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Steven Universe Edición española #3
Steven Universe Vol. 1: Too Cool for School
What’s to Love: Cartoon Network’s hit series Steven Universe has given us a serious case of the feels over and over again. Jeremy Sorese and Coleman Engle have done a fantastic job with the ongoing series, and now they’re teaming up with supervising director Ian Jones-Quartey to tackle the first-ever Steven Universe original graphic novel that reads like an extended episode! What It Is: Schoolboy Steven, activate! Steven finds himself enrolled in Connie’s school after a show-and-tell lesson goes awry...and things just get crazier from there! Steven is having a hard time fitting in with normal school and Connie just wants to graduate with good grades and a clean record, but when gem and homework collide, who knows what will happen. This is a lesson you don’t want to miss!
159 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 10, 2016
49 people are currently reading
462 people want to read
About the author
Jeremy Sorese
35 books30 followersJeremy Sorese was a writer and an illustrator for the Steven Universe comic book series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
July 25, 2018
Randomly read this in the library.
September 2, 2019
Esta muy chistoso, es Steven Universe. No hay que decir algo más.
December 5, 2016
I got a kick out of this graphic novel. It does absolutely nothing to introduce the world and characters, so newcomers should stay far away, but fans are gonna dig it.
My favorite bit is how 'Too Cool for School' is a story that can only be done as a comic. It reminded me a lot of a Telgemeier work, what with the overall vivid look to the school and students, as well as the exaggerated facial expressions. The show, with its low-key fight music and quicker pacing, would have hindered the slower, more downplayed narrative here.
I'm having fun chewing on the implications of this book's existence. (He he. Pretentious ole me.) The story doesn't necessarily contradict anything seen in the series proper, but we've never seen a school on the show before, or really, anyplace with mundane seriousness. We also don't see Connie going about her normal life very often. By relegating all of that to 'Too Cool for School', we're given the opportunity to look at her world, and the world of normal humans...or not. This is optional material. If you want to see a relatively-more-grounded part of Steven Universe, you can check it out; if you want to keep Steven Universe the way it is, you can skip it. There's an ownership of your experience with the series here, and I love that. = )
My favorite bit is how 'Too Cool for School' is a story that can only be done as a comic. It reminded me a lot of a Telgemeier work, what with the overall vivid look to the school and students, as well as the exaggerated facial expressions. The show, with its low-key fight music and quicker pacing, would have hindered the slower, more downplayed narrative here.
I'm having fun chewing on the implications of this book's existence. (He he. Pretentious ole me.) The story doesn't necessarily contradict anything seen in the series proper, but we've never seen a school on the show before, or really, anyplace with mundane seriousness. We also don't see Connie going about her normal life very often. By relegating all of that to 'Too Cool for School', we're given the opportunity to look at her world, and the world of normal humans...or not. This is optional material. If you want to see a relatively-more-grounded part of Steven Universe, you can check it out; if you want to keep Steven Universe the way it is, you can skip it. There's an ownership of your experience with the series here, and I love that. = )
April 7, 2016
A delightful departure from the short, blink-and-you'll-miss-it style the other comics in this franchise mostly adhere to! This is a full graphic novel about the time previously homeschooled Steven Universe followed his friend Connie to school, beginning as a show-and-tell exercise and ending up as a student. He has trouble fitting in and worries he's embarrassing Connie and getting her into trouble, but he's having a blast anyway. When his own show-and-tell subject turns out to be dangerous, he and and his guardians have to save the day (as their theme song always assures us they will do). There's also a little side story about a yard sale and it's truly adorable. I liked how well the characters' personalities stayed true to their source material, how sometimes the tropes happened how they're expected to happen and other times they didn't, and how much fun it is to see Steven around other kids (though it was mostly "hijinks ensue"). I don't know that it *quite* stands on its own enough to be appealing to people who don't like the television show already, but for those of us who do, it's just such a nice little visit with some of our favorite characters!
July 16, 2020
I recently got wrapped up in the Steven Universe animated series and picked this up from the library to give me a little fix between binges. It starts out okay, wondering why Steven doesn't go to school and what happens when he gives it a try. But the story just falls apart in the end.
The dialogue is occasionally awkward, and the text is poorly proofread. The art at least does a fair enough job of catching the likenesses.
This was disappointing, but I'm jonesing pretty hard, so I'm going to try some of the other Steven Universe graphic novels and hope they're better.
The dialogue is occasionally awkward, and the text is poorly proofread. The art at least does a fair enough job of catching the likenesses.
This was disappointing, but I'm jonesing pretty hard, so I'm going to try some of the other Steven Universe graphic novels and hope they're better.
August 11, 2016
Really fun to have a long-form story for Steven Universe in comic form. The writing is done in the proper style, and the characters voices match well". It's a pretty decent plotline. The one disappointing thing was the artist switched to someone else in the last quarter of the book, and they were clearly much less experienced. It's a shame that the second artist didn't even attempt to emulate the line style of the first artist-- the pen thickness and detail shift completely.
