Bad Island [Paperback]

Doug Tennapel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2011 | Age Range: 10 and up | Lexile Measure: 340L (What's this?)

Something on this island is up to no good . . .

When Reese is forced to go on a boating trip with his family, the last thing he expects is to be shipwrecked on an island-especially one teeming with weird plants and animals. But what starts out as simply a bad vacation turns into a terrible one, as the castaways must find a way to escape while dodging the island's dangerous inhabitants. With few resources and a mysterious entity on the hunt, each secret unlocked could save them . . . or spell their doom. One thing Reese knows for sure: This is one Bad Island.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for GHOSTOPOLIS:

“TenNapel's colorful illustrations are filled with energy and life.”–School Library Journal, starred

“TenNapel is a terrific cartoonist and in fine form here.”–Booklist

“TenNapel is an accomplished creator of graphic novels for kids, and this is sure to appeal to all those who love his most famous character, Earthworm Jim.”–Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Doug TenNapel was raised in the town of Denair, California. In 1994, he created the immensely popular Earthworm Jim. Doug's first graphic novel for Scholastic, GHOSTOPOLIS, was a 2011 ALA Top Ten Great Graphic Novel for Teens, and his follow-up, BAD ISLAND, is a 2012 ALA Great Graphic Novels for Teens as well as one of School Library Journal's Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2011. His most recent graphic novel from Scholastic, CARDBOARD, has been published to critical acclaim. Doug lives in Glendale, California.

Product Details

• Age Range: 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: GRAPHIX; First Edition edition (August 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545314801
• ISBN-13: 978-0545314800
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A New Twist on a Not-Very-Old Story July 30, 2011

By Mister Myst

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm actually much older than this book's target audience. You might be wondering why I bought it then. Well, there are two reasons. The first is that I'm a fan of the author. The other reason is a bit more complicated.

If you've read the book synopsis, you're probably thinking this sounds an awful lot like the TV show, "Lost", and - to a degree - you're right. Both stories are about a group of castaways stranded on an island, both have the main narrative frequently inter-cut with flashbacks, and both contain unexplained phenomena that keep piling up. In fact, one or two of the phenomena in "Bad Island" have direct parallels in "Lost" (although TenNapel is good enough to put his own unique spin on them).

It goes beyond that though. Imagine if "Lost's" storyline had been 100 % planned out from the beginning and had actually answered all the questions it raised - that every little bizarre thing was given an explanation. If this sounds appealing to you, read on.

If I were a betting man, I'd wager that TenNapel found the basic premise of the show appealing, but was turned off by how it was actually handled and decided to vent this frustration by writing and drawing his own take on the concept. Granted, since this was his own take, this means a lot more monsters and a lot less humans...it's still a Doug TenNapel comic, after all.

If there is a sticking point (and sadly, there is), it's the characters; or rather, one set of characters. The story is actually two stories that intertwine at the very end: the main story and a subplot told in flashbacks. The characters from the subplot are very good, although they really don't take up much of the book. The characters from the main story, on the other hand, are a little on the...lacking side. They're very likable, don't get me wrong, but they're (for lack of a better word) sparse. For example, the main character Reese has a troubled relationship with his family, but it's never established why. What caused this tension between them? We'll never know, and the fact that we don't know makes them and their growth throughout the story that much less meaningful; we see the "after", but only get vague hints at the "before". To put it more bluntly, the flashback characters have a powerful arc; the main characters...really don't.

Still, this is very much worth a buy. If you loved every single aspect about "Lost" and want to see how someone else would have used the same concept, check it out. If you're like me and became disillusioned with how "Lost" dragged things out (and with how they ended the show), check it out. If you have no knowledge of or interest in "Lost", but just want a good story with really cool monsters and visuals, well...need I repeat myself?

