BUZZ!

by Ananth Hirsh, Tess Stone (Illustrator)

Webster is a bundle of nerves headed into his first day of high school, but whatever academic and social horrors he feared are nothing compared to what's in store for him as he stumbles into an unsanctioned, street-level spelling bee! And this ain't no staged production, either - letters fly like jump kicks and the losers leave bruised and beaten more often than not! Soon he's propelled into the fast-paced world of competitive spelling by the mysterious Outlaw King and his cohort the Black Queen. Does Webster have what it takes to get the spelling world buzzing? Find out in this word-based battle royale from web-sensations Ananth Panagariya (Johnny Wander) and Tessa Stone (Hanna is Not a Boy's Name)!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Young Adult, Humor, Fiction, Contemporary

169 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2013

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the 2013 YA graphic novel Buzz! (read on Open Library), author Ananth Panagariya (who seems to now be called Ananth Hirsh so I guess I should be using said name in my review) and illustrator Tess Stone show us anxious student Webster who just wants to survive his first day of high school unscathed. But on the way to school (and after being warned by his older sister Merriam to tread carefully and to watch out for danger etc.) Webster literally stumbles upon a strange and uncanny street brawl type of scenario and is quickly thrust into a world of underworld spelling bee battles, where spoken, where spelled letters transform into explosions of brute force and violence, where champion spellers must go by multiple aliases lest they be swamped and pawed at by overzealous and crazed fans, and where the secret Spelluminati obviously has dark plans that may involve Webster himself (and that yes, having Hirsh call his main character Webster and his sister Merriam is certainly fun and deliciously ironic, as is calling that secret society in Buzz! the Spelluminati).

However albeit (the above mentioned) wordplay encountered in Buzz! did tickle my fancy a bit and even though most of the online reviews of Buzz! seem exceedingly positive and as such also claim that Ananth Hirsh's text and Tess Stone's illustrations work nicely together and are also really really fun, sorry, but I personally do very much and in fact totally have to disagree with said assessments and to point out in no uncertain terms that my own personal reading reaction regarding Buzz! has been almost entirely negative (both textually and illustratively). For yes indeed, the spelling-bee-turned-Hollywood-action-movie like feel of Hirsh's text is much too violent and also much too ridiculous for me (and with in my opinion there being no textual depth at all to Buzz! either and thus basically showing a story totally lacking nuance, totally annoyingly cinematic, totally not for me at all so to speak). And yes, after around forty pages into regarding Buzz!, both Ananth Hirsh's majorly, massively personally annoying penmanship and also Tess Stone's to and for my eyes and much too manga like (read quite ugly) pictures (and with me especially despising her duotone black/grey/white with occasional annoying splotches of intense and freaky yellow colour scheme), this did make me only willing to very cursively skip the remainder of Buzz!, to also only consider a one star rating for both text and images and to also not bother even remotely recommending this book (although considering the positive reviews I have seen, maybe readers into graphic novels and manga like artwork would have a much more positive attitude regarding Buzz! than I did).

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 3 out of 5]

A visually arresting graphic novel about a world where correct spelling and spelling bees have a lot of power. There's quite a lot of characterisation here, for characters that only really appear to be beaten in an illegal spelling bee. Wait, is it an illegal spelling bee? The book starts out with an illegal spelling bee, but are the bee battles after that still the illegal kind? Wait, why are these illegal? What is the deal with spelling in this world anyway? I don't need every aspect of a world explained to me, but I found myself getting needlessly confused here, because I basically didn't understand what the world's rules are.

One aspect is how spelled words are visually represented, which is very physical and agressive. I first interpreted this figuratively, but then later on it seems like these words are literally there, smashing into opponents? Sometimes this way of representing words makes the words hard to read.

I've been reading an ARC of this reprinted version, so this may be corrected in the final version, but I found two of the supposedly correct spelled words that were actually spelled incorrectly ('homogeous', missing an N and 'hyberbole' instead of hyperbole). That feels like a big oversight for a book about spelling.

(Thanks to Oni Press for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley)

[First Second Books]

This is like the spelling bee version of Jasper Fforde’s Tuesday Next universe – instead of (as well as?) everyone being obsessed with books, their number one priority is spelling! And competitive spelling bees, which turn out to be as exciting as any professional wrestling match, since the words come to life!

