Cardboardia 2: This Side Up (Family Comic Friday)

I was very impressed with the 2021 debut of Cardboardia. It tells of 4 kids who learn of a link between our world and a world made of cardboard thanks to the quartet falling into a cardboard box. In the first book, Pokey was separated from her siblings and found a friend. Meanwhile, the three older kids discovered an ancient board game called 'Cardboardia' that had their images on the cover. 

Book 2 has Pokey trying to find her friends while the other kids are pondering on just how to play the game they've discovered. Meanwhile, the wicked ruler of Cardboardia has discovered the location of the interlopers from our world and is attempting to apprehend them. This results in the group getting even more split up and unexpectedly, it also means a return to the world of dirt and rock for 2 of the friends!

12 months or so is just too long between volumes. I had a little bit of trouble recalling what had happened previously. But I also noticed that the tone of this book had changed. 

I learned at the end of this book that when co-creators Richard Fairgray and Lucy Campagnolo were making volume 1, they were together. But volume 2 was crafted in the middle of the throes of the pandemic, resulting in the pair being separated. On two separate sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Richard was working on the book in the mornings in the States and Lucy was completing work in the evenings from her locale in Europe. 

This kind of disconnect made for an uneven read which probably would be even more noticeable if I had read these first two volumes back-to-back. 'This Side Up' does offer an origin story of the evil ruler of Cardboardia and it adds some more intriguing mysteries to the story. It's just that some of the magic from the debut volume is missing here in book 2 and I think you have to blame COVID for that.

Book 3 is on the way. Just not sure when it will hit stores. Hopefully it won't take as long as it did for book 2 to hit bookshelves. (To be fair, this book came out in November, 2022. It took me until May, 2023 to find it! But still... long time.) Fairgray and Campagnolo promise that they've been reunited now that travel restrictions have been lifted. I just pray that the magic returns now that they're back together!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Cardboardia: The Other Side of the Box (Family Comic Friday)

Cardboardia is a new graphic novel series for middle schoolers that shows a lot of promise. It follows 6 year old Pokey, her older brother and his two best friends as they travel through a discarded cardboard box into a magical realm made entirely of paper!

This first volume was really interesting to me because the creative team pulled a page from acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's playbook. Just like in Kurosawa's Rashimon, the first 4 chapters of this book are told from the perspectives of the 4 students. While you think you understand everything that is going on from Pokey's perspective, it all changes when you experience the story from the other's POV. And for a middle school graphic novel, I thought that was really creative!

The multiple perspective plotting also helps this story stay fresh. The first volume isn't even 110 pages long and to tell this story from only one viewpoint would really dull the mystery that is buried deep inside the meaning of the story's title of CARDBOARDIA. There's a really popular children's book and movie franchise that I believe writer Richard Fairgray (Blastosaurus) and first time graphic novel illustrator Lucy Campagnolo take inspiration from. But I don't want to mention it as I think it was give away the big twist ending. 

I will say, while I liked the twist, (actually, I think there's 2 big twists) I was disappointed in the ending. That's because it ended with a "To Be Continued.' Established readers of my blog will know that I hate those kinds of endings, especially for kids. Back when I was a child who lived in a more rural area, it wasn't easy to go to a comic book store every month to get the next installment of a book. At least now with Amazon and Kindle, it's a little more accessible for kids to get the next chapter. Unfortunately, when it comes to Cardboardia Book 2, you'll have to wait until October to find out what happens next. 

Still, that's plenty of time to get your hands on this debut segment. And read it again and again and again. 'The Other Side of the Box' was imaginative, quirky, and a tad mysterious. Even though it's a book aimed at middle school readers, those in grades 4 and 5 should really enjoy this adventure book as well! 

Parents and guardians should enjoy it too as there's really nothing overly objectionable in this book. There's no fighting or violence. Just your normal squabbles between siblings. Pokey seems to have a warped sense of what her older friends talk about in their spare time. But it's more for laughs than the author attempting to be crude. 

Now, there is a creepy looking queen who might be a bit too scary for younger readers. Thankfully, she's not in the book for long. But her minions, who do have more presence in the story, are more comical than intimidating. 

Perhaps the biggest issue is the lack of respect the students seem to have for their teachers and principal. Though, again as those segments are told from the students' perspective, that insolence might be due to perceived hatred that all pupils feel from their instructors from time to time. But those parts of the story could be great talking points in order to help get kids back into the right mindset for the coming school year! 

An enjoyable read that takes inspiration from a wide variety of classic mediums that should thrill the entire family. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.