Dead Weight is a mystery as much as a graphic novel. A murderer is at fat camp. Bonding and forming friendships, four campers team up to solve a murder when they stumble on a counselor's body. I love the art in this graphic novel. The diverse group of campers are drawn so well that each personality comes alive with the art alone, reminding me a little bit of Gravity Falls and Lumber Janes. I noticed as I was reading that I had distinctive voices decided for each character in my head all shaped from the artist's depiction. The mystery behind the story is good and keeps you guessing. One of the most enjoyable non-superhero comics I have ever read. I have my fingers crossed for a long run on the series. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

As the title suggests, a murder takes place at a fat camp for kids.
As always, the first part is taken up with character introductions, though some of them aren’t all that well done. I thought Gwen would be my early favorite, despite the fact I usually don’t like nurses, but she turned out to be a disappointment for a number of reasons, especially the smoking. And she’s not very smart either, considering she’s always doing things she shouldn’t right where the kids can see her. Hello? You’ve got forest all around you! In the end I liked the outdoorsy girl most of all, but wow, that was a gory murder scene, especially for a graphic aimed at kids.
This is actually well plotted, and well done, more logical than most police procedurals. If I had been able to tell all the camp counselors apart—too many of them to keep track—I might have solved the murder myself. In retrospect, the clues were there, which is more than you can say for most mystery novels nowadays. On the other hand, “talking villain syndrome” strikes hard.
“Trying to get back to my birth weight.” Okay, that was funny.
There’s plenty of extras. I particularly enjoyed the story of how it all came about. Knew one of the writers had to be a mystery fan, and thankfully she read the right ones, considering what she said about plot. Also well done is the description of the final coloring process, explaining the lighting coming from the fire.
“Well done, yearbook staff.” Even the creator bios are fun.

What it is- This comic book style story for middle grade readers follows some children at a fat camp as they try to solve a mystery.

What I expected - Simple characters and a simple story because it is a middle grade comic book.

What I got- wowza. I'm impressed. This book kept me interested until the very end. The illustrations are gorgeous and the story is a lot of fun. I am pleased to say that it kept me guessing, rather than having an obvious answer to the mystery right away. Overall this was an enjoyable story.

A great little comic about crime and friendship. I loved how the characters all came together and solved the mystery. The progression of the story was very well planed out and i liked how the drama and the tension built up over the volumes. The characters were all fully developed and part of me wished that i could join in their hunt.

What a great start to, what I hope becomes, a great series. The group of friends in here is the perfect blend of misfits. The authors do a great job of providing enough detail so that you understand enough of the character to build a version in your mind that will stick with you after the story ends. The artwork I'd also the perfect fit. While this is definitely a kids series, I would probably recommend it to kids who are a little bit older, possibly preteen, depending on the child. The reason for this is that there is murder involved and, at least in one case, the children don't always handle it well. This would be better understood by older children generally but it really does depend on the child. Overall, a very cute and quirky mystery graphic novel for kids that anyone could enjoy.

I would like to thank the publisher, authors, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dead Weight: Murder at Camp Bloom is a fun (as fun as murder can be) romp through a murder mystery with teens at the helm of solving it. The story takes place at Camp Bloom, a weight loss camp for teens. Some of the campers know each other and are familiar with the place, but others are new. Four of the characters make fast friends, especially when a couple of them witness one of the counselors getting murdered. But that's not all--as the group starts to put the clues together, even more mystery and mayhem emerge.

This was a great cozy mystery in comic book form. The only part about it that was a little muddled for me was that three male characters that become central to the murder mystery are a bit indistinguishable from each other, not because they look alike, but because they aren't in many pages before they appear as an important part of the story overall.

I would love to see more stories from these teens. They could probably find a lot of trouble to get into...

Review to come in April.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

OMG, OMG, OMG, this was even better than I had hoped/dreamed it would be. I had heard about this one through twitter earlier, and I was already hyped. And then I spotted it on Netgalley.

Meet Jesse, Noah, Tony, and Kate. 4 teenagers stuck in fat camp. Yep, fat camp. But this year will be a whole lot more than losing weight, there is a murderer walking around, what is their plan, who is going to die next? These kids are going to solve it and find out who the murderer is!

I just love how the story was written. How directly from the start I had the feeling something was up. There are all sorts of hints thrown around even before the murder actually happens! I just adore that, sometimes books just go happy go lucky and then BOOM, murder. But now it was even more exciting as I was already trying to figure out the whodunnit from the start. :P

The four characters? I have to say Jesse was my absolute favourite (fashion girl, plus I just had a laugh how she had both her phone and candy hidden), followed by Noah (so shy and cute), Kate (what is up with this girl, she is hiding something and I love her strong attitude), Tony (addicted to the net + I just adore how hard he is trying to lose weight). I loved how these 4 got together and became very close very fast. How, even though they were scared as hell, they still went on to solve the mystery and who is doing all these things, and why!