This book has crazy dynamic artwork and an edge-of-your-seat spelling competition – to the death!

[heptagrammaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

what if spelling bees but tournament arc shonen


Ananth Hirsch's Buzz! is a gloriously inane premise taken up with utmost seriousness in the service of gloriously pulpy tropey fun. In which also: any sufficiently inventive typography is indistinguishable from battle magic.

{ Review of an advanced reader's copy provided by NetGalley and Oni Press. }

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in a world which revolves around spelling bees, awkward teen Webster gets drawn into the world of illegal one-on-one street spelling bees. He’s befriended by a pair of spelling outlaws after they see the potential in him and decide to enter him in the biggest spelling competition in the land. Can Webster defeat the most dangerous speller of them all and bring down the Spelluminati?

Published by Oni Press and drawn in Tessa Stone’s Manga-influenced art style, Buzz! bears more than a passing resemblance to Oni’s biggest success, Scott Pilgrim. Ananth Panagariya and Stone take the dull concept of spelling bees and jazz them up by making the letters that spell the words become actual weapons to attack opponents with so you get the Scott Pilgrim-ish lavish fight sequences. As you would expect in a comic with such a heavy emphasis on spelling bees ruling the world, the book is quite comedic and knowingly silly, a tone that’s a lot like Scott Pilgrim’s.

Stone’s art style manages to make two people spelling obscure words seem extremely dramatic which is a helluva feat by itself. The opponents Webster go up against are also similarly outré from an immortal who has seen every language develop since man first appeared to a sorceress who magics up words.

I found the story to be a bit one-dimensional – we don’t spend much time outside the tournament to learn more about the characters’ wider world so that it restricts the reader from being fully drawn into the book. Given the huge cultural significance of spelling bees in this culture, I’d have liked to have seen it reflected in the architecture, or fashion, or dialogue rather than have the outside world be unaffected by it, besides cheering on spellers in a stadium. Also the characters are somewhat archetypical – not one of them seeming original, and the dialogue is a bit dull.

I do like the direction of this book and would like to see more comics like this that take an ordinary concept and play around with it to create something different and clever, rather than see even more superhero analogue stories or fantasy/sci-fi mash-ups. Buzz! is an entertaining enough book that fans of manga (think Dragon Ball’s tournaments but with a much larger vocabulary) and Scott Pilgrim will enjoy the most.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted so badly to like this book. I am a big Hanna is Not a Boy's Name fan and I jumped at the chance to read something new involving Tessa Stone, but while I loved her art here, I felt like the story just fell flat. It was such a great concept: the idea of a world focused around spelling bees, where teens participate in underground spelling cage matches, is SO COOL! But the story came out feeling totally lopsided. There was no setup, no worldbuilding, and not even enough introductory background information to allow me to suspend my disbelief. The pacing was way off both in the writing and the way the panels were arranged, the characters felt flat, and half the time there were no visual cues as to where, when, and how scenes were taking place from one panel to another.

Everything about the plot is really compelling, but the execution completely fell apart. Maybe if I hadn't seen so much hype around this book I would have enjoyed it more, but the extent to which it failed to meet those expectations was super disappointing.

[Bug · Rating 3 out of 5]

short, silly & fun & a very Okay Sure! experience

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange little fellow. It's one of those books that take you half-way through till you fall for it. The second half was just so much more entertaining as by then I'd caught up in the story and characters, which are very unusual, to say the least. This is a take on the martial arts battle mangas only here we have spelling bee competitors battling each other with the letters forming into solid shapes and attacking the other person, causing injury. OK, it sounds weird and honestly, I thought what the heck? when I first started it almost not wanting to finish the book. But I'm glad I did because it has a good message of believing in yourself and it turned out to be quite a fun story. I can see myself enjoying this much more as a teen as I was one of those "word nerd" girls. LOL. I liked the art; very manga-like but the use of yellow in the b/w illustrations was not aesthetically pleasing.