March 29, 2017
"You don't have to be a fan of the show to enjoy this graphic novel. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Adventure Time, Bee & Puppycat, or Bravest Warriors."
Read the rest of Libby's review at our blog: http://carnegiestout.blogspot.com/201...
Read the rest of Libby's review at our blog: http://carnegiestout.blogspot.com/201...
January 9, 2019
Really not that good, but I do like Steven Universe.
--Memorable moment--
Teacher: "Motherships" are what you call big alien space ships. Oh, you know like "Beam me, Star Command."
Pearl: Why would you assign your ship a gender?
--Memorable moment--
Teacher: "Motherships" are what you call big alien space ships. Oh, you know like "Beam me, Star Command."
Pearl: Why would you assign your ship a gender?
December 31, 2018
A cute one-shot about Steven Universe, Connie and the Crystal Gems. It also answers the question of whether or not Steven is being educated properly.
July 15, 2016
Curious as to what a boring school life would be for Steven? This book is quiet and sweet. Loses a lot of the charm of the show in doing so. Worth checking out for fans, especially those of Connie who gets a big role. The adults in this book are very over the top which makes the subtlety of the children look even more pale in comparison. Stay home schooled, Steven! The real world doesn't make much sense.
December 28, 2016
This reads pretty much like a fairly mundane episode of the show, with a bit of a strange cliffhanger tacked on to the end. I'm not sure there's much else to say about it. It's very short, and if you like the show, you'll probably like it, but I can't imagine specifically recommending it to anyone as being great or important to have read.
December 4, 2016
If you ever wondered about how Steven never seems to attend school... this story explains why.
April 7, 2016
We finally have a full-length graphic novel for Steven Universe and it's just lovely! It was so much fun to go to school with Steven, and in this longer format, the authors were able to take their time with it and make it feel almost like it could be an episode of the show.
There are things they could have done better, and I'll probably be kind of thorough with my discussion of those because I'm a SU nerd, but overall the enjoyment overshadows the disappointments. The characters we know and love were almost always right on with their characterization, and though the background characters new to the story here were pretty one-dimensional (and sometimes caricaturish), I could deal with it getting to see Steven in a new setting. Some of us had wondered about his school situation, since they never do explicitly state in the show that Steven's been educated at all, and this clears that up.
The art is cute, with the characters' body language feeling appropriate despite the slight lean off the show model (the characters look sort of lumpier and sketchier), and as always the backgrounds are lovely to look at. And while I don't quite think the comic will stand on its own for readers who don't watch the show, I think it's fantastic to have a volume like this for those of us who love little in-between snacks.
This book contains two full-color stories: The main story is "Too Cool for School," and then there's a little side story at the end called "Yard Sale." I'll examine "Too Cool for School" first and outline what I liked, what I didn't like, and what I thought was notable.
What I liked:
1. Steven is so dang melodramatic about no one wanting to entertain him in the beginning. He talks just like this in the show too, infusing everything with drama when he's overwhelmed. It's so Steven.
2. Connie brings Steven to school for show and tell and quickly makes a mess of explaining what Gems are. Her awkwardness was precious. I have personally tried to explain what Gems are to people who ask me about the show and it kinda sometimes goes a little bit like this. And he's so excited and eager to tell the other kids about being a half-Gem and enthusiastically admits he has no idea what exactly he is. He's just cute.
3. Steven starts obsessing over whether the Gems might have seen dinosaurs and it's really nice how the dialogue sounds like what real kids sometimes say.
4. When Connie and Steven get sent to the principal's office, you can just see the weight of Connie's parents' expectations pressing down on her shoulders as she wails about her permanent record. It's very true to her character.
5. Connie's resentment of Steven getting her in trouble evaporates relatively quickly when she sees him all wide-eyed about cafeteria lunch, and it's so perfect that she just can't stay mad at him. It reminds me a bit of their actual dynamic on the show during the episode "Fusion Cuisine."
6. When Connie set out to explain lunch cliques to Steven, I was expecting the sort of trite jocks/nerds/slackers dynamic, but they came up with some pretty unusual groups for the lunchroom. They have social media stars hanging out together, along with some board game enthusiasts, an anti-clique clique, and the Junior Safety Patrol. I figured they'd be portrayed as NERDS but Connie super respects them and isn't dismayed that Steven picks them to sit with (and of course he would; he'd love to be with people who appreciate protecting others!). I'm glad she wasn't like "no Steven they're unpopular," though she's even less popular so it works out. I like their design--I'm not sure what gender a couple of them are being portrayed as (which is nice ambiguity), though I'm sad they don't seem to have names.
