'Quantum Mechanics' with story and art by Jeff Weigel is a graphic novel set in space that is filled with adventure.

Rox and Zam live on an asteroid in the middle of nowhere fixing old machines in a space junkyard. When they get kidnapped by a group of pirates, they finally get to work on real engines, but they are being held for ransom. Slowly, they win the crew over by fixing everything, but can they get home, or do they even want to?

This was just a really fun story. The plot reminded me of a Robert Louis Stevenson story. The art is just great too. I love all of the different alien designs, humanoid without a human to be seen.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Oni Press, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

With stunning illustrations, and a fast paced storyline... this graphic novel was easy to get into.

Thank you for giving me the chance to read and review this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I actually enjoyed this story far more than I thought I would. The plot was fun, the characters were interesting, and I think the writing was good. It's a quirky and fun book.

I actually really enjoyed the story in this one! I wasn't sure when I picked it up, but I enjoyed that the main characters are mostly female and that they become (space) pirates it a bonus! The story brings up some important issues about morality and status.

Quirky but fun book! The cover is colorful and inviting. Rox and Zam are two friend always looking for adventure. One day they are approached with a proposition to repair a ship called the Quasar Torrent. The girls soon find out they are being kidnapped and are not there to repair the ship. The story continues with the girls having to make the choice of going back to their every day lives or living out a life of crime and adventure!

I enjoyed this book. A little quirky, but a lot of fun. Memorable characters and an interesting story arc.

I love that the protagonists are female, but that this is a total non-issue. No one makes a big deal about girls being mechanics. Or turning pirate. Or having crazy adventures. The issue is that they are children, not that they are girls. I also liked the view of various moralities as grey areas. Piracy is wrong, but what if you're driven to piracy due to an unfair system? And your victims are always directly tied to the corporation that is ruing your life, making your piracy an act of protest. Other things are marked as always wrong, hard stop. Like kidnapping. It asks the readers to judge for themselves which actions are justified while still providing a clear "bad guy". It gives both a viscerally satisfying plot and content for discussion.

Great Graphic Novel included in the 2019 Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List for middle school students. This graphic novel demonstrates high quality and relevance to children.

I really enjoyed this comic, it's kind of aimed at middle grade readers I think but it's the kind of comic that anyone can enjoy. It's a fun space adventure with young female kickass mechanics and space pirates who ride around in a spaceship shaped like a skull. What more do you want?!

I enjoyed the story, the characters and the art, and I'd read more by Weigel in future.

I am a sucker for a space opera, same as for a good Western. The argument can be made that those are two sides of the same coin, and I can go along with that, too. So when I find a fun space opera, be it television, film, or graphic novels, a story or group of characters that hook me, it’s easy to fall in love with them.

Quantum Mechanics has me falling in love, and wanting to spend more time with them and their new adventures. Jeffrey Weigel’s new universe is diverse, colorful, full of lively details and dialogue, expressive art, and layers of complexity. The very things that make stories fun, and the bonus here are the young female protagonists who are straining against the leashes their guardians hold, making mistakes but also making decisions to pull themselves out of trouble again.

*thank you to Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

3 stars.

This was good. I quite enjoyed it. The illustrations were very fitting to the story. It wasnt too original which was a bit of a shame but the story was still a fun read. I liked the characters and think this was well written. Definatley enjoyable and worth grabbing a copy to read.

“Quantum Mechanics” is about two young friends – Rox and Zam. The two girls help Rox’s dad at the salvage yard he runs. They would love to leave the asteroid in the middle of nowhere that they live on in order to pursue adventure, and one day their dream becomes a reality, just not the way they expected. A pirate takes them hostage and forces them to work as mechanics on the ship, Quasar Torrent. Along the way, the ship is chased by an evil corporation, Quarkcorp.

I really enjoyed this story. The artwork looked great, and the colors were nice and vivid. The style emphasized how alien everything was, yet the characters’ expressions and emotions were recognizable. The protagonists were smart, funny, likable, and did things their own way. Their friendship was a huge focus of the story. They worked well as a team, and both girls grew on their journey. The crew and Rox’s family were also part of a wonderful ensemble. The villains were a bit stereotypical, but that did not bother me. Overall, “Quantum Mechanics” is a fun tale about adventure in space, the importance of friendship and family, and learning that sometimes what you want isn’t what you expected.

