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1. Wreck and the Space Pirates!
   
   Reviewed by niskidoo on 6/29/2011 2:32:41 PM

   Adam Wreck is the son of geniuses, the kind of geniuses who don't think twice about dragging their only child along for the ride on the first manned spaceship ever to leave the Milky Way galaxy for deep space in search of adventure and scientific breakthroughs. To be sure, his folks are good people, but two years alone with your parents in the middle of nowhere would drive just about anyone batty. Luckily for the Wreck family, things are about to get interesting. Michael Bracco, best known for his NOVO series, unveils his new all-ages effort here in the form of a science fiction tale of alien abduction and space pirates and something called the Trillion Star. The story is wonderfully fast paced and inoffensively harmless in aims; and in a perfect world would serve as the premiere episode of a hit new animated action-adventure kid's show. In popular British fiction of the earlier half of the last century there was one genre in particular that for whatever reasons never quite found its equivalent here- that of the "boy's life". I was reminded of that in reading this introductory tale of Wreck, as he does indeed serve as the identifiable everyman- at least in terms for the youthful readers (regardless of actual age) wanting to have some vicarious space-faring fun. Adam may gripe a bit at the start, but in light of his circumstances he makes cool dealings of his wiles enough to manage to save the day and be the hero. Along the "cooler than a coming of age" story he makes a new friend in the form of space cowboy Captain Voric, while facing comically gross villainy. Tons of fun. Bracco's art, for those of us who have been following his efforts at house Alterna, is tres dynamic. He is becoming a master at page construction, pulling the eye in such a way as to accentuate whatever the action at hand. And his character designs display more imagination than the Star Wars prequels. Any fans who fondly remember the unaffiliated Intergalactic Ninja Zen comics from the 90's shou

2. Lighter, Brighter, More Colorful, Creative Bracco
   
   Reviewed by Dave Baxter on 6/29/2011 2:31:59 PM

   Before I get to ADAM WRECK, let me briefly mention that creator Michael Bracco is best known for his epic NOVO series (which started with Birth and continued with Novo Volume 1: The Birth of Novo, Novo Volume Two: The Pride, and Novo Volume Three: Survivors. NOVO is an often violent, surprisingly dark fable of war and the discovering one's identity and purpose in a vast universe. It's a work that can justly be referred to as "a masterpiece" and "an opus". If dark and violent isn't your thing, however, ADAM WRECK is a delightful departure from this. An all-ages tale kicked off by a somewhat tried and true boy-gets-separated-from-parents-in-strange-place scenario. Adam is the boy, and he soon encounters the anti-hero rogue named Voric who's looking for an object called the "Trillion Star" - a jewel said to contain a map of all the trillions of galaxies in the whole universe. If Adam can help Voric find the Star, Voric MIGHT help Adam rescue his parents from Kalosian Space pirates. The story is fast-paced, whimsical and action-packed, chock-full of Bracco's signature alien designs (think Jim Henson meets Invader Zim), and is a complete adventure all in one Graphic Novel. It's perfect for any age - I kept waiting for the deadly streak of NOVO to appear here, but it never does. The tone remains lighthearted throughout, while Bracco's creativity remains at its peak, instead of being ampered by the all-ages restraint. ADAM WRECK is a gorgeous melding of story and art, a gorgeous graphic novel period.