[spalanai ⛤ · Rating 3 out of 5]

***I thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review***

as a word nerd, i loved the concept A LOT and need an animation on this right now. the use of classic cartoon clichés and tropes made me feel really nostalgic, reminiscent of kids next door. i feel old.

the art was nice but it could use a bit of editing in terms of organising the panels and making the font more readable. it felt brimming to the top.

overall, i enjoyed it so<3

x

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an interesting and creative concept for words to be weapons. You can tell that this was a heartfelt project for the people who made it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where in the world is Tessa Stone?

After the abrupt (and unannounced) discontinuation of Hanna is Not a Boy's Name, Tessa Stone returns to the comic world with a bang. Buzz!, a story about Spelling Bee Fight Club, follows the adventures of Webster (haha) and his unfortunate involvement in the dark underbelly of spelling bee politics.

I hate to compare Buzz! with Tessa's previous work (especially since it it ended on such an unfortunate note), but I am going to because of her sudden return. A lot of her fans had wondered when the next page of HINABN was going to be released, but she disappeared without a word. Her fans will be rejoicing when they see her new work.

The characters are reminiscent of previous characters of Tessa. Webster and Khan seem to share a lot of physical attributes of Hanna (gangly, awkward, childish) and Zombie (tall, more masculine).

However, aside from those physical similarities (and some related to personality), the two stories could not be any more different. Ananth Panagariya (you'll know him from Johnny Wander, which is drawn by Yuko Ota) crafts and intelligent and extremely ridiculous (yet fun!) story about spelling bees.

One of the best parts of the novel is the way that the art and words are combined. The words that are spelled are seamlessly added to the environment in amazing ways for each word.

Tessa's pacing and paneling are still top-notch, which creates smooth transitions from scene to scene. None of the panels feel too busy or quick and no page feels like there is too much going on.

What is interesting about Buzz! (in comparison to HINABN) is the use of colour. In HINABN, each page was fully painted and had a full palette. Buzz! uses a limited palette of black, white, grey, and yellow, which highlights key elements of each scene. (Obviously this is due in part to the cost issue of publishing a full-colour graphic novel of this length, in addition to time it would take to colour everything fully.)

Tessa's artistic growth continued long after HINABN ended. It's great to see her working again (and in a professional capacity this time!).

I truly look forward to seeing more from her in the future. I hope that this is not the last we see of her.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the funnest comics I've read all year. It is very reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim (to be honest, I haven't read, only saw the movie) in a number of ways. The story revolves around a nerdy freshman that stumbles into a underground spelling bee and then gets roped up into the regionals and nationals by The Outlaw King. It makes these spelling bees into these huge popular spelling bees that are akin to gladiatorial bouts. People have handles, instead of their real name (to avoid unwanted attention from megafans), costumes, and other stuff to turn them into spelling luchadores, essentially. Opponents have names like, The Black Bee, The Beest, Uzi, Psychic, The Immortal, etc.

I loved the panelling. The more chaotic the spelling fight, the more chaotic the panels got. The artwork was hard edged and sharp, with black, white, solid greys and a particularly vibrant yellow. The yellow is generally used to point out focus on something, or just to break up the illustration. It isn't my favorite style, but it was suitable for this comic. Another thing I loved was how the letters being spelled would come alive and be used to fight the opponent. Uzi, for instance, rapid fires his letters and they shoot like bullets. One other guy gets mad when he loses, says X and pulls it out of the word bubble to act as a sword. This was really well done throughout and becomes important in a final twist in the end.

I would definitely read this one-off book again and it's very kid friendly too. I hope I can find more from this author and illustrator.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book quite a bit. Spelling bees have become huge. Like insanely popular for some reason. It even leads to underground spelling bee competitions. And everyone has a style of spelling that lets them attack their opponent. The premise makes me feel like this could have been a manga. And the art leans that way too, but it is not quite as stylized as most manga tend to be.

The story is pretty straight forward. Webster is a young man who is just entering high school, he has been studying like mad, and he happens to run across an illegal bee that jumpstarts the whole book. The characters he meets there shape how he approaches the rest of the challenges in the book. Of course, they have their own motives and hope that Webster can help them achieve their goals. There is even a group of people out to oppose them. They aren't necessarily bad guys or villains though. It takes on sort of a heist style feeling as Webster and his friends try to take down the group known as the Spelluminati.

