Silver Dragon Books, the new children’s graphic novel division of Zenescope Entertainment, launches with its first book: a nonfiction graphic novel about sharks, the first of three being produced in conjunction with the Discovery Channel.
Like Capstone Press’ Max Axiom series of scientific nonfiction graphic novels, Top 10 Deadliest Sharks doesn’t really need to be in the graphic novel format. The pages are mostly text boxes of information laid out over panels of art. Only a very few pages feature anyone speaking. However, that didn’t bother me while I was reading it. Instead I enjoyed the visuals and felt they kept the story exciting. The information presented is interesting and is broken down enough that the text boxes aren’t laden with material. The panels are nicely varied in size and shape, with many of them overlapping. And the images are clear with a lot of realistic, easy-to-follow action and just the right amount of blood and guts. (A confession: I’m terrified of deep water and what lives therein, so if the gore wasn’t too much for me, it definitely won’t be too much for an elementary school aged shark fanatic. He or she might actually wish for a bit more!)
Considering the number of artists who worked on this book, I was surprised to see how smoothly each chapter flowed into the next….
This review was originally posted at Good Comics for Kids. Please visit the original post to see the rest of the review.
Top 10 Deadliest Sharks
Author: Joe Brusha
Art: Anthony Spay, Shawn McCauley, Marcio Abreu, Agustin Alessio, German Nobile, HG Young, Gabriel Rearte, Shawn Van Briesen; Colors: Andrew Elder, John Hunt; Letters: Jim Campbell
ISBN 978-0-9827507-2-8
Silver Dragon Books, 2010
