcomic are collected here in an alluring hardcover. The premise, best described as science-fantasy, involves a young girl named Antimony plopped into a strange boarding-school/industrial-complex, which, like the reader, she knows nothing about. Discrete chapters (some of which fast-forward the general story arc while others flit off on whimsical digressions) all feature varying levels of jaw-dropping peculiarity, devilish bursts of humor, and sublime creativity that lurk at the ends of the school’s myriad corridors. The darkly hued artwork is deceptively simplistic and displays a flair for the crucial details of setting and atmosphere; Siddell’s knack for setting enigmatic scenes that take pages to become clear lifts the experience from merely intriguing to simply spellbinding. Yes, there are dull echoes of most boarding-school fantasy (including that Potter one), plumbing the depths of abandonment, burgeoning friendship, and ultimate belonging, and dedicated readers can follow along online for free; but Siddell’s one-man show of weirdly inventive one-upmanship is too good to pass up. That it’s both appropriate and appealing for a wide age range, boys and girls, seals the deal. Oh, and Neil Gaiman’s a huge fan. There’s no reason to think his massive audience wouldn’t also be. Grades 6-12. --Ian Chipman