7. I just love that Steven's chattering about school during his Gem mission. That's one thing I've always loved about the show: Steven is thrilled to talk about Gem stuff with everyday people, but he's also just as excited about mundane stuff that's new to him.
8. Pearl's comment about how Steven enjoys pummeling children his own age in dodgeball has the Pearl Tone exactly right. The way she humors him has a particular flavor and this nailed it.
9. The bickering between the Gems regarding whether Steven should go to school is just classic. Pearl is in her typical frame of mind--that only Gem education is important and he's already learning what's necessary--while Garnet is firmly on Team Trust Steven, insisting that if he wants to do it then it must be what he needs. And what Garnet says goes, so there. Perf.
10. The very mundane issue of getting a phone call through to contact the Gems when a snail monster started attacking the school was pretty entertaining.
11. I love when Pearl goes full Gem Dork on the principal when she's bragging about how cool her race is. It's accurate to TV Pearl--she loves telling everyone how great Gems are.
12. Steven wants to be called "marsh periwinkle" after a cute snail species. Connie objects but he seems adamant that he deserves this adorable name. YOU BET YOU DESERVE IT STEVEN. YOU ARE A MARSH PERIWINKLE FOR SURE.
13. I think it's cute that Connie feels so honored at being accepted onto the Junior Safety Patrol, and she's happy that some people like her and know her name, but then she finds attention at school overwhelming when everyone's treating her like a hero and happily reclaims her lunch nook in the library. Too many stories like hers have the introvert being saaaaad because she doesn't have friiieeends and then everything is solved when everyone suddenly loves her. But Connie ISN'T happy with that and never wanted it. Respect for introverts is rarely seen in plots like this and I loved seeing Connie withdrawing from the social attention and not being spun as a loser for doing so.
What I didn't like:
1. The front cover depicts Steven looking out the classroom window at the Temple. Nothing I've seen in the show suggests a school with that view would be possible, considering where the Temple is.
2. Connie's catching the bus at a stop that is apparently close enough to Steven's house that he happened to run into her. Connie doesn't live in Beach City, so I don't know why she's catching the bus there. She claims her dad's car is busted and that's why she's riding the bus, but then she even continues to ride the bus the following year. Not sure this was actually thought out.
3. I don't like how nobody wanted to hang out with Steven at the beginning but they didn't seem to have a reason. Amethyst literally said she was too bored to do anything and Pearl appeared to be ever so busy with . . . calisthenics? At least Garnet disappeared into her room and she could have been doing something important, but she didn't say what. I wouldn't mind if they volunteered a reason they couldn't pay attention to him right then, but this almost felt mean, and weird.
4. The teacher and the principal talk really cartoonishly (not in a good way); they say stuffy adult things and sometimes speak in ways that sound like a kid wrote what they think grown-ups sound like; they're unreasonable and use unnecessarily complex words in very awkward ways ("None of you are from space! That is highly improbable."). I also have a pet peeve about "adult who doesn't believe in fantastical story takes care to mock magic children who are telling the truth" tropes, especially if they immediately flip into starry-eyed awe when the proof arrives. The principal especially has some circular, repetitive, tortured-sounding scolding, particularly at the end (e.g., "With accidents of this magnitude disciplinary action is our only course of action"). The background kids are sometimes stuck in a sort of cruel hivemind too. Throwing erasers and paperballs at the new kid because he told a weird story about being a superhero seems exaggerated.
5. When Connie and Steven get called into the principal's office, Steven's dad is summoned but you never see the Maheswaran parents. Don't know why that is. I like that Greg points out that he didn't even know Steven was going to school, though.
6. I'm confused about why the second snail monster appeared. When they hunted down the first one, they found its Gem and bubbled it. Then the Gems said it was fine for Steven to take a snail shell from the site, only to find it turning up as a monster later. In other situations, mother monsters sometimes leave behind parasites after they've been defeated, but those parasites don't have Gems. This one did, so it must have been an identical second monster that the Gems didn't know was still there? I don't really understand how that happened.
7. The principal refers to Pearl as the "legal guardian" of Steven. Which she is not in any way. She's an alien from space with no legal standing of her own.
8. I think the principal deciding not to expel Connie because she got a good exam score is bizarre and nonsensical reasoning. It doesn't seem connected to the principal's reasoning about her endangering students by leading them to fight the snail.
9. Pearl protests the concept of "giving a ship a gender" when Steven's teacher talks about the mothership. She seems completely baffled by this, even though Gems don't have actual genders and THEY do this too. (They have called Gem monsters "mothers" if they spawn clones, and they called Rose Quartz Steven's mother even though she is technically not a woman.) I usually like when the Gems are confused about Earth stuff but this doesn't seem like it should confuse Pearl.
