Peng!: Action Sports Adventures

by Corey Lewis

Overview

PENG! is... the sound a rubber ball makes when it is kicked! PENG! is... a brand new kind of Sports Adventure comic! PENG! is... a GAME CHANGER!

Welcome to the All-World School of Sportsmanship, where kids from all over train to become the best athletes in a world obsessed with even the most marginal sports. PENG! follows students Rocky, Sassy, Ven, and Radley—also known as the FOOT KNUX. Together they will master action-packed "fringe” sports like kickball, breakdancing and hackey sack! Our heroes battle boredom, the sun in their eyes, their own self-doubt, and strange and unusual baddies like the Aurora Skeddos and The Biter, mystical foes who are also vying for victory! With a little love and luck, the FOOT KNUX may just win the game—and your heart!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620107577
Publisher:	Oni Press
Publication date:	07/28/2020
Series:	Peng!
Pages:	136
Sales rank:	712,170
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

Editorial Reviews

06/08/2020

At the All-World School of Sportsmanship, the sports-focused curriculum includes “fringe sports” such as advanced kickball, hacky sack, and breakdancing. Rocky Hallelujah, 16, leads Foot Knux, a freshman team vying for the kickball championship. Heavily inspired by sports manga and martial arts media, Lewis (Sharknife) makes the mundane fantastical: kickballer anatomy includes a “guts meter,” and players employ physics-defying moves. After facing opponents including the reigning champs, “protectors of kickball purity” Aurora Skeddos, Foot Knux explores other sports. Though the cast of this pan-Asian mash-up world seems diverse, the mostly male characters fall into generalized tropes—caricatured Tibetan monks, headscarf-wearing characters with hook noses and slit eyes—and use a conglomeration of Asian phrases. A different color enlivens each black-and-white section, with the kickball narrative highlighted in bubblegum pink. Sequences lacking distinct backgrounds or action through lines can be difficult to follow, but pages are packed with character-focused panels. Sans meaningful character development, the comic relies on action and charming cameos (including Scott Pilgrim and superhero Sharknife, Rocky’s older brother) but remains a fast-paced, entertaining read. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. (July)

Publishers Weekly

07/01/2020

Gr 5–8—The members of the Foot Knux, an advanced kickball team from the All-World School of Sportsmanship, battle it out with supernatural powers in hopes of winning the championship. Talented in a variety of fringe sports, including Hacky Sack and break dancing, the athletes learn to master their special moves and beat their competitors no matter the stakes. This is an adrenaline rush of a graphic novel, focusing more on battle scenes than character or world development. Although limited to three colors, the artwork is intense and chaotic with dramatic linework, and readers will have to pay close attention to characters' hair and clothing to keep track of them. In the tradition of shonen manga and kung fu movies, the stories are all about defeating the opponent, no matter the odds, in the coolest (and oftentimes the most unapologetically absurd) way possible. All of this, along with the host of slang terms and the unique handles of each character, makes this title well suited to advanced graphic novel readers. VERDICT Sure to be a hit among fans of indie-style comics and the battle sports genre, who also have a taste for radical awesomeness.—Amanda Melilli, Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas

School Library Journal

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