Review by Booklist Review
A rocky but fruitful collaboration between young creatives plays out on a mix of block-printed notebook pages, hand-drawn comics, post-its, fan mail, greasy napkins, and notes passed in class on scrap paper. Already a legend in his own mind, Eliot Quigley fills his notebook with ideas for new superheroes, the best being an ordinary lad who acquires powers by eating radioactive onion rings. Realizing that his drawing skills don't match his gift for words, Eliot badgers talented but reluctant classmate Pam into producing a short comic--and then throws a tantrum when she makes changes to his script without asking. Readers will find the comics, in which Mighty Onion is joined by cute costumed partner Guinea Pig Girl, as amusing as the ensuing sturm und drang between author and artist, as bruised egos and harsh critiques give way to a hard-won understanding of the techniques and rewards of hashing out creative differences and playing to each others strengths. Along with insights into the collaborative process, Crilley displays clever versatility with different art styles in this tongue-in-cheek outing.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The road to superhero success is paved with collaboration challenges for a pair of middle schoolers in this series opener. Aspiring comic book writer Eliot Quigly is not an artist--or at least not one who can draw the kind of art he needs. His eye fixed firmly on fame and fortune, he's thrilled when he comes up with a hero whose super-strength comes from eating radioactive onion rings. So convinced is Eliot of the great potential of this idea that he persuades talented classmate Pamela Jones to draw the first episode. Though Eliot's unselfconscious enthusiasm and unchecked confidence in his own genius are annoying and get him in trouble, the first installment of The Mighty Onion is championed by Pam and Eliot's teacher and wins them followers and fan mail. Eliot soon runs afoul of his illustrator, however, since he fails to yield any artistic ground to Pam in storylines, dialogue, or anything else. His bumpy journeys to understanding his calling as a writer as well as grasping the elements of a sincere apology are convincing and very funny. Collage elements--crumpled drawings, torn pieces of paper, inspirational stickers, and a couple of fortune cookies--add energetic visual interest to this hybrid graphic novel/notebook narrative. Main characters read white; Dr. Hubris, the green-skinned, goblinlike supervillain of Eliot and Pam's comics, inexplicably sports a Nehru jacket and topi. Highly entertaining. (Graphic fiction. 9-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