10. I fundamentally do not understand the ending of this story. Connie was almost expelled (and nonsensically saved through her exam score), and she was scolded and her friend kicked off the property. And yet when she returns to school in the fall (and has the same teacher), everyone is wearing glasses like hers to celebrate "Connie Day" and she's praised for "saving the school" (even though the building literally fell down) and Steven is also honored by the principal even as his expulsion is upheld. It just felt like a very strange and nonsensical way to end the story.
Notable:
1. The Gems are wearing their latest outfits in this comic! Amethyst has her black stars on her knees. BUT! In the frame when they warp away from fighting the snail monster, Garnet's colors have reverted to her first outfit. Just that one frame. Weird.
2. Pearl is oddly not drawn with blue eyes in "Too Cool for School." Her eyes are actually pretty important to her aesthetic, so it was weird to see her with black filled-in eyes in the first story. She has her blue eyes again in the short! (And in the first story, Sour Cream's blue eyes are filled in blue, so I'm not sure why Pearl's aren't.)
3. In a summer shot of the Cool Kids, Sour Cream is wearing his Pants Become Shorts in shorts mode. Nice callback. And Sadie's maybe flirting with a boy in the Big Donut, and Lars looks jealous!
4. There were unfortunately tons of language errors, punctuation glitches, and misspellings--which is a shame because this is a professional publication but it made me feel a little like I was reading a fan creation online. My list:
* Connie asks Steven why he's up so early with no question mark.
* The teacher says she'll send Steven to the "principals office," no apostrophe.
* Connie misspells her own last name in her talk bubble while discussing her future.
* Greg asks about signing something and doesn't get a question mark.
* Steven's handwritten sign misspells mustard as "mustart" and leaves a word out of "the fizz some lemon lime soda," which is odd for a kid who aced the final exam at the end.
* The coach asks the students to "gather round" with no ending punctuation in his talk bubble.
* Pearl refers to "chilren" in one talk bubble instead of "children."
* Steven asks about show and tell with a period instead of a question mark.
* The principal uses the word "unfortunetly."
* The principal utters this inexcusable sentence: "There are an order to things Miss Maheswaran that we must obey."
* The principal misspells "receive" as "recieve" in one talk bubble.
* And she uses the word "undoutably," spelled like that.
* Pearl's dialogue has "?!" at the end of a comment that wasn't in any way a question.
* Pearl uses the word "spacefairing." The word is actually "spacefaring."
* Pearl talks about Gems having "trancended" rigid structures instead of "transcended."
* And she uses the wrong its while talking about Steven's space family.
* The principal leaves an article out of this sentence: "Steven is never ever ever come to this school again."
* Connie manages to spell the Latin name of littoraria irrorata correctly, but then her talk bubble uses the word "reffered" instead of "referred."
* Connie asks a question about what makes Steven think he deserves a cute nickname but she leaves off the question mark.
And then there was the second story (which I may like even more than the main story!): the short "Yard Sale," in which Vidalia has a yard sale and Steven buys something special for each of the Gems, but then he lacks money for an old game system he wants to try. After some failed attempts to barter with Vidalia, they promise her babysitting for Onion, and Steven feels this is terrible because nothing is worth that.
Stuff I loved:
Amethyst has no idea why anyone would want to sell their stuff because she is a huge hoarder and I love her wanting to buy a purple guitar because it has two "thingies."
I CAN'T EVEN DEAL WITH GARNET WANTING THE MOM SQUAD SWEATER. IT IS THE CUTEST THING IN THE WORLD.
The mention of Vidalia knowing Amethyst well enough to know she does NOT want anything in that room was hilarious. And we have Pearl offering car repair and Garnet offering to break the car first. Garnet is just an incredibly special kind of funny and I just love it.
There are things they could have done better, and I'll probably be kind of thorough with my discussion of those because I'm a SU nerd, but overall the enjoyment overshadows the disappointments. The characters we know and love were almost always right on with their characterization, and though the background characters new to the story here were pretty one-dimensional (and sometimes caricaturish), I could deal with it getting to see Steven in a new setting. Some of us had wondered about his school situation, since they never do explicitly state in the show that Steven's been educated at all, and this clears that up.
The art is cute, with the characters' body language feeling appropriate despite the slight lean off the show model (the characters look sort of lumpier and sketchier), and as always the backgrounds are lovely to look at. And while I don't quite think the comic will stand on its own for readers who don't watch the show, I think it's fantastic to have a volume like this for those of us who love little in-between snacks.
This book contains two full-color stories: The main story is "Too Cool for School," and then there's a little side story at the end called "Yard Sale." I'll examine "Too Cool for School" first and outline what I liked, what I didn't like, and what I thought was notable.
What I liked:
1. Steven is so dang melodramatic about no one wanting to entertain him in the beginning. He talks just like this in the show too, infusing everything with drama when he's overwhelmed. It's so Steven.
