A fun and interesting dystopian graphic novel. It kind of reminded me of "The City of Ember" and "Girls' Last Tour, Vol. 1." Overall, I enjoyed the story and the art. I did wish that the characters had a little more depth to them, though. I would have felt more connected to the story if they did.

My favorite part of this book was the art. The style is beautiful and the coloring is absolutely gorgeous. I was really jiving with the plot and characters at the beginning but as things progressed I felt there wasn't enough explained about what was happening. I think this could have benefited from being a little bit longer in order to flush out the characters and add some more detail to the plot. That being said I would totally read this again and I'd read a continuation or something in the same world.

Sadly, I didn't love this book as much as I wanted to. I actually liked the simplicity of the art style, and having more pictures do the story telling while having less words to read, but it just felt a little slow and confusing to me. I wish the story would have been a bit stronger and easy to follow. But I did really like the color choices and artwork! :)

Unfortunately, I struggled pretty hard with this one. I had a hard time grasping the main plot-line and the way the art was styled just felt a little.. messy? I didn't hate this, but it just didn't really work for me.

I really wanted to love this, but I found it just okay. The world building is strange and the art was honestly not my fave - I found myself wondering many times if/what I was missing because of confusingly drawn panels. The whole thing just felt a little bit slapped together and not super cohesive - I think I needed more connective tissue between plot points.

I enjoyed this science fiction comic! The illustrations are alright, very simple, but I like the style of less dialogue, more pictures! You can learn a whole lot without saying a word. Jo is a low on the totem pole technician on a planet (future Earth?) where topside is deserted and everyone lives underground. She sends herself on a mission and you must read it to see where it leads!

Topside is a fun, full-of-adventure comic that shows readers what happens when you step away from the familiar.

Josephine Wilson has lived in the Core her entire life and currently works there as a reliable repair technician. Jo gets things done and is the one to count on. But when she makes a rare mistake, Jo decides to leave the Core and go Topside, meaning above ground. She's never left the Core before but is determined to make things right. While Topside, she encounters beings and sights she's never seen as she's being chased by her employer, the Interior.

Topside was a lot of fun to read and it was refreshing to read a comic that wasn't all doom and gloom. So many comic and graphic novels are either gruesome, bloody or just plain dark. But Topside explores what it means to move out of your comfort zone, even when fear tries to stop you. I also loved that the characters were mostly people of color, with Jo being the heroine. But she wasn't written as a stereotypical sassy or angry black woman. Jo is sensitive, hardworking but also willing to listen and let others help her. She is written as a person and I definitely appreciate that.

I would definitely recommend Topside to all my readers who enjoy comics and graphic novels. I think they and their children would enjoy it.

<em>Topside</em> by J. N. Monk and illustrated by Harry Bogosian was interesting. I honestly left it feeling kind of thrown about the whole thing and not really sure what I had just read. A space adventure on a far away planet that features a technician going "topside" in order to fix a mistake that damaged her planet's core. Many people live beneath the surface of the planet and her travel to the surface sparks a wave of panic among the leaders of the society and a massive manhunt for the missing technician.

Honestly, I feel like <em>Topside</em> was kind of half-completed and thrown together. The whole thing felt very rushed, from the world building (vague and confusing) to the plot (pointless at times and filled with annoying conveniences) to the characters (very much caricatures). In so many ways it felt like the elements were all thrown together with the hope that they would make a cohesive and engaging story, but instead resulted in one of the most confusing point A, point B plotted stories I've ever read.

I didn't <em>hate</em> this story, but I really didn't like it, either. I felt the conclusion was a bit ridiculous and the story as a whole just wasn't all that engaging or interesting. The characters who weren't incredibly annoying were quiet and rather dull. The motivations behind the antagonist were minimal which ultimately resulted in a "convenient" moment within the story when the conflict was resolved.

And I think, ultimately, I just didn't understand the point. Of anything.

The artwork was nice, but nothing exceptional, which ultimately leaves me feeling as though this story is just below average. Nothing about it really stands out to me, except perhaps a single character who was the equivalent of an alien lamp, simply due to how interesting  found his existence to be. Overall, I simply couldn't manage to get past how underdeveloped everything felt.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Review to go live on blog on 09/01/2019.