Click that Buy button and prepare for a real treat.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars If you could bring only one weapon to a desert island . . . August 4, 2011

By E. R. Bird HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

It's enough to make you want to take up brain surgery. I read some comics for kids and I can hardly move through the recycled tropes and old overdone ideas cluttering up the pages. Then I read a book by Doug TenNapel. When the man's Ghostopolis came out last year I was delighted. Sure, we've all seen the idea of the afterlife as a city done before (May Bird, Billy Bones, etc.) but TenNapel's storytelling managed to incorporate this odd and unique internal logic that I'd never seen anywhere before. Now I've picked up his next Graphix GN Bad Island and while I wish I could just compare it to something I've seen before I cannot. What currently operates in the brain of this man baffles me. His books read like fever dreams that make sense (and if rumors about his next cardboard-related comic are to be believed he's not exactly going mainstream anytime soon). Sometime a kid wants a stand alone graphic novel that also happens to be "epic". And if it's epic you seek, epic you will find in this strange near-indescribable little piece.

Okay. Here comes the tough part of the review. The part where I try to summarize the plot. Bear with me now. Two planets. Two rebellious sons. In a distant universe a battle wages. Giant creatures have secured the freedom of a relatively tiny species that they allow to live on their very skin. The giants rely on these people to operate their battle armor and other internal mechanics, which is a good thing since the tiny people's previous hosts have returned to reclaim their slaves. The son of the king of the giants is determined to fight as well, but his efforts lead only to his capture at the hands of the enemy and banishment to a far away world. Meanwhile, centuries later here on earth, teenaged Reese is trying desperately to figure out how to get out of the lame family vacation his dad has planned. No one seems thrilled to be taking a boat ride, not Reese or his mom or his snake-obsessed little sister Janie. And that's before the family gets caught up in a freak storm and shipwrecks on a strange deserted island. There they find creatures the like of which they've never seen, a strange artifact that appears to be leading them somewhere, and a malevolent presence that wants something that they have and is willing to do anything it can to get it back.

I recently had a conversation with a children's author about whether or not kids vs. teens prefer series books with cliffhanger endings. We both agreed that in our experience kids are actually less delighted by series than their older counterparts. A child between the ages of 9-12 is more interested in a bit of smart storytelling. Sometimes seeing a "1" on the spine just frustrates them. One of TenNapel's more remarkable qualities is the fact that he creates perfect little worlds that have no need of sequels. None at all. Now the danger of creating your own mythology is that no one else is going to buy it. And the best way to make them buy into it is to make it horrendously long or the first in a series. That TenNapel consistently packs whole worlds into his books without making them (A) 500 pages long or (B) The first of a 10-book series or (C) incoherent isn't just rare in this day and age. It's near impossible to find in any other GN author for kids. Thank god he actually has the chutzpah to pull it off.

Myth making is all well and good, but what sets this book apart from the usual heroic narrative pack is the family element. At the heart of this story is a tale about getting to know (and care about) your siblings and parents in the midst of true danger. As such, the book fleshes out a family that not only rings true on the page but that you want to know more about. I think the moment when I was completely on board with them was when Janie insisted on lugging her dead snake with her wherever the family went. The gentle macabre nature of this just struck me as oddly real. Then there's the change that comes over Reese's dad, from bumbling to capable. I was also fairly pleased that the mom could hold her own and didn't need any of the typical rescuing moms tend to lend themselves to in books of this sort. I was also pleased to see that there's more than a jot of humor to this story. There are overt physical gags, like the dad getting bitten by the snake and (my personal favorite) managing to light all the matches in the matchbox on fire at once. But there are subtler spoken gags as well, and a real family camaraderie and back and forth that makes you believe in these people. Interestingly, I found the sections with the humans far more interesting than the ones with the giants. As it should be.

And for the art? TenNapel has a distinctive style that reveals itself in sharp jaw lines and akimbo elbows. At the same time he knows how to keep a page interesting. Shadows and scenes seen from different angles appear alongside variegated panel sizes and consistently interesting layouts. There's a controlled messiness to TenNapel's style that serves him here. With this book he can use his style to bring forth the dirt and grime of the outdoors. Indeed I think he'd have a harder time if he ever set one of his stories in a pristine, clean, robotic world. His is an art of well-ordered chaos, on the edge of going entirely insane. Nothing bad really happens to our heroes in this book, but you are never in any doubt that it would take surprisingly little to change that fact. The lure of TenNapel's art is that it verges on the insane.