2. Connie brings Steven to school for show and tell and quickly makes a mess of explaining what Gems are. Her awkwardness was precious. I have personally tried to explain what Gems are to people who ask me about the show and it kinda sometimes goes a little bit like this. And he's so excited and eager to tell the other kids about being a half-Gem and enthusiastically admits he has no idea what exactly he is. He's just cute.
3. Steven starts obsessing over whether the Gems might have seen dinosaurs and it's really nice how the dialogue sounds like what real kids sometimes say.
4. When Connie and Steven get sent to the principal's office, you can just see the weight of Connie's parents' expectations pressing down on her shoulders as she wails about her permanent record. It's very true to her character.
5. Connie's resentment of Steven getting her in trouble evaporates relatively quickly when she sees him all wide-eyed about cafeteria lunch, and it's so perfect that she just can't stay mad at him. It reminds me a bit of their actual dynamic on the show during the episode "Fusion Cuisine."
6. When Connie set out to explain lunch cliques to Steven, I was expecting the sort of trite jocks/nerds/slackers dynamic, but they came up with some pretty unusual groups for the lunchroom. They have social media stars hanging out together, along with some board game enthusiasts, an anti-clique clique, and the Junior Safety Patrol. I figured they'd be portrayed as NERDS but Connie super respects them and isn't dismayed that Steven picks them to sit with (and of course he would; he'd love to be with people who appreciate protecting others!). I'm glad she wasn't like "no Steven they're unpopular," though she's even less popular so it works out. I like their design--I'm not sure what gender a couple of them are being portrayed as (which is nice ambiguity), though I'm sad they don't seem to have names.
7. I just love that Steven's chattering about school during his Gem mission. That's one thing I've always loved about the show: Steven is thrilled to talk about Gem stuff with everyday people, but he's also just as excited about mundane stuff that's new to him.
8. Pearl's comment about how Steven enjoys pummeling children his own age in dodgeball has the Pearl Tone exactly right. The way she humors him has a particular flavor and this nailed it.
9. The bickering between the Gems regarding whether Steven should go to school is just classic. Pearl is in her typical frame of mind--that only Gem education is important and he's already learning what's necessary--while Garnet is firmly on Team Trust Steven, insisting that if he wants to do it then it must be what he needs. And what Garnet says goes, so there. Perf.
10. The very mundane issue of getting a phone call through to contact the Gems when a snail monster started attacking the school was pretty entertaining.
11. I love when Pearl goes full Gem Dork on the principal when she's bragging about how cool her race is. It's accurate to TV Pearl--she loves telling everyone how great Gems are.
12. Steven wants to be called "marsh periwinkle" after a cute snail species. Connie objects but he seems adamant that he deserves this adorable name. YOU BET YOU DESERVE IT STEVEN. YOU ARE A MARSH PERIWINKLE FOR SURE.
13. I think it's cute that Connie feels so honored at being accepted onto the Junior Safety Patrol, and she's happy that some people like her and know her name, but then she finds attention at school overwhelming when everyone's treating her like a hero and happily reclaims her lunch nook in the library. Too many stories like hers have the introvert being saaaaad because she doesn't have friiieeends and then everything is solved when everyone suddenly loves her. But Connie ISN'T happy with that and never wanted it. Respect for introverts is rarely seen in plots like this and I loved seeing Connie withdrawing from the social attention and not being spun as a loser for doing so.
What I didn't like:
1. The front cover depicts Steven looking out the classroom window at the Temple. Nothing I've seen in the show suggests a school with that view would be possible, considering where the Temple is.
2. Connie's catching the bus at a stop that is apparently close enough to Steven's house that he happened to run into her. Connie doesn't live in Beach City, so I don't know why she's catching the bus there. She claims her dad's car is busted and that's why she's riding the bus, but then she even continues to ride the bus the following year. Not sure this was actually thought out.
3. I don't like how nobody wanted to hang out with Steven at the beginning but they didn't seem to have a reason. Amethyst literally said she was too bored to do anything and Pearl appeared to be ever so busy with . . . calisthenics? At least Garnet disappeared into her room and she could have been doing something important, but she didn't say what. I wouldn't mind if they volunteered a reason they couldn't pay attention to him right then, but this almost felt mean, and weird.
4. The teacher and the principal talk really cartoonishly (not in a good way); they say stuffy adult things and sometimes speak in ways that sound like a kid wrote what they think grown-ups sound like; they're unreasonable and use unnecessarily complex words in very awkward ways ("None of you are from space! That is highly improbable."). I also have a pet peeve about "adult who doesn't believe in fantastical story takes care to mock magic children who are telling the truth" tropes, especially if they immediately flip into starry-eyed awe when the proof arrives. The principal especially has some circular, repetitive, tortured-sounding scolding, particularly at the end (e.g., "With accidents of this magnitude disciplinary action is our only course of action"). The background kids are sometimes stuck in a sort of cruel hivemind too. Throwing erasers and paperballs at the new kid because he told a weird story about being a superhero seems exaggerated.