Where the book really stood out to me is in the art. The use of color is fantastic. The art is mostly black and white with patches of yellow thrown in to accentuate the characters or events. This really sticks with the whole bee theme going on in the book. The style of the art is cartoonish. It works well with the story and lets the spelling bee moments become a bit more interesting as you see the character spelling the words and shaping the world around them. This was actually quite a bit different in tone and story than I was expecting and the book is better for it.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for the IRCB Recommended Reading Challenge 2018.

As a former spelling bee champ, I wanted SO badly to like this book. I love the concept - the spelling bee circuit also has a seedy underbelly of underground bees, cool codenames, and oh yeah - when you spell stuff out in a bee you can end up giving damage (as many other reviewers said, this reminded me of manga-type action and it was neat). With all that going for it, I still found myself having to push to keep reading - the story felt somewhat disjointed and at times too rushed.

The layout of the pages was sometimes confusing and I found myself re-reading dialogue multiple times like, "Did that character really say that? I thought that was the other guy's thing...?" but I enjoyed the art style, all black and white with pops of yellow.

Recommended if you are interested in Scrabble cults, dorky codenames, and beating the shit out of an immortal being with your knowledge of Hawaiian fish.

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that's an original concept. It's basically every tournament story you've ever read, except it takes place using deathmatch-style spelling bees. And it works, almost entirely due to the artwork, which is fantastically stylized. Words as weapons, armor, swords, all done in black and white and yellow. The style is very unique looking, and gives the story all kinds of energy and punch that it logically shouldn't have. Even as it pulls out every trope of the fighting tournament genre, it feels novel and fun. It's a sheer blast to read.

[Elna · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's fantastic energy here, but that's about the only positive. There's not enough background so while things should seem poignant (Webster's parents are deported! King is outlawed from Spelling Bees because his parents!) I'm just confused and wishing I had more information. The battles with letters/words seem like a cool idea, but it's really visually hard to follow and I don't understand the rules or format.

[Amanda B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spelling Bee Fight Club. Highly recommended for fans of Scott Pilgrim--a little "cleaner" of a read so safe to recommend for younger readers as well. This book had me helpless with laughter more than once.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun, funny graphic novel in which spelling bees are portrayed like a shonen fighting series. It's entertaining to note the words that come up, and which are used as "weapons," and I like the angular, expressive black and white art that uses yellow as an accent color.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great art, but it was just so...boring. I wanted to like it, but I couldn't.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Scott Pilgrim entered spelling bees.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for an advance copy of this graphic novels that tells of a world where words are power, and that Spelling Bees are not only big business but something that needs to be controlled, and a group of r-e-b-e-l-s that are spelling their best to try and stop it.

I have been reading comics and graphic novels for a long time, starting in the days of my grandmother buying them off the racks in newsstands, going to my drugstore to whip through the spinner looking for new titles, and even now download ebooks to read. I have watched the coming of graphic novels with a lot of hope, and understanding that if at all possible comic book publisher will somehow screw it up. Maybe it is the proliferation of publishers that are making graphic novels the joys that they are know. Different voices, different stories. Tales for all ages, niche stories for others, and stories that are fun. And original. And with a love of words that is rare today. And necessary. And I can't reiterate enough fun. BUZZ! is written by Ananth Hirsh, with illustrations from Tess Stone and tells of a world where words have the power to unite the planet to watch a full-contact spelling bee, and three brave contestants who plan to free the words by winning it all.

Webster and his sister have only each other since the disappearance of their parents years earlier. Their parents ran afoul of those who control the largest most powerful unit of spellers the world of Spelling Bees has seen. Webster's older sister is very protective of Webster, and she should be as Webster has a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Instead of enjoying his first day of high school, Webster finds himself involved in a illegal spelling bee, being chased by the cops, and finding new friends. The Outlaw King as he calls himself has been banned from Spelling Bees but sees in Webster a skill to take on the consortium controlling words. The Bandit Queen, again a nickname is a speller and a thief, and also become a supporter of Webster, who has shown a skill at putting letters together. Dubbed the Golden Kid, Webster enters the Spelling Bee, finding that letters can hurt, evil is all around them, and o a quick wit and a grasp of pronunciation might be only thing keeping them from being erased off the board.

