Tsunami

by Ned Wenlock

At school, being right isn’t always the right answer.

Peter is a misfit, an awkward 12-year-old who’s mercilessly bullied in school and quietly ignored at home. Peter’s lonely life in small-town New Zealand is upended by the arrival of Charlie, a badass girl who might just be the friend Peter has been needing… But when Peter’s bull-headed commitment to the truth brings him into conflict with Gus, a troubled and violent classmate, things quickly spiral out of control and the two boys find themselves in a terrifying situation neither of them could have ever imagined.

Drawn in a charming and disarmingly cartoony style and full of pitch-perfect dialogue, Tsunami is a devastating and hilarious coming-of-age story, a nuanced examination of adolescent alienation and the unpredictable consequences of our actions.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Bande Dessinée, Young Adult

276 pages, Unknown Binding

Published July 31, 2023

Reviews

[Élise Massé · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pas mauvais, mais il y avait selon moi quelques longueurs. Je vais avoir de la difficulté à la recommander en boutique car je n'ai aucune idée a quel type de client celle ci pourrait aller 🤷🏼‍♀️ L'intimidation, les premiers amours, le divorce. Une bande dessinée sur les gros moments d'une vie d'ados.

[François Vigneault · Rating 5 out of 5]

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."

[Tim Rooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my full review on Comics Beat.

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.

[Ciara Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 the story.

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. I normally don't rate books on Goodreads anymore, but this deserves 5 stars.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my 1000th book read

[Louise Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was blown away by this book. The illustrations are cute and deceptively simple, yet the layers of the story are anything but. It's a story that really makes you think about the fine line between success and failure; happiness and despair, and the tenuous moments in our lives that can inadvertently lead us onto the wrong path. Life can throw a lot at us, and much of the time we continue to bear it, but sometimes that final straw comes along that sends us over the edge. I loved this book so much I gave it to my 13-year-old daughter to read. She loved it too and we discussed it for ages. Highly recommend.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brutal, beautiful depiction of Kiwi life - the bullying and darkness that clouds a kid’s mind. So sharply observed.

[Jacinthe Crête · Rating 3 out of 5]

À qui ce livre peut-il bien s'adresser ?

Point positif : la traduction d'Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau

[Megan Gendron · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5


Une histoire touchante sur l’intimidation, la violence et l’amitié. J’ai beaucoup aimé, le protagoniste est cute, innocent (ce n’est peut-être pas le bon mot), il est franc et ne cherche qu’à faire le bien, mais tout se met en travers de sa route. Je recommanderais certainement d’avoir cet album dans votre bibli de classe (premier et deuxième cycle également).

Seul petit bémol: plusieurs des personnages se ressemblent, donc ça devient difficile parfois de les démêler. J’aurais ajouté des petits éléments, de la couleur peut-être, pour identifier chacun.

[Maude Fleurent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je ne m’attendais tellement pas à ce type d’histoire. Ça m’a rappelé le film Donner au suivant. On dirait que les illustrations adoucissent le thème, nous amadoue en tant que public. Pour ensuite, nous éclater la fin en pleine face. Une conclusion qui te laisse sans voix et qui rappelle la fragilité de la vie.

Le message frappe fort. On parle d’intimidation, de l’impulsivité de l’adolescence et de violence qui brise des vies.

[Maude · Rating 5 out of 5]

on est le lendemain de ma lecture et j’y pense encore… c’est une bd pénible de par son sujet qui est l’intimidation, des jeunes sans présence positive et le raz-de-marée qui s’ensuit. à qui je peux suggérer ce titre?

je n’ai pas aimé mais j’ai été scotché à ma chaise durant toute la lecture. c’est très réussi.

4,75

[Keen Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a grim, gritty and quite an unpleasant and confusing read. I really didn't enjoy the way the characters were drawn and found too many too similar and that became quite messy and irritating to read.

[Vanessa McDuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je veux une suite !!

[Sophie Dlair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beau dessin super aesthetic. Histoire très bien

[sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

jesus

[Miss Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was much darker than I'd imagined with a fairly grim ending. At school, instead of illustrating the story the teacher had read, Peter draws a sheep surrounded by wolves - "I took the theme of evil infiltrating good, as depicted by the wolf among the sheep, and flipped it to reflect my current position through my eyes you understand, of good being totally surrounded by evil…" His neighbour and classmate is a bully who threatens and beats him. Every action that boy takes (even if it seems sweet) is part of a bigger, meaner picture. The tsunami is a metaphor for the ever growing fear of an unseen threat. But by the end, you have to wonder whether Peter is good and innocent at all. It reminds me of a scene in To Kill a Mockingbird, but here it seems more deliberate. Nice cut away to the shower, Wenlock! The final panel is what I assume is a POV of the ocean which is flat (no ripple effect, no tsunami, no consequence) but Peter has a fear of water because he cannot swim. I wouldn't call this a bildungsroman because I don't see any growth or enlightenment in the characters - any of them - unless you add your own final panel.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Holly Illston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this ahead of my 10yo who got it from the children's section at the bookshop.