5. When Connie and Steven get called into the principal's office, Steven's dad is summoned but you never see the Maheswaran parents. Don't know why that is. I like that Greg points out that he didn't even know Steven was going to school, though.
6. I'm confused about why the second snail monster appeared. When they hunted down the first one, they found its Gem and bubbled it. Then the Gems said it was fine for Steven to take a snail shell from the site, only to find it turning up as a monster later. In other situations, mother monsters sometimes leave behind parasites after they've been defeated, but those parasites don't have Gems. This one did, so it must have been an identical second monster that the Gems didn't know was still there? I don't really understand how that happened.
7. The principal refers to Pearl as the "legal guardian" of Steven. Which she is not in any way. She's an alien from space with no legal standing of her own.
8. I think the principal deciding not to expel Connie because she got a good exam score is bizarre and nonsensical reasoning. It doesn't seem connected to the principal's reasoning about her endangering students by leading them to fight the snail.
9. Pearl protests the concept of "giving a ship a gender" when Steven's teacher talks about the mothership. She seems completely baffled by this, even though Gems don't have actual genders and THEY do this too. (They have called Gem monsters "mothers" if they spawn clones, and they called Rose Quartz Steven's mother even though she is technically not a woman.) I usually like when the Gems are confused about Earth stuff but this doesn't seem like it should confuse Pearl.
10. I fundamentally do not understand the ending of this story. Connie was almost expelled (and nonsensically saved through her exam score), and she was scolded and her friend kicked off the property. And yet when she returns to school in the fall (and has the same teacher), everyone is wearing glasses like hers to celebrate "Connie Day" and she's praised for "saving the school" (even though the building literally fell down) and Steven is also honored by the principal even as his expulsion is upheld. It just felt like a very strange and nonsensical way to end the story.
Notable:
1. The Gems are wearing their latest outfits in this comic! Amethyst has her black stars on her knees. BUT! In the frame when they warp away from fighting the snail monster, Garnet's colors have reverted to her first outfit. Just that one frame. Weird.
2. Pearl is oddly not drawn with blue eyes in "Too Cool for School." Her eyes are actually pretty important to her aesthetic, so it was weird to see her with black filled-in eyes in the first story. She has her blue eyes again in the short! (And in the first story, Sour Cream's blue eyes are filled in blue, so I'm not sure why Pearl's aren't.)
3. In a summer shot of the Cool Kids, Sour Cream is wearing his Pants Become Shorts in shorts mode. Nice callback. And Sadie's maybe flirting with a boy in the Big Donut, and Lars looks jealous!
4. There were unfortunately tons of language errors, punctuation glitches, and misspellings--which is a shame because this is a professional publication but it made me feel a little like I was reading a fan creation online. My list:
* Connie asks Steven why he's up so early with no question mark.
* The teacher says she'll send Steven to the "principals office," no apostrophe.
* Connie misspells her own last name in her talk bubble while discussing her future.
* Greg asks about signing something and doesn't get a question mark.
* Steven's handwritten sign misspells mustard as "mustart" and leaves a word out of "the fizz some lemon lime soda," which is odd for a kid who aced the final exam at the end.
* The coach asks the students to "gather round" with no ending punctuation in his talk bubble.
* Pearl refers to "chilren" in one talk bubble instead of "children."
* Steven asks about show and tell with a period instead of a question mark.
* The principal uses the word "unfortunetly."
* The principal utters this inexcusable sentence: "There are an order to things Miss Maheswaran that we must obey."
* The principal misspells "receive" as "recieve" in one talk bubble.
* And she uses the word "undoutably," spelled like that.
* Pearl's dialogue has "?!" at the end of a comment that wasn't in any way a question.
* Pearl uses the word "spacefairing." The word is actually "spacefaring."
* Pearl talks about Gems having "trancended" rigid structures instead of "transcended."
* And she uses the wrong its while talking about Steven's space family.
* The principal leaves an article out of this sentence: "Steven is never ever ever come to this school again."
* Connie manages to spell the Latin name of littoraria irrorata correctly, but then her talk bubble uses the word "reffered" instead of "referred."
* Connie asks a question about what makes Steven think he deserves a cute nickname but she leaves off the question mark.
And then there was the second story (which I may like even more than the main story!): the short "Yard Sale," in which Vidalia has a yard sale and Steven buys something special for each of the Gems, but then he lacks money for an old game system he wants to try. After some failed attempts to barter with Vidalia, they promise her babysitting for Onion, and Steven feels this is terrible because nothing is worth that.
Stuff I loved:
Amethyst has no idea why anyone would want to sell their stuff because she is a huge hoarder and I love her wanting to buy a purple guitar because it has two "thingies."
I CAN'T EVEN DEAL WITH GARNET WANTING THE MOM SQUAD SWEATER. IT IS THE CUTEST THING IN THE WORLD.
