I didn't really know what to expect going into this story. And honestly, I'm still not sure how to feel about it. There was only one way to read this through netgalley so the possible skipping of pages and the way it showed on screen felt jumbled. The twist towards the end was interesting but not sure i'd want my 12 -year old to read it. It didn't feel much like a tsunami, so not sure what the author wanted to convey with the title. The art was good, the characters were interesting, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Powerful expression of a teenager’s inner turmoil through striking, minimalist artwork. Wenlock uses visual metaphor and sparse dialogue to depict the weight of guilt and emotional repression in an impactful way. Haunting, emotionally resonant, but will be divisive: the art style won't be for everyone, but if you've read enough alt comics, you'll cope.

From the start, Ned Wenlock’s debut graphic novel Tsunami disarms you with its minimal style and simplified, oblong characters. The opening scene takes it slow, with a series of full page images of a mother and grandmother walking along the waterfront as a young boy tramples through the sand in front of them. They discuss his innocence and small size. It is a moment of tranquility as the future spreads out before them, endless as the sea. Water is a continual motif throughout the book. Notably the main character, 12-year-old Peter, cannot swim.

The tranquility is quickly undercut as the scene shifts to Peter’s disfunctional homelife. Peter sits quietly watching his parents bicker. Wenlock constructs the book with tight square panels, the pages packed with detail. The figures are simple and the backgrounds constructed of blocky shapes but there is meticulous attention given to the setting and the positioning of the characters within it.

Peter is a bullied boy and his parents are on the brink of divorce. He is tormented by his neighbor Gus, a rough kid with an absent, flaky dad, and his pack of friends who are desperate for the attention of girls but do not know how to show affection any way but teasing and cruelty. There is a Sisyphean comedy to the way the boys race across the page, zigzagging through woods and alleyways as the bullies try to catch and pummell Peter.


The pages, with their razor thin gutters between square panels, push you along quickly, but the writer punctuates the flow of conversations with silent reaction panels, like the best comic strip cartoonists, that adds a sense of rhythm and humor. Wenlock has a terrific sense of timing and the silent moments and small shifts in expression or direction of the character adds to the patter of the dialogue. The use of only the most basic lines to represent emotion and action on the abstracted characters, means the way the characters speak is paramount to telling the story. Just as important are the jam-packed layouts and panels that make Peter’s world claustrophobic and stifling.

But then, Wenlock takes a moment, a full page, a quarter, a large corner, to revel in the sense of place. It is in these spaces where the squares allow the reader to catch their breath that we truly enter into Peter’s world and the quiet contemplation as this sensitive kid tries to make sense of a noisy world. Without words we understand that his relationship to his parents, each of whom are dishonest with one another and with him about the state of their marriage, impacts his relationship to the other teens surrounding him. He cannot stand dishonesty and lying and is unable to stop himself from being blunt in his disgust with his bullies. That only makes things worse for him until a new girl, Charlie, comes to school and finds his strange integrity charming.

Like Peter and like Gus, Charlie is a young person plagued by doubts and anxieties and fears. None of the characters’ emotions are spelled out explicitly but they are told through glimpses into their lives and families. Each is isolated in their own way and every time it feels like they might bridge the gap, there is a new wave crashing upon the shoreline to divide them. The river, its rushing tide and rapid current, pulls each in time and again, further from one another. “Friendship is mysterious,” Charlie’s dad tells her as she opines over missing her friends from their last home and her anxiety over making new ones, “You simply spend time with someone, share some experiences, then whammo, before you know it you are friends!” It sounds so simple but at this vulnerable age, to let someone intrude on your time is to be too vulnerable.

The goofy looking characters and the offbeat square grids lull you into a sense of comfort early on, with a fairly lighthearted approach to childhood and its many travails that recalls A Christmas Story more than Catcher in the Rye. But as the story goes on, the bravado and hardheadedness of youth reveal the dangers of childhood cruelties. The mundane trials, the absence of healthy models for how to grow and mature, leave these children at the mercy of the river’s current. What starts out as a cute, funny little book becomes something far more complex and emotional that belies its simple-seeming artwork. The wide open, full-page images of the tranquil seaside that open the book are mirrored in its final moments, not as a symbol of boundless possibility but as a reminder of the world’s dangers and indifference.