Jeff Weigel really knocked it out of the park with this one. This was originally intended to be a children's book before morphing into a graphic novel so it's suitable for all ages.

Two young alien girls are kidnapped by a pirate to be mechanics on his ship. There for the first time they really get to test themselves as they become friends with the crew and grow up. The characters are all well rounded with great character designs. This book is just pure fun. I hope we get to see more of Rox and Zam.

This is a really great story, with characters that are both alien and relatable. I was drawn in to care what happens to them. Some might consider the art somewhat old-school, but I think its perfect for this story. Genuine fun and adventure.

Ripping, Girl's Own, "Treasure Island" in Space

Actually, it's more like "Kidnapped", but you get the idea.

Rox and Zam are frustrated young mechanics/tinkerers on an isolated backwater asteroid when a space pirate shows up looking for some repair help. The pirate is rebuffed by Rox's Dad, but after Rox and Zam sneak onto the pirate ship to give it a look-see they end up being kidnapped and forced to serve as on-board mechanics, (that is, the future space version of cabin boys). It turns out that the pirates are O.K. guys, that Rox and Zam are primo mechanics and inventors, and that Rox and Zam are made for the yo-ho-ho pirate life.

Lots of stuff happens and there's drama and double crosses and chases and adventure galore, but you already suspected that. Here's the best part - Rox and Zam are totally ace buddies. They are loyal, independent, resourceful, funny and personable. They both have strengths and weaknesses, and they both pull their weight. They are good-hearted, smart, feisty, and observant. They are uncomplicatedly likeable heroines. They also each have mad mechanical skills.

Forget the wenches; this is about wrenches. And it celebrates all the true blue virtues and can-do skills. I appreciate the need for STEM oriented girl heroes, and I'm happy to see that that is showing up in genres outside of steampunk and steampunk heroines like Agatha Heterodyne, (the Girl Genius). That STEM success can be glamorous and colorful and a source of pride is a great message. That you can have fun, kid around, work under pressure, make friends, stand up for yourself, and still repair a tractor beam is just pure bonus.

The drawing style perfectly complements the action and the characters. (And a neat feature at the end of the book even explains the novel's drawing and production details.) Colors are bright. Pencils are crisp and the inking is detailed and nicely balanced. Panel layout is effective. As I get older I appreciate sharp and readable lettering more and more, and that's not an issue here. The overall effect is a bit cartoony and old school, but since everyone is an alien of some sort realism is not a priority. Expressiveness is, and the characters display a wide range of emotions and attitudes. Considering that Roz has four arms, Zam is basically a lizard, and apparently no one ever has a nose, that's more challenging than you might think.

Bottom line - this is fun, good-humored, ripping, and boiling over with positive and upbeat messages about friendship, girrrrl power, self reliance, and adventure. Best STEM book I've seen in a long time.

(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.)

Jeff Weigel's Quantum Mechanics features two alien girls, Rox and Zam, living in a faraway corner of the universe. These girls love to tinker with machines and tech. Their love takes them into a pirate's ship and strange places in space where they face with more than they bargained for.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS BOOK
Quantum Mechanics characters are distinct and charming. Rox and Zam's proclivities make reading the book fun. Also, the plot plays well into places you never think it'll go. Reading the book was a pleasure and the author's note at the end was a nice touch.


WHO IS IT FOR
Pre-teens, teens, and adults with a love of sci-fi will have a blast reading Quantum Mechanics.

Many thanks to Lion Forge for review copy.

This book is awesome with awesome sauce.

PROS:
* All of the protagonist are lovable.
* The villains dastardly, if perhaps a bit 2D.
* Reminds me a lot of 'Star Wars', with plucky heroes who make do with what they have.
* Fabulous art.

CONS:
* Rather predictable plot.
* As mentioned, rather 2D villains.

Over-riding all PROS/CONS, however, is that this book is just *ridiculous* amounts of fun!