Interesting but darker than expected - I would say this is more for teenagers than children.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An original and unexpectedly dark YA graphic. All the feels.

[Ayxan · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

My main platforms: StoryGraph | Pending Plays | Instagram | YouTube

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to François Vigneault of PowWow Press and creator Ned Wenlock for this early look at Tsunami (2025), a coming-of-age graphic novel. The title is a reference to an emotional tsunami, a sudden build-up and explosive wave, that occurs in the life of Peter, a smallish senior who is bullied throughout school. He makes a friend who dissuades him from revenge for the cruelty, but she leaves while he is gone away in a kind of exile for a month. This book may be about the increasingly right-leaning Kiwi culture, but it is the same here and most other places, and has been for decades (forever?), the tendency to cruelty and violence, especially among boys.

The simple cartoony characters lend an eerie kind of harsh realism to the story, where you care about Peter and his dysfunctional middle class? Working class? Rural? Suburban? And that’s maybe the point: This isn’t a send-up of suburban culture but male youth violent culture, with a growing punk aesthetic through which the artists views this world. For more than half of the book I just thought of it as a straight-up bullying book, and it is, in so many typical ways, but it has something more to offer, especially in the comics language.

For greater context: Three blurbs on the book help you with how to read and understand it. One is from New Zeeland comics artist Dylan Horrocks (Hicksville, a tribute to the love of comics); another is from alt-comix creator and archivist Sammy Harkham (Karmer’s Ergot; The Blood of the Virgin) , and the third is Charles Forsman, (The End of the Fucking World, I Am Not Okay With This). These three are in a way perfect for understanding what Wenlock is doing, but there are more references: Charles Schultz, for his foundational principle of less is more, or as Scott McCloud makes clear in Understanding Comics, cartoony comics are the most universal, the most relatable.

I think of Josh Bayer’s Theth, though it is far more (intentionally) messy versus Wenlock’s simple cartoony vapid hollow men landscapes. Maybe what all of these works have in common is contemporary youth alienation, youth angst and horror and stark realism. Rare happy endings in this area of comics. And Young Adult literature is almost always about happy endings, that turn from youth struggle to adult health and healing, and this is an important move to help young people, no doubt. But sometimes there has to be punk anger, in My YA classes Forsman, who has a low Goodreads rating among adults, is very popular; they get him, and they would get vulnerable Peter. I highly suggest you check it out for what it offers to comics as well as youth psychology and sociology.

[SHANE ⋆.ೃ࿔* 🎆 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Catherine veut lire trop de livres · Rating 2 out of 5]

« C’est quoi un badass, Charlie? Ha. Sérieusement! Quelqu’un que tu veux pas te mettre à dos. Pourquoi? Parce qu’il est dangereux. Comment tu fais pour le savoir? Je sais pas. Il a fait quelque chose de mal. C’est tout? Non. Un vrai badass ne fait pas juste quelque chose de mal… Il fait quelque chose de terrible. Tellement terrible… qu’il n’a plus jamais besoin de faire ses preuves. » (Wenlock, Ned. Tsunami, pp.156-157)

2.9 Intimidation, absence parentale, transformation psychologique… Tout est là pour en faire une bande dessinée sur le passage de l’enfance à l’adolescence dans des environnements viciés mais pourtant, rien ne m’a accroché à ces personnages trop clichés. Dommage.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Barnaby Haszard · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know you're in a different kind of comic book world, closer to the bone, when the big brother has the little brothers chorusing "fuck you fuck you" a few pages in. The plain, expressive style hooked me initially, and I think it kept me hooked longer than I otherwise might have been considering the melodrama of the final third... Still. This is a story about bullies and misfits and teens reaching for something to hang onto, anything that will at least look at them straight on, and that makes it special.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I have picked up on my NZCYA Young Adult Fiction award nomination read-through.

Tsunami is a graphic novel that has a fairly simple style and look, but deals with some heavy topics such as bullying, family relationships, and the consequences of bad decisions.

I'm not a huge reader of graphic novels, but this one was very easy to follow and the quirky story and equally quirky characters kept me turning the page. The story felt very much like a NZ high school experience, and although I personally enjoy a more hopeful ending, I know that this book will absolutely appeal to young adult readers.

[Gabriella Grenier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce n’est pas le livre le plus enlevant que j’ai lu de ma vie, mais j’ai bien aimé! Ça m’a permis de décrocher, ce qui était l’objectif! Il était assez bon que j’aurais pu le lire d’un trait, ce que j’aime bien dans les romans graphiques!

[Liam Coll · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute, hits home as a bullied kid in nz

[Claire Cunningham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looks like this is for younger kids, but it definitely isn't. Deals with bullying, family relationships and how a bad decision can have a have a huge impact on life. Quite dark really.