“Mega-Dogs of New Kansas“ by Dan Jolley with illustrations by Jacques Khouri is a graphic novel about a young girl, and her giant mutant dog on a new planet,

Sienna Barlow loves riding around her new home on the planet New Kansas on her dog, Gus. She’s also extremely shy and only talks to her dog and her mom. When another boy thinks she’s stuck up, he plays a prank on Gus which backfires. Now Sienna, Gus, and the boy who played the prank have to find a way back home. Along the way they find secrets about themselves and their new home which may save the planet.

I like this middle grade comic for kids about domesticated dogs on a new planet. Giant lizards are fun too and the premise isn’t too bad. I like the idea of these two strangers becoming friends.

So much more fun than I was expecting! The art is great, though not always consistent. The characters were all fun, and who wouldn't love the idea of giant dogs you can ride like a horse?

This a superb all-ages adventure. Set in a retro-futuristic Martian colony the character designs and look of the world takes inspiration from 70’s sci-fi shows like Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica. The colour palette is a pleasing mix of orange/yellow/brown that harkens back to those classics while still being fresh and modern enough to appeal to younger readers. Khouri skillfully manages to capture crippling shyness that Sienna suffers from and imbues the action scenes with enough peril to keep the reader hooked. Jolley’s script moves along at a decent clip, there is enough character development to the reader invested in the fates of Sienna and Gus. The dialogue captures the awkwardness and excitement of making new friends. Being a fan of Roald Dahl, I am always up for stories that are about children showing adults what clods they are being and setting the worlds to rights. I rather enjoyed this. Jolley and Khouri have done a commendable job of creating a tale filled with derring-do, friendships, and, personal growth.

Cute little science fiction graphic novel for kids. I liked the mega dogs, they were fun! I've never read anything by this author before.

The color palate here is solid. The orange/yellow/brown tone adds to the alien feel. But the images are sort of boxy and rough, so not especially appealing to me. The writing was decent. THe plot has an internal logic and all of the necessary pieces for the solution are seeded through the early parts of the plot. There just isn't enough holding them together. NOt enough character development to make us care about the danger and resolution.

A cute but somewhat didactic kid's graphic novel about friendship, empathy, and avoiding overt environmental destruction. And large dogs! The plot is somewhat simplistic, but the lessons are good. And you can't ever have enough giant dog stories.

Sienna is the daughter of a scientist and lives with her mom on the planet New Kansas. Sienna’s mom and other scientists are trying to set up a stable settlement. Her mom breeds mega-dogs to help defend a local bird species’ eggs for export from huge native lizard-like creatures called spinners. Sienna loves the dogs, especially Gus. Other kids on the base think Sienna is stuck up because she doesn’t talk to them, but they don’t know that her tongue gets tied at just the thought of talking to them. Thinking they can teach a stuck up girl a lesson, two boys plot a prank for the Vice President’s arrival that goes very wrong. Desperate to save her best friend, Sienna resorts to drastic measures to save Gus. Meanwhile, the settlement is firing up the new power plant the Vice President is there to inspect.

I really liked this adventure with Sienna and Gus on New Kansas. The boy who played the prank on her, Kevin, accidentally joins Sienna and Gus’s escape and thus they get to know each other better. There was some very good personal growth on both of their parts, and I liked the resolution the book brought in their relationship. They provide a good example of how to make things right after wrongs done. The Vice President was quite the jerk, all about the money and not an ounce of care for the people or animals. He’s lucky he was in a kids’ graphic novel and not an adult one or I think he’d have ended up a spinner snack instead of the end he got in here. I really liked the color tones chosen for the artwork as they helped convey the other-ness of the world. There was a good resolution to the various plot points introduced in this story, but I’m hoping for more stories of Sienna, Gus, and Kevin on New Kansas. There’s lots of potential for more adventures in this world Jolley has created. Highly recommended to graphic novel fans, animal lovers, and fans of scifi adventures on new planets.