Actually, the book that this would pair the best with might be Don Wood's own island-related graphic novel Into the Volcano. In both cases you have reluctant boy protagonists coming into their own to save their family members. Both also have a strange reluctance to trust an island. Wood, because they can always blow up or emit poison gas or try to kill you some other way. TenNapel because they might one day just up and leave with you still on them. On its own, however, Bad Island provides the mix of storytelling and action, heart and excitement, which many a graphic novel strives for and few actually attain. There's substance to this puppy. Something that sticks long after you've read it. And for many a kid, that'll be enough. Definitely check it out.

For ages 9-12.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Exquisitely frustrating... October 17, 2011

By S. M. Robare

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

One of the interesting schisms in the comics industry these days is the battle of pacing. Up until the mid 90s mainstream comics tended to fall on the side of condensed storytelling, reveling in epic battles with what seemed twenty or thirty characters and at least three plot lines per 32-page issue. Though confusing and chaotic at first, the appeal of this storytelling style makes a lot of sense when you consider the serialized format of traditional comics publishing. After an issue or two under your belt you quickly start to sort out what's going on and, and before you know it you're hip deep in the continuity of the world presented. On the other hand, over the past 15 years the big two (Marvel and DC) have phased out the condensed style in lieu of a much more decompressed form of storytelling. Taking a cue from hour-long action and dramatic television pacing in shows like 24, Lost, and the overarching plot episodes of the X-Files, comic authors are stretching out the stories with a much slower-paced format, examining the minutia of character personalities and motivations, and leaving plenty of room to examine plot tributaries and freeing up the option to change the perceived outcome of the story if need be. Both extremes have their pluses and minuses.

I'm bringing this up because Dog Tennapel's work not only picks a side in this battle of pacing, it pushes the boundaries much further than I've seen in a long time. Tennapel's condensed storytelling in his new novel Bad Island makes the reading experience equally rich and frustrating as all hell. The first impression I got when reading through the comic was that everything was new and fresh. Character designs, plotlines, dialogue; it all seemed exciting and rife with interesting story opportunities. I was excited to plow through the pages, and was riveted throughout most of the book. By the end of the experience though, I was becoming more and more disappointed, and I can't help but feel that the pacing was 100 percent to blame.

The story centers around a family of four, a mother and father (Karen and Lyle), and their two children Reese and Janie, who are taking a boating vacation only to be left shipwrecked and stranded on a strange and alien island. In the first thirty two pages we're introduced to an alien species of giant robotic beings and the little civilization of tiny people that live on these giants battling against a race of giant evil insect-like creatures and the tiny humanoids that ride on, and control them, as well as our main family of four, each one with strong feelings about wanting or not wanting to take their planned vacation. The family is packed, on the boat, and shipwrecked over the course of 10 quick pages, which at 2-6 panels a page doesn't seem like it leaves enough space for the father to be attacked by a pet snake, for every member of the family to have separate arguments with every other member, and for the mother to have visions of ancient alien races in bondage. All of the dialogue is conversational in short speech bubbles with no internal monologue exposition, so those thirty two pages read at about the pace of 10 minutes. At that pace you could condense an entire season of lost into one viewing hour.

Normally I'd be all for this, since I tend to enjoy condensed storytelling over decompressed most of the time, but with Bad Island it feels like we never get a chance to get out footing before the story is over. What's worse is that along the way, no matter how crazy the situations in the book get, the family is generally unfazed and wholly accepting of everything that's thrown at them so the characters tend to come off as cardboard cut-outs. It's a shame because the artwork is fantastic, and world Tennapel has created is fascinating.

At the end of the day the Bad Island feels like an amazing brainstorming session to a much larger story. There is just too much of the story left out between the panels. All the pieces are there, but they're just not fleshed out enough to feel satisfying and could have stood to have been three to four times the length without feeling like it overstayed its welcome. If nothing else this experience has me curious about his other comics work, but I'm wondering if I'll be left just as hungry after devouring them.