The mention of Vidalia knowing Amethyst well enough to know she does NOT want anything in that room was hilarious. And we have Pearl offering car repair and Garnet offering to break the car first. Garnet is just an incredibly special kind of funny and I just love it.
September 20, 2025
Ok so first of all, I have to give a shoutout to my local library because I went in to pick up a small stack of some other SU comics/graphic novels I had on hold and when I came up to the desk with them she pulled this out of a stack of books she had just weeded and asked if I wanted to take it home with me- hell, yeah, I did! So now this lives on my bookshelf! Lmk if you have any tips to get the paper library stickers off the covers of these.
Steven & Connie episodes are usually some of my least favorites (no hate to either of them, I love my kids, I just care more about the adult lesbian storylines and friendships between the Crystal Gems) so I was not expecting to love this as much as I did, but it was so cute! It felt longer than an episode length to me, and it worked really well for this story. One of my constant gripes since the beginning of the TV show was "why doesn't Steven go to school" so it was cute and fun to see him in this new environment. Loved Connie's popularity journey over the course of the book and seeing her end back in the library <3
MULTIPLE VIABLE SHIPS FOR PEARL! MULTIPLE VIABLE SHIPS FOR PEARL!! MULTIPLE VIABLE SHIPS FOR PEARL!!! The major Pearl fan in my life read this right before me and said "I kind of ship her with someone let me know what you think" and when I read it I immediately identified a totally different ship for her not knowing who the other one was and then we were both surprised when we compared notes.
Anyway, adorable and I am not mad at all to add this to my collection. 4/5, could always use more Pearl.
Steven & Connie episodes are usually some of my least favorites (no hate to either of them, I love my kids, I just care more about the adult lesbian storylines and friendships between the Crystal Gems) so I was not expecting to love this as much as I did, but it was so cute! It felt longer than an episode length to me, and it worked really well for this story. One of my constant gripes since the beginning of the TV show was "why doesn't Steven go to school" so it was cute and fun to see him in this new environment. Loved Connie's popularity journey over the course of the book and seeing her end back in the library <3
MULTIPLE VIABLE SHIPS FOR PEARL! MULTIPLE VIABLE SHIPS FOR PEARL!! MULTIPLE VIABLE SHIPS FOR PEARL!!! The major Pearl fan in my life read this right before me and said "I kind of ship her with someone let me know what you think" and when I read it I immediately identified a totally different ship for her not knowing who the other one was and then we were both surprised when we compared notes.
Anyway, adorable and I am not mad at all to add this to my collection. 4/5, could always use more Pearl.
April 28, 2021
This is a fun story following Steven's adventures with trying to attend a normal school for a day or two. I enjoyed seeing Steven experiencing normal life and not knowing the social norms. It is interesting how nobody seems to know about the Crystal Gems, even though they've been there since almost the beginning of humanity, but I believe that was a thing in the show as well. To go back to the plot, I like the way Steven's school experience and his gem experiences collided, as they happened in a fairly natural way, rather than feeling forced.
The art style is similar to the show while still having its own style. The dialogue had a few instances of being a little awkward, but nothing that pulled me out of the story.
Overall, this is a standalone story (though with prior character knowledge needed) that tackles the question as to how educated Steven actually is, when it comes to public school standards. I enjoyed the interactions of Steven as a fish out of water, plus the story has action thrown in to fit the usual Steven Universe feel. If you enjoyed the show and are okay with a slower story, you'll probably enjoy this book (I say 'probably' because this book has a lot of low reviews I wasn't expecting). As for me, I enjoyed this book for exactly what it is--a story centering around Steven just trying to experience the normalness of school without knowing how to be normal.
The art style is similar to the show while still having its own style. The dialogue had a few instances of being a little awkward, but nothing that pulled me out of the story.
Overall, this is a standalone story (though with prior character knowledge needed) that tackles the question as to how educated Steven actually is, when it comes to public school standards. I enjoyed the interactions of Steven as a fish out of water, plus the story has action thrown in to fit the usual Steven Universe feel. If you enjoyed the show and are okay with a slower story, you'll probably enjoy this book (I say 'probably' because this book has a lot of low reviews I wasn't expecting). As for me, I enjoyed this book for exactly what it is--a story centering around Steven just trying to experience the normalness of school without knowing how to be normal.
June 6, 2017
This volume felt exactly like watching a Steven Universe episode (only a little longer, probably). It had the same tone, the same humor, the same unique dialogue, even the same wacky kind of story. I really enjoyed it!
In this volume, Steven is bored during the day and heads to school with Connie as a show and tell subject. But everything makes fun of him and doesn't believe his story about being a gem. When Steven brings the wrong thing in the next day for show and tell, and it gets lose and threatens the school, the gems have to come save him (and then it's hard for the school to not believe). There are a lot of other smaller issues at play like how smart Steven is and Connie earning respect of her classmates. So it was a fun read and one with a lot of feeling hidden in it as well.