Tsunami is a stirring debut, a disarming feat of cartooning that taps into the highs and lows of growing up and the quiet internal battles that can sweep away the vulnerable.

VERDICT: BUY

Thanks to NetGalley and Ned Wenlock for an ARC of "Tsunami!"

I will say this was an...interesting read. The art style was minimalistic, which I felt made the flow of reading really easy, yet there were parts of the story that were...really confusing. With great depictions of adolescence and the means in which bullying can affect us, I was a little disappointed with the oddity of Peter just disappearing for a whole month. That was a bit of a tipping point for me that took me out of the story, and I did not ever feel like I was back IN the story after that.

And the ending....I can't tell if what I think happened actually happened, or if we are meant to think of something else.

Either way, I really enjoyed the way Charlie, Peter, and Gus are shown and their struggles individually depicted, but there came a point in the story that made everything feel so surrealist that it was hard to ever get fully immersed back into the story.

I expected a lot, but definitely not this. While I don’t mind dark turns at all, especially such themes in stories that are marketed towards children, this was rather confusing. It had a really great start, however, the ending was disappointing. Not that I need happy endings – given the themes and writing style, I wouldn’t have wanted one –, but it’s so uneven to the first half. The last chapter was so rushed.

Are they really 12? I read the blurb and they do look all fairly young, especially the way they interact and all gives pre-2010 primary school vibes. However, when it got to the part with Peter‘s “badass alone time” (best way I can describe it spoiler-free) and no one asked him about it, I was very confused about his age. Thought he must be at least 18. Because wtf? That came out of nowhere. Is that genuinely a thing in NZ? Especially the casualty?
All the time I thought it’s gotta be just a dream. Aliens landing any time would’ve made more sense.

The title promises too much. Although it does work as a metaphor, it was more of a short domino row. Not bad, but too promising. The message is quite clear, though it could’ve been more fleshed out. As said, the second half felt very rushed.
I feel like it could’ve gotten a better rating if a better title was chosen. Together with the cover, I expected more of a supernatural/alienated story.

I think that also comes from the writing. I’m not sure whether the dramatic scenes were meant to be read and felt as dramatic, but the way the characters’ reactions are written, made it seem so nonchalant and apathetic. Certainly the opposite of tsunami-like emotions.

The art style: surely unique. Not entirely my cup of tea – simplistic styles can have their charm and it does look cute + also fits the age group, but sometimes was a bit too simplistic. I couldn’t always tell what they were doing.
Although kudos for choosing that style to contrast that much with the plot. Perhaps that was the point, so good job on that. (I mean, they look like dolls and dolls are (most of the time) creepy.)

Do I recommend it? Mixed feelings.
On one hand, the message is good and important, and this type of ending to bullying plots is tackled far too rarely. On the other hand, it’s nothing new, the characters are quite basic. The only originality comes from the twist with Peter and him letting his intrusive thoughts win, which adds to the domino message.
But if you were expecting a tsunami-like story, whether with a literal tsunami or as a metaphor, lower your expectations. As much as I love slice of life as well as nonchalant/absurd/enigmatic stories, I wasn’t feeling this very much. It‘s missing a certain something. But perhaps that’s the point...

~

Thank you to Pow Pow Press on Netgalley for an eARC. The book is set to be released on May 6, 2025.

-Ayxan Solongo, 04.05.25

This graphic novel was interesting. The illustration style was offputting for me but I think that may have partially been the point with it being a story about middle schoolers dealing with bullying, abuse, and family issues. With the ending, I think this may want to be targeted to a little older audience than the kids in the book because I didn't see that coming and could be unsettling. Though it shows what can happen with bullying, and it not always being a happy ending, that was not what I thought was going to happen.

Tsunami by Ned Wenlock is definitely an interesting read. It's a coming-of-age story, but it takes a dark turn pretty quickly. I appreciate that it tackles heavy topics like bullying, there’s a lot to unpack there, and important conversations to be had.

That said, the storytelling didn’t quite click with me. There were long stretches where not much happened, and even some completely blank pages that didn’t seem to add much to the narrative. The pacing felt off at times, and it made it hard to stay engaged.

As for the art, it wasn’t really my style. While I didn’t love it, I’ll give it credit for being unique and distinct.