Jo is a hard worker and a fixer, She disobeys orders and sets out to Topside to locate a mineral cache that would help her colony. What she finds along the way is friendship, self care and bigger responsibilities, There are core values within the storyline such as trust, friendship, knowing when to say no and learning that teamwork is at times better than doing things alone. The graphics and diverse set of characters was refreshing,

It's pretty, but... it's also pretty confusing. I just wanted a little bit more about what the heck was going on with the world. It was a bit too surreal for me. I liked the characters and the general story, but I just went through the whole book being confused about the world. There's one vague moment where one of the characters tells a story that seems like it's meant to hand-waivingly explain the world, but it just kind of falls flat.

TOPSIDE
AUGUST 27, 2019
Authors: J.N. Monk and Harry Bogosian
Year: 2019
ISBN: 9781541561120
Publisher: Graphics Universe ™
Goodreads Rating: 4/5 stars
Content Warnings: Mild violence
Purchased or Received Copy: Received copy from Netgalley

Topside takes place on a planet with two separate populations. Josephine “Jo” Wilson lives in the Interior, a subterranean society that races to keep up with the crumbling technology keeping their homes together. After making a serious error in repairing a core, Jo goes to the surface, also called the Topside. While there, she meets a host of Topside residents. Tenz is a woman of many names with a mysterious past. The youthful and curious Kevin is a Drevari, a race of shape-shifters who looks to Tenz as a mother figure. Karina and Lumi, a shark woman and a person made out of electricity, are bounty hunters turned friends. Jo didn’t have authorization to leave the Interior, so she used a key that belonged to one of her superiors. After her sudden and unexplained disappearance, Interior forces begin pursuing her.

One of my strongest feelings while reading Topside is how much I like the characters, especially Jo. She seems like a reliable, responsible woman. In fact, the whole reason she went to the surface was because she made a mistake and wanted to fix it. She didn’t try to blame somebody else or avoid accountability. I don’t know exactly why that stuck out to me so much, but Jo is a great character for people that like down-to-earth, no nonsense characters. She’s a repair technician, and that is her main motivation. She works hard to help support her parents and younger sister. She makes a mistake and takes matters in her own hands to make things right. True, she also wants to avoid punishment for destabilizing the planet’s core, but nobody’s perfect.

Even after talking about Jo, I’d have to say that Topside draws its greatest strength from its characters. Each one has a story to tell, even if there are more questions than answers. Karina refers to Kevin as a refugee, but doesn’t say from what, or why Tenz is so protective of him. We never see how Karina and Lumi met or became romantically involved. Still, we see their chemistry as they work together and amplify each others’ strengths. They may be a shark woman and a living lightbulb, but isn’t that what a good relationship is all about? I don’t know if the authors plan to expand on this universe in the future, but they sure gave themselves room to.

Bogosian’s illustrations make Topside a joy to look at. His style is very round and soft, juxtaposing the tension and mood with a welcoming image that encourages the reader to keep taking in every detail. I also liked his use of monochrome. Certain pages used almost entirely values of a single color, which I think told an interesting visual story. The Interior is case in cold, metallic blues. The Topside is a warm desert of rusty reds and yellows. Topside meshes Monk’s writing with Bogosian’s illustrations in harmony, and they seems to bring out the best in each other as a team.

Despite the well-woven tapestry that is is the universe of Topside, I felt that the finishing touches weren’t quite there. Without spoiling the ending itself, I’ll just say that the pacing grinds to a halt for a contrived and overly convenient conclusion. The main conflict is between the improvisational spontaneity of the Topside and the rigid bureaucracy of the Interior. It’s a conflict that the story pretty much tosses to the side and it felt jarring. It’s a shame, considering how skilled Monk is with their use of tension and suspense earlier on in the story. I feel that the story would have greatly benefitted if they had revised the last five pages or so one more time to keep the momentum going that they had already established.

Still, Topside offers a window into a universe that left me hungry for more. I would like to explore these author’s other works, and I hope they explore the universe of Topside even more in the future.

**Disclaimer: I was given an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

"Topside" was SUCH an endearing and cute story. I loved the art style and the main character, Jo. The audience the graphic novel is written for, children's, is fitting and will be easy for younger readers to follow.