What a great story. This is a reprint, appearing in color, and if anything is even more topical and important in these days of autocorrect and Chat AI. The story is clear, the characters are well written and interesting and most of all the book is fun, and loves language and words in a way that is so rare. One can learn new words, enjoy the art and follow the story, not knowing that one is being taught. The idea is so original, again rare in a world filled with Intellectual Properties. My biggest problem was that I wanted more. The art is fantastic. Bright crisp, shiny clear, with lettering that makes the words seem like characters in the story. The artist takes every idea and make it unique. I really enjoyed just about everything here, and again wanted more.

The story is perfect for any age, in fact I might try my nephews on this. Both are not readers, however they do like to learn, and something like this, with cartoon violence, big colors and fun characters might get their attention. A great gift for any age for readers who life fun stories, learning new things and love language. I hope there is more planned.

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is amazingly dynamic, especially during the spelling contest. It's like the contestants are casting powerful spells rather than spelling out words. The whole thing is exaggerated to say the least, especially given the physical effect of spelling out a word, but that's what stands out as unique in this book. It's a bit like manga in this regard.

Webster is a geeky dude in high-school. Merriam is his older, cooler, hotter sister who is training him in spelling. Thanks to Khan, nicknamed the Outlaw King, Webster gets mixed up in an illegal spelling bee contest. He does fine, but the grammar police break up the party and he gets away with the Black Queen's help, real name Bonnie ('ie', not 'y'). She is just as famous in the spelling bee circles as Khan is. The story follows Webster on the road to national spelling bee champion.

When Webster meets the Outlaw King again he is dared into accepting to participate in a national spelling bee contest. Poor, innocent Webster is so easy to control. Khan was part of the Spelluminati, a group that has files on everybody, and wants to take them down. What he doesn't know is that the Spelluminati already reached Bonnie and Merriam.

The contest goes well for Webster and Black Queen. The final match is between Webster and the feared Beest who savagely defeated the Black Queen previously. Before the match begins she reveals herself as Merriam. Their word battle lasts for hours and Merriam is the first to give up. Webster becomes the national champion and thanks his sister for training him so hard. Meanwhile Khan finds evidence that the Spelluminati were responsible for Webster's parents being deported and the group is arrested.

Webster already has another contest to look forward to as he, Khan, Bonnie and Merriam drive into the sunset.

[karenbee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Birdie loved BUZZ! and thought I should read it and I totally get why she loved it. It's got a cool concept—spelling bees are big competitions with correctly spelled words becoming physical weapons, I think? The world is sort of THERE, and you have to figure a lot of it out yourself without enough clues to feel like you fully comprehend it; maybe it needed a Star Wars scroll at the beginning. Without context, the big reveals were just more clues to add to the puzzle, not Jaw-Dropping Moments.

I loved the artwork and strict color palette. Little word jokes brought me joy even though I didn't always understand what was happening.

Like I said, I get why Birdie loved BUZZ! and I LOVE that she enjoyed a book like this enough to recommend it, even if it wasn't totally my jam.


Irrelevant note: "Weirdo" was misspelled in a book that's literally about a world that values correctly spelled words—as someone who enjoys spotting random typos in published works, I could not have asked for more.

[Merritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought I'd see the day where I'd read the words "underground spelling bee" but here we are, and I'm glad that I did.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Oni Press for the review copy of #Buzz. All opinions are my own.

There's something so fun about a graphic novel that doesn't take itself too seriously but also goes all-in for a wild concept. Buzz! builds a world of grammar-police, spelling obsessed populace, and phonics foes through bright yellow hues and whitty comebacks. This was a fun read that reminded me a lot of Scott Pilgrim Vs The World's silly premise.

The characters are unique and perhaps overly original for a story about letter duels. But that's what makes the story enjoyable, and frankly pretty camp.

If you want a quick read where the artists really play around with how many ways they could spell out words through visual means, this is the book for you. A lot of creative liberties were taken but it's fun all the same. Honestly, I wouldn't be upset if a volume 2 of this ever found it's way to my inbox.