Notes on content [based on the ARC]: No language issues. No sexual content. There are some potentially perilous situations but no people or animals are hurt.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A very basic graphic novel, suitable for children getting into sci-fi and graphic novels.
I was interested in this graphic novel, because it involves dogs. It's set in another planet which the humans have colonized, and on this planet, there's mega-dogs, which are super-sized dogs, who work as guards and helpers. We follow two kids, who with the help of one of the mega-dogs manage to save the colony from huge lizards.
For me, it was too convenient and there was no character depth, bu I think it'd work well for a beginner reader.

I thank Netgalley for the digital ARC.

Appealing art but the storyline didn't really grab me and I don't think it's quite appealing enough to justify buying on this year's tight budget. Good for larger libraries with a huge and varied children's graphic novel reading public

A good read for graphic novel beginners.

The art is clean and has the beginner's charm.

The story is about Sienna Barlow who loves having her megadogs pets around while the authorities aren't sure if the genetic manipulation of such creation would have to be approved or banned.

The representation of anxiety is well done. The characters have a voice strong enough. And the art sequence done well.

However, I wanted more from the plot and the ending.

It ends well and happy. It's just that I wanted something different, something more adventurous. Things tend to get a bit too convenient for the characters at times.

I appreciate the different artstyle.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Of course, the title of this book drew me right in. What I found was an original book with enjoyable images, artistic talent, and storytelling that fleshes out a strange new world. Recommended for graphic novel/comics enthusiasts.

Overall Impressions
Gigantic lovable dogs, a brave young girl, and an alien planet combine to create a fast-paced graphic novel. The world-building that establishes the colony of New Kansas and the strange alien world meshes together to create a believable space adventure. While the world-building was fantastic, Sienna overcame her crippling anxiety a little quickly in this novel, which could offer unrealistic expectations for children with the same social anxiety.

Book Themes and Reading Level
Book Themes: Alien planets, colonization, social anxiety, genetic manipulation, and human effects on the environment
Reading Level: 3rd-5th Grade

Summary
Sienna and her mom live in the colony of New Kansas, located on a strange planet with their mega-dog Gus. Gus is a large genetically altered dog that is a part of a pack tasked with keeping the colony safe from alien creatures. When Gus is threatened, Sienna sneaks him out of the colony to save him but ends up putting herself, Gus, and a stowaway named Kevin into some danger in the alien terrain. While trying to survive, the trio learns crucial information to save the colony and must race home to warn everyone, before its too late.

Review
I would classify this as a good graphic novel, but not a great one. Throughout the novel, there is a lot of world development as the adults discuss how the colony functions and the kids explore the world. This meshing of conversations, actions, and illustrations truly made the alien planet a rich and lively world. One of the critical character plot points is that Sienna has anxiety that keeps her from interacting with other kids because she is too anxious to speak. When Kevin and Sienna need to work together to get home, Sienna opens up relatively quickly to Kevin. At the end of the novel, there is an acknowledgment that Sienna is not ready to interact with people en masse, but it seemed like she went from no talking to Kevin to very talkative. Despite this one criticism, this graphic novel showcases a young girl who is taking action to save her colony from dangerous alien creatures. That is a storyline I can thoroughly approve of and enjoy.

*This post will be added to my blog, Pizza Stained Pages, on October 6th.

I received an electronic ARC from Lerner Publishing Group through NetGalley.
Set on a different planet in the future. A colony from Earth is working to raise food to send back to the home planet. Sienna loves her mega dog, Gus, and goes everywhere with him. She suffers from anxiety so struggles to speak to other people. Disaster strikes when Gus acts out during the Vice President's visit and the VP threatens to destroy all of the mega-dogs. The adventure continues as Sienna, Gus and a new friend, Kevin steal a space shuttle and attempt to fly across the planet.
The characters are a bit rough and share most of the same few facial expressions. The background scenery is fairly typical foreign planet style. The plot is fairly straightforward and readers will probably figure out the ending early in the story, but it flows well and is a fun read.

Sienna might be lonely and lacking friends her own age, but she's got Gus, a Mega-Dog, thanks to her mother, the head of the Mega-Dog training program on their planet. Sienna's mother and the mayor are preparing for the arrival of the North American vice president, who will be overseeing the opening of the power plant. When Gus disrupts the vice president's arrival, he is caged, and the VP calls for the dismantling of the Mega-Dog program. Sienna, desperate to save Gus, breaks him out and they escape into a spaceship, which she promptly crashes in the wilderness upon being startled by a stowaway. On their quest to return to the colony, Sienna works through her anxiety, makes a new friend, and discovers a unique danger the power plant opening would pose to the entire colony.

