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A review by crookedtreehouse
Stephen McCranie's Space Boy Volume 10 by Stephen McCranie
2.0
I have loved this series. And after reading two dozen or so Marvel superhero comics interspersed with occasional poetry collections, I was looking forward to settling back into the world of time-displaced Amy, her mysterious friend-interest, and her many schoolmates.
Instead, this volume focuses on the origin of "Space Boy", the alter-ego of one of the main characters.
Whereas the first nine volumes are an excellent example of subverting tropes, and presenting a genuinely endearing Fish Out Of Water protagonist whose adventures are either surprisingly affirming or else complex and engaging, this volume was a slog. This is the mostly unnecessary backstory that should take up maybe ten to twelve pages, maximum. Instead, this entire volume just drags out a mystery that we were presented with at the end of the last volume. We also see Oliver as the Fish Out Of Water, and he's just not as likable as Amy. He's not Unlikable, he's just a typical Blank Slate YA Protagonist. The reveal (hopefully in the next volume) may end up being worth this long detour but I really want to get back to the Amy section of the story, and just pretend this volume never happened.
Instead, this volume focuses on the origin of "Space Boy", the alter-ego of one of the main characters.
Whereas the first nine volumes are an excellent example of subverting tropes, and presenting a genuinely endearing Fish Out Of Water protagonist whose adventures are either surprisingly affirming or else complex and engaging, this volume was a slog. This is the mostly unnecessary backstory that should take up maybe ten to twelve pages, maximum. Instead, this entire volume just drags out a mystery that we were presented with at the end of the last volume. We also see Oliver as the Fish Out Of Water, and he's just not as likable as Amy. He's not Unlikable, he's just a typical Blank Slate YA Protagonist. The reveal (hopefully in the next volume) may end up being worth this long detour but I really want to get back to the Amy section of the story, and just pretend this volume never happened.