Overall, not my favorite, but I can see how others might connect with it more.

Wow! This certainly not the kind to hand to any young adults, because the situations in this graphic novel were quite mature like small acts of abuse, parental trauma, and bullying.

While I was not quite the audience for this novel, I’m sure this will find its reader. It had its genuine moments and I’m very glad to have found it.

This one surprised me—in a good way. The art style was kind of raw and gritty, which worked really well with the mood of the story. It touches on some heavy stuff, but it never feels forced or overdone. The characters felt messy in a very human way, which I appreciated.

It’s probably not for younger readers, but if you like graphic novels that aren’t afraid to get a little dark, this one’s worth picking up. Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy!

I really liked this graphic novel! The drawing style was fun and unique, which made the story come to life. The characters felt real, and the story was easy to follow but still had a lot of heart. It kept me interested the whole way through.

I gave it four stars because while I really enjoyed it, there were a couple of spots where I didn't particularly connect with the dialogue. But overall, it was a great read and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who likes graphic novels.

Early in this graphic novel a middle school teacher advises Peter, an awkward, bullied twelve-year-old, that his idealistic commitment to truth-telling is sure to bring him trouble: "Things could escalate, get worse." Indeed things can, and do, both escalate and get worse for Peter and the kids around him (including his troubled, violent neighbour Gus, and the too-cool-for-school new girl, Charlie) over the course of this powerful and troubling portrait of youth on the edge.

Wenlock's cute and minimalist cartooning style (Those faces! Those FEET! ) lures the reader in, but over the course of nearly 300 dense pages he expertly lines up a series of situations that slowly crank up the tension level until the reader is left with the feeling that anything can happen, and that no one is safe. This a dark and disturbing tale that unflinchingly looks at the issues of bullying and violence (appropriately told in black, white, and shades of grey), but it is also a deeply-felt and emotional portrait of how strange, scary, and even sweet adolescence can be.

I was deeply impressed by "Tsunami," and I am convinced it going to mark the arrival of an important new talent in international comics. Amazingly, this is Ned's first full-length graphic novel, making it even more impressive, he has a fully-developed authorial voice and style already. Don't sleep on this one.

In the unflinching tradition of books like "The Lord of the Flies" by William Golding, "The End of the Fucking World" by Charles Forsman, "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell, the film "Thumbsucker" by Mike Mills, and the recent Netflix series "Adolescence."

Before reading, I skimmed reviews that were already out about Tsunami which had me on the edge of my seat for the last 20% of the book! But as someone who is super sensitive to violence, I can report that the ending did not make me as squimish as I anticipated.

I would not recommend starting this graphic novel if you have anything else going on, because you'll drop whatever it is to finish Tsunami instead.

I loved the illustrations, the tension of Gus, Charlie and Peter navigating adolescence, and the pacing of the story.

My heart breaks for Peter and Gus in different ways. This book deserves 5 stars.

I would rate it higher if it was marketed to an older crowd because I thought it was brilliant-- very dark, but brilliant. There were some serious topics and I liked that it showed how everything isn't black and white. All the relationships were complicated, and I felt real tension.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this interesting graphic novel

Whew...this was a bit darker story than I thought I was getting.....but I'm an adult reader, I can handle it! This was the 1st I'd read of this author/artist, & I might be inclined to try him again. The art work is kind of 'edgy, sharpish', might seem kind of simple & unique.....but does convey the aura of the story......which deals with bullying, violence, peer pressure, family issues in the home. The title is appropriate! I'd classify this graphic novel as YA/Adult, not for little kids.
I did receive a complimentary e-ARC from Literary Press Group/Pow Pow Press via NetGalley in exchange for reading it & posting my own fair/honest review.

This would be an odd little graphic novel on its own merits, but given its marketed to children it moves into fully creepy. The simplistic illustration style is an unsettling if effective choice for a story about peer violence, broken families, and ultimately murder among a small group of middle school students.

I did not expect that ending.

Tsunami is about a bullied 12-year-old boy who befriends the new girl. While I thought this was going to be a cute story about overcoming school hardships, it quickly spun out of control. I am left wondering what happened to both Peter and Gus at the end. The art style is endearing and charming, which is a contrast to the end of the story. Overall, I enjoyed this quick read.