I was kind of confused the entire time reading this. I feel like if there was a bit more backstory, it would've been a whole lot better. Not only that but the ending confused me so much and I don't really understand what happened. But whatever, it was okay.

Imagine living your whole life not knowing what the world outside is like? Then imagine that you royally messed up and you have to go outside to fix your mistake! In short, that is what Topside is about. Jo, a young maintenance technician makes a mistake that destabilizes her planets core and must go on an adventure to find Oblexium, the only substance that can fix her error. Jo comes face to face with a scam artist, a shapeshifter, and pair of bounty hunters in the form of a shark in a dress and a sentient lightbulb. Jo's adventure gets complicated when agents from the interior, her home, start pursuing her with the thought that she has been abducted.
What I most enjoyed about Topside is that Jo finds friends in the most unlikely of places. Funnily enough, she stumbles upon these friends due to her likeability and sheer ignorance of the world beyond the interior. Monk creates a world of danger but also of acceptance. Jo, while skeptical, accepts these odd people around her for who they are and forms an interesting little gang of friends. I thought that it had a really good message for a kid's graphic novel.
Also, Jo is an interesting and fun protagonist. She has this aura of exhaustion from the constant work, but she also has an enthusiasm that makes her enjoyable. The balance for this character is very good and it made me care for her. She is honestly just trying her hardest to fix her mistake and help her family move up in the world. She is an underdog and I liked her.
The pacing in this graphic novel, while quick, feels perfect for the target audience. It moves quickly enough to hold kids attention while also having enough detail for an adult to enjoy. One minute your following Jo as she wanders through an apocalyptic style town the next your in hot pursuit following the interior agents, it really holds your attention.
Something unique about Topside that I particularly enjoyed was the not so antagonistic antagonist. He is just a guy forced to do a job he doesn't want to do, and he is forced to jump through a bunch of ridiculous bureaucratic hoops. He's comical and seems to embody the tedious nature of office work and adulthood. I don't hate him and I think that there should be more "bad guys" like him in children's books.
I give Topside a 5/5, I was really charmed by this one. As always thank you to NetGalley and also a thank you to Lerner Publishing Group, without them this review wouldn't be possible.

The worldbuilding was good, the art was fine, but the story and the characters were mediocre. I wanted to like it a lot more than I did.

Topside was a very interesting graphic novel. Something like I’ve never read before. As the characters start their journey you really never know what’s going to happen and I was very impressed how much I enjoyed it. The storyline kind of reminded me of the tv show Gravity Falls. The artwork was amazing and I’m not sure if this will be a series or not but regardless I’m definitely interested in more works by this author!

3.25 stars

The artistic style and originality of this graphic novel was really unique. It was so fun to read as this rag tag group of very different individuals travel through different places to basically save the world.

When technician Jo cannot complete a task in her underground world, she must break some rules and go Topside to find a specific material she needs to fix things. Topside, she meets a group of different individuals who join her on her journey, all the while being chased by the authorities who are trying to bring her to justice.

This was just really cool and I enjoyed it a lot.

Topside is a children’s graphic novel about a society that lives underground and Jo who is a mechanic and makes a carless mistake that damages the power source for her town, so she goes to the surface to find more supplies where she meets new friends and overcomes obstacles. The art was fun, but the overall plot, however, did not make much sense. For being about fixing your mistakes, she never really claims responsibility for what she did and just runs away and hopes that her finding new supplies will lead to forgiveness. This is not a great moral and the importance of friends and family is undermined but Jo leaving hers and the rushed ending with her returning. Finally, new characters were rushed in their introduction and motive was unclear. Still, a quick, fun read if you like the art and do not really expect it to make sense.

Science fiction narrative meets colorful images in this enjoyable and engaging visual story. I want a copy to share in my classroom and with friends!

This is a fun little romp, an adventure story on two levels. On one level is Jo, just trying to fix a problem that she caused before she is found out, and the bureaucrats that are trying to catch her, because they have discovered that she is "topside" (on the surface of the planet) where she is not authorized to be.

Illustrations are quite fun, and the shark in the dress, who is a bounty hunter, also ads to the fun.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5312" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/topside2.png" alt="" />

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5311" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/topside1.png" alt="" />

It is a story of taking responsibility and having to trust, even people who are untrustworthy, and are con artists, or bounty hunters.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.