Southpaw is a left-handed boxer who also happens to be a tiger. Unfortunately, his crooked robot manager arranges for Southpaw to lose matches so that he can win bets on the tiger’s opponents. But Southpaw can’t stand for such underhanded dealings for long! When a fight with adversary RoboLobo doesn’t go the way the tiger’s manager expects, Southpaw is forced to strike out for home on his own, with the police and a number of angry robots on his tail. The tiger manages to deal successfully with both hobos and his family until a robot bent on reparation for the loss of RoboLobo confronts him in a diner.
This book was printed in orange and white, and is published in the author’s trademark one-panel-per page format. Scott Morse’s pen and ink drawings are simple and unornamented, creating a feeling of simplicity throughout the book that complements the main character, a silent tiger. This is a good book for teens– the violence in it is all against robots and tigers, and the mechanical violence doesn’t look like violence, but instead like disassembling a lego sculpture. While not a necessary book for library collections, it is a fun one– the boxing, tigers, and robots will all have great appeal for teen boys.
Southpaw
by Scott Morse
ISBN: 0972179445
AdHouse Books, 2003
