Comic Reviews: Stephen McCranie’s Space Boy Vol.1 (Dark Horse)

Dark Horse Comics proudly presents one of the most greatest Webtoon titles of all time turned into a graphic novel which is Space Boy in its first volume.

What happens when you take Star Wars, Metroid, Star Ocean, Saved by the Bell, Dr. Gero’s Androids, put them and mix it all together, you’ll get Space Boy. It’s more than just any sci-fi comic that anyone could read. It was like an extended children’s book, with spaceports, spaceships, strange people wearing some VR glasses, a sixth sense of flavors, it was surrounded by some Japanese scenery, it was robots, robots assassinating other humans, and some wonderful modern sci-fi background gets turned into an American comic book series. Never heard of it? Well, you heard of it now…

Space Boy uses any good sense of the story with emotional and heartwarming sense and which actually makes it more appropriate for children and teenagers, adapting the Webtoon comic series that is crazy, to begin with. It takes any sense of an American and Japanese comic that was mixed up altogether may seem like overkill, but it went over-big. Besides, this comic is like the successor to Futurama. And of course all that inspiration was meant on the story itself, but it’s really amazing just to read it all the way just to know what happens on this episode, and to the next. But for me I wouldn’t believe that more than one Webtoon graphic novel of this holy grail of the gods will actually exist, actually, I’d witnessed the comic by myself just by reading the webcomic and thought that it would be that good. But, what I read so far…. OH MY GOD!

So, where do I begin…. Space Boy actually takes place in the future and space where a teenage girl named Amy who once lived in a space colony with her parents, right until her father lost his job and moved to planet earth and slept for almost 30 years. It’s basically turning her into a new leaf when she discovers her new home on Earth, but after 30 years she didn’t aged because she was frozen inside the capsule and the gravity was heavy for her. As for that change, she sacrificed everything, even her best friend just in order to live a new life on Earth. On her way from her new home to school, she bumped into some white-haired boy who ignores her and acts like a robot, right after that her friends warned her about that boy about some terrifying rumor, but that’s not really the case. No one knows about his background or where he comes from, right until it was revealed in one the latest episodes on Webtoon. But the saddest part is that she has some thought for calling her old friend from space that Amy didn’t see or spoke to her for 30 years inside the frozen capsule, but, she’s having some seconds thoughts because 30 years is like going to a different time, because if she saw her best friend growing up to a middle-aged woman, Amy will be devastated. But what lies through her new school and daily life up ahead?

To some point of view Stephen McCranie did a great job making a Webtoon, and now turned into a traditional graphic novel just like all the rest, so I’m letting off the hook. But somehow I have some gripes about this comic, my first minor complaint is that when Amy can tell the “flavor” of each people that she met, I mean I don’t get it, does she really have sixth-sense of having that ability, why does she tell the flavor of these people, are they food, bubble gum, candy, or something, what’s with flavours anyway? Let me explain here: Amy often tells the flavor of the people that she knows as a sense of their personality like are they good or bad, it’s just almost having her to sense any life force of these people, it’s kinda true to know if anyone were to be trusted but that doesn’t mean that she’s psychic or something, and if I were to have a flavor, it would be pure green matcha flavor, it’s healthy, warm, and most likely to have a mental spirit which makes you a strong and a smart person that can do anything. Somehow I do have a sixth-sense to see if anyone is to be trusted or not, even when I review this comic, this comic all about flavors. As my opinion to Amy flavor, it would be a fruit of cheery because it tastes very cheery, as for her personality she seemed to be a good girl with a cute smile and she actually puts everyone in a good mood when she’s around. Probably that’s the point for having a flavor that defines her personality. At first, when I read the first episode, I didn’t even know why Amy said something about flavors, right until I understood what she really meant about the flavor. The flavor is like giving a definition of a personality of the people that Amy senses what their flavor is like.

Then, whenever I read the comic, I don’t even know the plot anymore, like is it like the modern life version of the comic? Why does everyone has some amazing tech, like the glasses, robots…. oh no, and most importantly cyborgs that assassinate people for no reason, and mystery murders? I do get that this story goes somewhere, but I can’t believe that this comic is actually heartfelt stories that are actually appropriate for all ages, that is like reading the Dragon Ball manga which makes everyone so interested of the action where every warrior are fighting monsters rather than any other stuff and even the gags of the comic. Some say this comic is almost more like real life, with all the technology going on, I think Apple has conquered Space Boy’s world, in other words, thanks, Steve Jobs. The earthlings on this comic are often using the VR glasses, no now it’s the AR glasses, which you can use it anywhere you go, whether you’re at work, at school, even at the streets or at home, it’s like Google or something. And by using the glasses it just almost takes you to the afterlife. I mean I don’t have any AR glasses, and if I were to have one of those in my possession, would I be staring at some Windows 10 loading screen, or would I have to play Sword Art Online until my mind blanks out and become unconscious? Or ask Amazon Alexa to do some groceries for me? Or play Pokemon Go. Use one of these ideas for your company’s next AR glasses product or update….. you’re welcome.

So anyway I’m gonna wrap this up, the plot is amazing to begin with, even if there is to tell a story about a girl and a boy become friends, the world that Stephen McCranie has created is very promising and actually more beautiful than I ever thought. I do love reading this comic on Webtoon, but publishing this as a graphic novel is really an amazing thing that anyone has ever done. But, once you read the following episodes, you can’t actually stop reading because you’ll never know what’s going to happen next. I got to say, the characters were lovely, and I do like Amy even more because of her gentle and sweetness and as I mentioned the flavor. It’s actually a great story to read for the kids and for teens. I do have something to say to him, of course,is that his comic is actually amazing for me to read and somehow as an artist, your stories and the art is an inspiration to me to have any good ideas for a comic for me to make, and I would really learn something from you. I would recommend to anyone to have this wonderful graphic novel in your possession because the story has a lot of sense of feels and flavors in it.