This was a very good comic, not least because it features two go-getting girls with a clear taste for STEM subjects. Rather than hang around on an asteroid knocking together derelict spacecraft, they perk up when an old friend of the family turns up with his crew. Unfortunately, they turn out to be pirates, and when the girls get on board – allegedly just to mend a tractor beam – they find themselves press-ganged into the career. Cue a rollicking drama, that has a lot of action and character. I thought the way the book successfully hung so much of the story on the girls' dilemma, when it could have just devolved into space opera, was really good – they have their mixed and changing allegiances, as, indeed, do many people on board.

Artwork is suitably bright and funky, as befits a comic for the young. What I didn't like was the smattering of references to the original Star Wars trilogy (there is a case for pointing out the Star Trek universe influence too), for this pulls the reader away from this world. Which is a very minor pity, all told, but a pity – the heroines here were great company. I don't go in for pointing out details like empowerment, smart girls, STEM positivity, mixed-species friendship, etc – I just come for a good bit of entertainment and not to have to worry about such things. But this was a very good entertainment indeed. Four and a half stars.

This was one of the most entertaining graphic novels I've read in a while. Free-wheeling, fast moving, full of heart and invention, and original story, engrossing, and not a human in sight! I don't know if it's aimed at younger readers, but I found it perfectly fine and I'm definitely not a younger reader, but it will serve them too, especially girls who already really know they can do anything, but perhaps need an occasional bit of encouragement to keep them reminded so they don't get remaindered! I'm always an advocate of US writers getting away from the idea that the 'US is the only country worth writing about'. It;s such a trope and this story isn't only outside the US, it's quite literally out of this world.

It's about these two alien girls, one of whom is orphaned. The other lives close by with her mom and dad. Dad is a mechanic and they live on an asteroid surrounded by a mess of defunct spacecraft. The two girls are always trying to fix up something they can fly and all-too-often lack the pristine parts they need to do the work properly, leaving them with less than desirable results, but they're optimistic and inventive, and they never give up.

Into this sweet life comes an old acquaintance of their dad's asking for help in repairing his spacecraft - the Quasar Torrent - a request dad flatly refuses. His daughter decides this is a nifty way to make some cash and buy new parts for their own projects, so Rox and Zam offer to fix the problem only to discover, when the work is done, that they're no longer on the asteroid and are now part of a pirate crew in space - kidnapped!

As their tenure aboard as resident mechanics continues, and they fix all sorts of problems and befriend the easy-going crew, they realize there's more to this pirate life than they'd thought, and they also realize their captain isn't a nice guy at all. Plus, there are stowaways aboard!

Zam and Rox manage to juggle all these issues while keeping their sense of humor and upping their skill set, and a great story with a sweet ending is the result. The story is intelligent and fun, and the artwork is wonderful. I fully commend this as a worthy read (with a great title!)

I loved this.

I don't often read graphic novels. I go through spurts with them, but mostly I forget they exist until something catches my eye or I have the odd hankering for one. Today was one where I just wanted something light to read over my lunch break. I thought maybe a kid’s graphic novel would fit the bill perfectly. I was right.

Jeff Weigel does a great job on all points with Quantum Mechanics. The main characters are cute, likable, and gutsy. They're also girls who are budding mechanics (huge plus!). There's just enough of a hint of danger to delight younger thrill-seekers. Otherwise it's a story that illustrates that sometimes people aren't what they appear to be, that friends can be found where you least expect it, and gives a good adventure with a happy ending.

The layout of Quantum Mechanics was nice as well. I did find myself occasionally reading down instead of side to side (but I think that’s a personal problem of mine more than anything.) The illustrations are nice. The colors are pleasing. The lettering is clear. The action is always obvious. The story itself is only about 213 pages long. The rest of the book is Weigel taking readers through the step-by-step process he uses to make a graphic novel. He also talks about the evolution of this book as well

Because this is a kid’s graphic novel, you’re not going to see a lot of blood or serious injuries. And nobody really gets hurt.

Overall, Quantum Mechanics was just a lovely read. It flowed well, the story was a fun one, and it was perfectly suited for younger readers but enjoyable by older ones as well. I haven’t read any of Weigel’s previous works, but I would definitely be willing to pick up more graphic novels from him in the future!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for review consideration.