This fun graphic novel is great for middle-grade readers of science fiction! Plenty of alien animals inhabit the planet Sienna lives on, and the bits of information given about what's happening on Earth in this future ground the story. And of course, who wouldn't love a whole herd of giant St. Bernards you could ride!

Mega-Dogs of New Kansas is an endearing science fiction novel where we follow Sienna and her mega-dog, Gus. The new kid, Alex, misunderstands Sienna’s silence and pranks her in retaliation. However, the prank leads to a disaster. Upon discovering a threat to cancel the mega-dog program, Sienna decides to act. However, her actions lead to discovering another problem…

Despite not being the target audience, I enjoyed this graphic novel immensely. I adore big dogs and I loved them in this story. The narration is compelling and accompanied by gorgeous illustrations. The art style has a retro feel, complementing the story well whilst keeping the audience engaged.

Also, I liked how this story addresses and explores Sienna’s shyness and anxiety. The story highlights that people can learn from their mistakes and that progress is good.

Overall, this was an adorable and fun read. I’d recommend this graphic novel to children ages 7 and up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun science fiction graphic novel. I really enjoyed the story and could relate with the main character, Sienna and her anxiety. I would highly recommend for young children around 7 or 8. The story is just two kids who learn from their mistakes and overcome fears. It has a villian element but even he can admit when he is wrong.

Sci-Fi action-adventure!
Sienna lives on an agricultural planet far away from Earth with her Mega-Dog Gus. Gus is her best friend, and the only one she can talk to besides her family. Alex is new and misunderstands Sienna's silence. Hurt, he pranks her and Gus to disastrous effect. The two are thrown together in a desperate situation and must learn to work together.

Well, this impressed me a lot more than I thought it would, given that title. On a terraformed planet elsewhere, the colony is getting a new power plant up and running, but the guy behind that has decided to cancel the Mega-Dog project our heroine's mother runs, the beasties concerned being horse-sized canines who protect the local emu-type things while they're laying eggs on the farm. Our girl nicks a space craft to zoom off with her favourite mega-dog, just because – and lo and behold, she both has a major anxiety about speaking to boys, and a young male stowaway too. They land in a place of great peril – but find the real danger is just about to start attacking the colony they've left behind…

Yes, it sounds a little simple, and yes it sounds a little cheesy, but this really worked for me, and I was not the target audience by any stretch. I liked the fact there was a human issue to be had, with the girl's anxiety and shyness well handled, considering how badly it could have scuppered the sci-fi. The action elements are to the fore, and while some of them are over with very quickly (a flight from some nasty creatures that's over in about two panels, a river crossing we get to see half of and nothing else), that economy only helps the story be a full, and fully entertaining, one. So often you come across comic books for this audience that still almost aim to talk down, and belittle the reader with something stupid and throwaway and not a patch on more mature comics. This is not one of those books – it's really classily, and classically, handled. I really liked it – four and a half stars.

Cute funny story about a kid and her giant dog on a planet somewhere. Her father is the mayor, and her mother breeds the dogs, and they have to impress the Vice President of Production for North American Triumvirate (NAT), the company that is funding the outpost.

Sienna loves the large dogs, and when a misunderstanding causes them to be locked up, she breaks her favorite free, and high jinks ensue.

Drawings are a little crude, and the story is written as though told from a kid's point of view, but all in all makes sense, and kids are sure to enjoy it.

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

This was a fun stand alone science fiction graphic novel. It’s got some scariness and tension but nothing that wouldn’t be fine for the right age kid. Probably around age 8 give or take. The colony world uses giant mutant dogs to defend their base and flocks from predatory lizards. One of the children of the planet has profound anxiety and one of the mutant dogs is sort of her service animal.
The plot of the story is pushed along by kids being kids but learning from their mistakes. The adult villain also admits to his errors. The only thing I might complain about is the art is a little retro. It’s a stylistic choice that works with the story though