I also liked that we find out more about the background of these characters. We find out something about each character, about how they got to be at the camp, how they got fat and how they feel about it.

The murders? The whodunnit? The mystery of why and how? It was terrific, and I did have some suspects, but in the end it wasn't until x scene that I knew who it should be, who the murderer was. So when another scene happened I was pretty much whispershouting (due to me being sick/throat hurting/lung infection) for our group to tackle that person and not fall for their tricks! Though I hadn't expected it to be because of that reason (or well, I hadn't expected those people to do x and y (and given the reaction of everyone, they also didn't expect it)). I could kind of understand the reasoning of the murder, it must have hurt that person a lot to find that out. :( Then again, that doesn't make murder OK to do. Murder is never OK. But I can imagine why that person spiralled out of control.

As you can see I am dodging expertly around all the topics, I just don't want to spoil anything, I want people to go into this one fresh without much information about everything. This book is just too awesome and I want people to experience the same feelings I had while I was reading.

The art is just perfect! I just adore how the artist(s) drew the characters, who, instead of so many other comics, don't look at all alike in their weight problems. You have chubby, fat, very much overweight, and everything in between. Plus I just love the designs of the characters, it fits so well with their personalities. And I love seeing the camp and the surrounding area.

The ending was both sad but also a happy one, and it also had me laughing when we found out that about Kate. :P

All in all, I could rave for a bit longer about this one, probably for hours. :P But I will just keep it at this and will recommend this book to everyone. Read this!

Dawn of a New Day?

This is a teenage, sleuth-squad, summer camp, mystery adventure. Just like they've been writing since Pee-Wee Harris was a Boy Scout in 1922. But, I'm pretty sure I don't remember Pee-Wee sharing adventures with Black, Latino, and gay/lesbian companions. As I say, dawn of a new day. Fine by me.

The main appeal here is that the emphasis is on the forming of a friendship among four new campers who have to, (and want to), work together to solve a murder they witnessed at their fat camp. They just are who they are and none of that figures in the plot or even much as a matter of background. The four kids have distinct personalities, and they have to make an effort to mesh to form a functioning team, but none of the kids are used as symbols or signifiers for any particular agenda. They are just a mixed bag of regular kids.

So, as it should be, the question becomes - are these kids worth following and is the mystery decent? I thought the answers to both questions are "yes". The setup is that the kids are at a summer fat camp. There are about a hundred campers and about nine staff members. Our four future heroes don't really know each other until circumstances force them together. Two of the kids happen to witness a murder in the camp woods. They get some grainy phone camera photos. The next day a counselor is missing, but there's no body and no one suspects anything is out of place. The two kids turn to a third kid who's sort of techy geek to check out the photos and a fourth kid who is woodsy enough to try to find clues at the forest crime scene. There's our team. For various reasons each wants to solve the crime and so they start to work together. The rest is clue following, lurking, spying, and investigating. There's a socko and satisfying action finish that wraps everything up.

The bottom line is that all four kids ended up being engaging, and each took a step closer to finding his or her hero within. The mystery was fair enough for this sort of book, with decent suspects, motives, and clues. The drawings were crisp, if a bit on the cartoony side, and well colored and rendered. Of importance to me, it was always clear which character was which, and the drawings were expressive and crisp so the action was always clear. I thought this was a fine and entertaining middle grade mystery with good pacing and energy and a gungho sort of vibe. A nice find.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Look out Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, there's a new crime club in town! As soon as I saw that this was about a murder and summer camp, I had to read it. It was a fun, fast read with a cast of diverse characters, can't wait to read more of their adventures.

*thank you to Netgalley and Oni Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars.

This was better than I had expected. But saying that im not really sure what I was expecting, but it was a really enjoyable middle grade read. I liked the artwork. It was kinda simple but detailed enough, the colours were just right and most importantly, the artwork matched the story. For me thats a huge deciding factor in if I will enjoy the graphic novel or not. Another positive is that some of the characters were gay, which I think is great for a middle grade book. I'm so crossing my fingers that there will be a sequel, the end left it open for one so I'm hoping. The idea of teens going to a fat camp and having it turn into a murder scene isnt what you would normally expect for summer vacation. But 4 teens get together to try and work out who the killer was after 2 of them accidently witness the murder. It's a fun read for all ages and I would recommend it.

Campers at a summer weight loss camp accidentally witness the murder of a counselor. The crew of campers set out Scooby Doo style to find the murderer. Not quite in time for everyone, however. Cute and campy ( pun intended), but not too original.