Fantasy Sports 1: Court of Souls

by Sam Bosma

Overview

In Sam Bosma's debut graphic novel, a young explorer and her musclebound friend go treasure hunting in a mummy's tomb—but if they want to get rich, they're going to have to best the mummy in a game of hoops! Can they trust their bandaged adversary to play by the rules? Or will they be stuck in the tomb... forever?

A fast-paced sports adventure graphic novel in the vein of 1960's manga, Mike Mignola, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, Fantasy Sports is poised to be Nobrow's first breakout adventure comic for the indie and YA scene.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781838741501
Publisher:	Flying Eye Books Ltd.
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Series:	Fantasy Sports , #1
Pages:	56
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Sam Bosma was born in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and grew up in suburban Pennsylvania. After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art, he taught in the Illustration department from 2011 to 2013 before moving to Brooklyn, New York. His work has been recognized by Spectrum, American Illustration, and The Society of Illustrators. He won a Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators in the Institutional category, as well as a Gold Award from Spectrum in 2013. He currently does background drawings for Steven Universe on Cartoon Network when not making comics and graphic novels of his own.

Editorial Reviews

Optioned by Disney TV and being developed for animation by LeBron James’ production studio SpringHill Company!

Winner of the 2016 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic

"A sequel can’t come quickly enough, and fans across genres (fantasy, sports buffs, comics fans, and adventure readers) will likely all be eagerly waiting for it."
—The Bulletin of The Center For Children’s Books, Starred Review

"A melding of wizards and warriors with ... baseball...the art can't be beat."
—NPR

“One of the most charming and enjoyable comics around…There’s something immensely refreshing about seeing someone as attentive to action as Bosma channel incredible choreography and framing normally seen on a battlefield or in a duel to a basketball or volleyball court..."
—The Beat

"Bosma successfully blends fantasy, myth, and sports to kick off this new modern comic(al) series."
—Kirkus Reviews

"A great choice where graphic novels are popular, especially quirky ones that blur the lines between genres."
—School Library Journal

"Bosma’s colorfully jumbled, slanty panels look like the inspired offspring of Spirited Away and Space Jam, capturing magical intrigue, fast-paced basketball action, and the best kind of on-the-court trash talk in one go. The only drawback to this winning combo of wizarding and athletics is that it is over too soon!"
—Booklist

"Sam Bosma delivers an irrepressibly fun, knowing, and breezy tale of sporting playoffs, magical mages, and surprisingly cute skeletons in Fantasy Sports."
—The AV Club

"As a YA release with a standout female protagonist, it’ll hit off with readers off all ages."
—Paste Magazine

"Bosma takes advantage of the fantasy setting and comics’ unlimited visual-effects budget to create a game of basketball more compelling than any NBA broadcast."
—Publisher’s Weekly

"While the targeted demographic is teens, FANTASY SPORTS’s action packed scenes and occasional mature humor makes this a book for all ages."
—Graphic Novel Reporter

"The combination of banter, sight gags, and adventure were total kid-crack. Dad-crack, too."
—Boing Boing

"Basketball has had magic before, but never quite like this."
—Newsarama

"Sam Bosma’s Fantasy Sports No. 1 is a very well-crafted comic, from cover to cover...In short, it’s something comics needs a whole lot more of."
—SKTCHD

"A fun romp with larger than life characters, great action and some good laughs […] The tone of this OGN is reminiscent of Bone, with the same free spirited adventure and fun about it..."
—Comicosity

"If you have a family member, friend or neighbor with a tween who loves comics, run right away and order Fantasy Sports No. 1 by Sam Bosma, then sit back and know that you are the coolest aunt/uncle/friend/neighbor ever."
—Yuricon

"Fantasy Sports has the makings of a timeless classic that could introduce sports fans into fantasy stories and comics, introduce comics fans into sports, and help break stereotypes that teen magic stories/teen sports stories/comics in general are about teen boys."
—Loser City

"Style wise Bosma has a pleasing, dynamic "post-anime invasion" aesthetic that combines heavy Studio Ghibli influence with western artists like Herge and Jean Giraud through a Bryan Lee O’Malley Scott Pilgrim lens..."
—Sub-Cultured

"The sparks a little, in my humble opinion, of the underground artists of years gone by. It is wonderfully outside of the mainstream, winkingly knowing and gloriously pitched."
—Down The Tubes

"...Artistically, it’s a really solidly great book, it just looks gloriously fresh, taking the best bits of so much, mixing them all up, ending up with something that mixes a load of manga style and motion with Adventure Time et al looks and ends up with something really modern and now."
—Forbidden Planet

From the Publisher