Earthboy Jacobus

Beware this one - it will take you in!Chief Edwards retires, and then goes out for a supersized meal, and then -Things change, they really change.Don't let the humble feel fool you though, this is an epic tale. Characters grow, and change. Good becomes evil, and then becomes good again.I can't quite compare this to any book in recent memory. It's its own thing.The violence is cartoonish, so it should be appropriate for younger readers. But check it out if you're an older reader as well. Earthboy [...]

What could have been a well-developed series, is rushed into a three chapter graphic novel. Odd names and pro-patriot themes are thrown in along with horribly evil children and a male teacher who is chastised for wearing a skirt. TenNapel's conservative views (which I don't care for) spring up many times in this novel, which doesn't serve the characters and the readers, only the author.

Every good writer/artist/whathaveyou deserves to be forgiven a clunker, and in this case, Mr. TenNapel, who I have enjoyed quite a bit in the past, gets a mulligan for this horrible clunker of a graphic novel.Jacobus is a young boy found by an atheist ex-marine, who soon discovers the boy has a terrible secret--the desire to be like other kids his age. Oh wait, I mean he's being chased by the most stereotypical socialist revolutionists this side of a red scare movie. No, that's not right. I mean [...]

What I liked least about it was the impetus toward meaningless romance. Both Jacobus and his adopted father figure end up "loving" women who are barely even fleshed out as characters, because that's what creates families, apparently. It starts out tenderly enough: retired cop finds orphaned otherworldly boy and takes him in. I had liked how the law had to be circumvented to do this, unlike in so many other tales of foundlings. From there, it lost me. It was all push to traditional Christian fami [...]

Doug TenNapel's graphic novels always seem to involve a cynical/jaded man who has lost his faith, an older mentor trying to bring him back, and something he has to protect against monsters/aliens/insurmountable odds. Earthboy Jacobus sticks to the formula, but scales it up with a trans-dimensional story that spans decades.I appreciate that TenNapel tells stories that involve Christianity in ways that are not preach and that avoid the usual cliches. Maybe he could be a better storyteller but ther [...]

About 1/3 of the time I had no idea what was going on in this book, but it was so weirdly sweet and the parallel universe so fully imagined (and eerily drawn) that I didn't care.Definitely worth a read--very quick.

Very interesting comic book story of the faith journey of TenNapel. Definitely not for children! Language and graphics is for mature readers only.

The opening page of “Earthboy Jacobus” deserves a review all of its own. Across a starry night, cut-out letters ring in “Chapter 1”. Dangling from these words hangs a Pinocchio-like marionette-doll above a loosely sketched drawing of the Modesto police department office.The three elements – font, character and location – make for such a beautiful collage of imagery, I had a hard time moving on from that first page.Anyway! On with the review!“Earthboy Jacobus” starts at the Modest [...]

Chief Edwards has his retirement party from the Modesto Police Department. He is a lonely man, never married, ex-military. On his way home, he hits a flying whale with his car. That's right, a flying whale. He gets out and hears someone calling for help. He opens the whale's mouth and finds a boy from a parallel universe named Jacobus. Edwards discovers that a group of insect-type monsters want to kill Jacobus because of a mysterious virus that is growing on his hand. He becomes a father figure [...]

A great read with well developed characters. It did seem very neo-conservative. Anti-socialist, anti-transgendered, highly critical of public schooling (for the dumbest of reasons), Evangelical Christian, etc. If that's your thing, you probably won't be bothered. Hell, you probably won't even notice.Some of the dialog and plot developments were too predictable for my tastes. Spoiler alert: expect the traditional (view spoiler)["boy meets girl, boy and girl get married and have kids" (hide spoile [...]

The last TenNapel book from the huge haul my 7th grader got from the library a few weeks ago. I am not the target demographic for these books, so I always struggle with rating them.I actually liked this one more than most of the others. The story was not as jumpy, and was actually TOLD within the comic (rather than leaving the reader trying to figure out what is going on).However, as usual, I think this one is just soooo far fetched. Yes, it's clever, but it's too clever. Terra whales. Ectoids. [...]

I really enjoyed this, especially for its originality and the relationship between the two main characters. Though some of the larger (political, religious, etc.) themes weren't fully developed, they did add to the story and changed it from being just a fun adventure into being thought-provoking, as well. The father-son relationship is extremely well done. It manages to be touching without being sappy, and was surprisingly realistic.The ending felt a little too perfect, but for some reason I did [...]

Doug Tennapel's work always has a right-leaning limp to it, but in spite of that, this is one of the comics I value most in my shelf. He puts together a genuinely entertaining adventure story told over a lifetime, with a sort of tenderness to it that caught me completely off-guard. Say what you will about Tennapel's politics and religion, but if you skip on Earthboy Jacobus on account of your beliefs, you'll be missing out on a book that makes me, a non-religious moderate, all warm inside each t [...]

Doug TenNapel creates a vivid sci fi world and characters and this entire read is above average, not fantastic. The characters are well reasoned and rounded, the tale spans many years and the worlds are vividly imagined. The black and white art is striking and gorgeous and always serves the tone and atmosphere of the scene. It's a good read, not a great one. Which is more than most comic offerings.

So this one is more blatantly about religion and blah blah, but mostly I was just concerned about how hard it was to follow some of the fight scenes with the alien monster creature things. Otherwise, it was an enjoyable story - more so than the last couple of his that I read - and he's never to pushy about his beliefs, which is nice.

I like Doug Tennapel, good off center fun. World eating beasties, insect folk, and butt kicking, it's refreshing to find an indie graphic novel/comic that doesn't take itself so seriously. For the purist who compared this graphic/novel to a Christian tract, lighten up, it has the same mythical archetypes as Star Wars, it's not Animal Farm or any other book that uses analogy.

Another great read by Doug TenNapel. The art is great - enough detail to keep it interesting but not so much that it is muddy and the story is original. The black and white format keeps the violence from taking over the imagery.

Some really great art is offset by a so-so story, weird shoehorned Chris imagery (not to mention blatant religious weirdness without much of a lead-in), and an ending that kinda lacks resolution. Meh.

Masterful visual storytelling and characters I was instantly invested in; by page six I was completely captivated. I wish I had written this! Very inventive, and full of heart. This may in fact be my favorite graphic novel of all time. And I can't even pick a favorite color!

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Heartwarming and humorous. The alien creatures were reminiscent of those in the beloved Calvin and Hobbes comics. This had an engaging storyline and I was immediately won over by the principal characters.

Imperfect but really absorbing. I love the thick brushy art, and it's so sweet and sad. This should be a movie, and it would be kind of like iron giant.

Serious fun!

It really has its moments, although part of the ending was a little disappointing and it tends to paint in broad Hollywood strokes.

This was an interesting Sci-Fi GN. It's impressive how much he fit into one book!