In this volume, Steven is bored during the day and heads to school with Connie as a show and tell subject. But everything makes fun of him and doesn't believe his story about being a gem. When Steven brings the wrong thing in the next day for show and tell, and it gets lose and threatens the school, the gems have to come save him (and then it's hard for the school to not believe). There are a lot of other smaller issues at play like how smart Steven is and Connie earning respect of her classmates. So it was a fun read and one with a lot of feeling hidden in it as well.
June 28, 2018
Steven ends up at school, and things do not go well. For Steven, or Connie. Or the school. This is a fun little story that focuses on Steven and Connie, giving Connie a decent arc as Steven inadvertently gets her more involved with her school. Steven's issues at school are a little mundane at first, although the climax manages to get to a much higher level. The art works well and there are some funny moments. It's not an essential read, but it's a nice addition to the Steven Universe canon, especially if you favor Steven over the Crystal Gems.
December 7, 2016
Not bad, but not really that memorable. It was a good read, but the adventure wasn't very entertaining in my opinion. The idea of Steven going to school with Connie was really cool, and the bits of the book that focused on his school life were the best. Unfortunately, it degrades into a typical "monster of the week" formula near the end, which I wouldn't have minded if it didn't interrupt the main storyline and feel forced. The ending was really cute, though.
December 14, 2019
If you want more Steven Universe stories... then this is a nice little read. Fun and funny, it's a great way to spend some more time with these characters. Plus... it's Steven ATTEMPTING to go to school. And... yeah... it ends up just the way you would expect: with a magically disastrous alien adventure. Plus, there are some nice Steven/Connie friendship moments. Short, sweet, and perfect for any Steven Universe fan.
May 23, 2017
Full Review: http://heathersreadinghideaway.blogsp...
Quick Review: I really enjoyed this cute graphic novel. I definitely plan on reading more Steven Universe stories, I love this show so much, so I am all about getting more stories with my favorite characters.
Quick Review: I really enjoyed this cute graphic novel. I definitely plan on reading more Steven Universe stories, I love this show so much, so I am all about getting more stories with my favorite characters.
May 28, 2017
There's always something missing in these comics. It's just lacking that special *something* that makes SU so great. That being said, I liked this much more than the main series of comics! It was much more coherent and the art was much cleaner. I particularly enjoyed the mini story "Yard Sale" at the end. The characterisations were spot on.
July 18, 2017
As someone who enjoys both the show and the comics, I appreciated this addition to the story. I can't be the only one who has ever wondered why Steven doesn't go to school, and this answered my question in a wonderful, entertaining way. I find some the other Steven Universe comics fun, but I felt like this one really had a role in the overall Steven Universe story.
August 19, 2017
Reads like an episode of Steven. Great fun. I took the night off from Gone With the Wind to read this and Cage!. No regrets; I needed the palate cleansing-sorbet that graphic novels can provide.
December 26, 2017
Connie! And Steven at her school, we finally get to know her in the normal days, well as much as we can with Steven around XD, I really enjoyed this book, graphic novel, comicConnie! And Steven at her school, we finally get to know her in the normal days, well as much as we can with Steven around XD, I really enjoyed this book, graphic novel, comic?
December 31, 2017
This was really fun, seeing Steven at school was just hilarious, he really has no idea how to behave around normal people, he has been with the gems far too long. Bit it's so cute how he tries to help and correct his mistakes, and he never stops watching over Connie, which is totally adorable. I love this pair so much. They are the best.
December 15, 2018
While the story was cute, I found myself distracted a lot by the art. I appreciate different takes on the Steven Universe art, but the character style was pretty different from the show, in particular Pearl's nose. Also while the story captured Steven's naivete and it mostly read like an episode, I'm a bit confused why Steven wouldn't understand the concept of going to school.
January 15, 2019
Steven Universe just want to do something normal like any other children. However he is not a normal child. He is a crystal gems. So when he wants to go to school following his friend Connie, what could possibly go wrong? Unless you don't count an attack by a space giant snail as something than we are good.
With Steven, nothing ever get bored.
With Steven, nothing ever get bored.
May 22, 2017
A light, sweet Steven Universe story, very quick, readable in about the same length of time as an episode, but definitely for people who know the Steven Universe story. I found that the story worked better when I imagined the voice actors from the cartoon reading the lines.
February 3, 2017
What a cute graphic novel!! Steven and Connie have such a great relationship, and the interactions in this novel are so genuine and realistic. Great story, a perfect blend of human/everyday and Gem stuff.
July 25, 2017
The main comic reads like an episode that was a few drafts away from being ready to air. They understood the series and characters, but not the pacing or humor or insight. On the other hand, the mini-comic at the end is spot-on.
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