[Eliran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this was an interesting read. The art reminds me of Jet Set Radio and Scott Pilgrim. The use of yellow as a spot color amidst black and white is also visually stunning and works well with the action.
I also learned some new words, which is cool, I guess.
Interesting premise with spelling bees being a type of sanctioned sport, which naturally gave way to seedy, underground illegal spelling bees. The words seem to have power as the characters spell the words and different effects happen. I enjoyed the breaking the 4th wall at different points with the characters taking the letters out of their word ballons and using them as weapons.
The overall story us about young Webster, a soft spoken, typical nerdy kid, headed to his first day of high school. The coming of age story is alright, but I honestly was more interested in the world and side characters. Characters such as the suave Outlaw King, the mysterious Black Queen and Webster's sister, Merriam(obvious joke right there).

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashley tweeted a piece of art from this and I thought it looked really cool so she lent me her copy, and I just devoured all of it in a single sitting. I love it. It’s aggressively my thing: a graphic novel with a super cool spot color style that is, perhaps paradoxically, a deeply nerdy celebration of language.

It’s a very silly world where spelling bees are the most serious business, where spelling words creates physical manifestations out of the words and letters that the combatants use to physically attack each other. It dives into deep cut etymology, uses IPA to obscure the correct spelling from the reader (allowing the tension of whether a character will spell correctly or not, and also giving some nerd readers like me a chance to spell it and feel clever for getting it right), and is as visually inventive as it is linguistically compelling. Like, damn, this is hyper targeted at my interests. Love love love it.

[Shelly Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

(More like a 4.5)
This was handed to me to read and so I did. What a unique tale this comic turned out telling. I had absolutely no clue at all what I was getting myself into when I first started reading it but quickly came to realize that it's about spelling bees.
This story starts out with an underground very illegal spelling bee taking place and then just goes right on from there to a the legit scene. It gets all sorts of crazy as it goes on and, I'll admit I might have gotten lost a time or two between the big ol' words being tossed around and battles taking place, but in the end this was just a fun story that was like no other I have ever encountered.
The artwork is fantastic! The only colors used are black, yellow, gray, and white and it works perfectly. I definitely think that this comic is one that everyone should get the chance to check out. It's unique in every way and one you just don't want to miss.

[LaShana Claude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wbester is a bundle of nerves headed into his first day of high school...

...but whatever academic and social horrors he feared are nothing compared to what's in store for him as he stumbles into an unsanctioned street level spelling bee!

And this aint no staged production, either letters fly like jump kicks and the losers leave bruised and beaten more often than not! Soon he's propelled into the fast paced world of competitive spelling by the mysterious Outlaw King and his cohort the Black Queen.

Does Webster have what it takes to get the spelling world buzzing? Find out in this word based battle royale from web sensations Ananth Panagariya (Johnny Wander) and Tessa Stone ( hanna is not a boys name!)

[Elli · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'aimerais que tout le monde ouvre ce livre dans les mêmes conditions que moi : avec un gros faible pour les scénarios d'Ananth (johnnywander.com) et sans avoir la moindre idée de ce qui va se passer dans les pages suivantes. (Très, très) bonne surprise garantie.

Sur des planches noires et blanches savamment relevées de jaune pétant, Tessa Stone envoie des personnages loufoques se battre à coup de lettres. Si le type d'histoire, un gamin sorti de nulle part embarqué dans un tournoi, sent le manga à plein nez, le caractère des personnages et les références culturelles ramènent l'action aux US pour un mélange sympa. Un excellent one-shot qui n'attend pas de suite. Les plus curieux garderont un dictionnaire à portée de main.
Vous ne jouerez plus jamais au Scrabble de la même façon !

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightfully weird graphic novel with great word-play (geddit) and a fun, fast-paced plot. Definitely some laugh-out-loud moments and it's great to see Tessa Stone back at it again. The concept is just so FUN I just don't mind the couple little things (I wanted MORE because I'm greedy, and I do wish some of the action spreads were easier to take in at a glance because I found myself skimming after reading the IPA, and undoubtedly missed some of the art) that were detractors.

LIFE AND DEATH SPELLING BEES. YES.