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Peng!: Action Sports Adventure
PENG! is… the sound a rubber ball makes when it is kicked! PENG! is… a brand new kind of Sports Adventure comic! PENG! is... a GAME CHANGER!
Welcome to the All-World School of Sportsmanship, where kids from all over train to become the best athletes in a world obsessed with even the most marginal sports. PENG! follows students Rocky, Sassy, Ven, and Radley—also known as the FOOT KNUX. Together they will master action-packed "fringe” sports like kickball, breakdancing and hackey sack! Our heroes battle boredom, the sun in their eyes, their own self-doubt, and strange and unusual baddies like the Aurora Skeddos and The Biter, mystical foes who are also vying for victory! With a little love and luck, the FOOT KNUX may just win the game—and your heart!
Welcome to the All-World School of Sportsmanship, where kids from all over train to become the best athletes in a world obsessed with even the most marginal sports. PENG! follows students Rocky, Sassy, Ven, and Radley—also known as the FOOT KNUX. Together they will master action-packed "fringe” sports like kickball, breakdancing and hackey sack! Our heroes battle boredom, the sun in their eyes, their own self-doubt, and strange and unusual baddies like the Aurora Skeddos and The Biter, mystical foes who are also vying for victory! With a little love and luck, the FOOT KNUX may just win the game—and your heart!
136 pages, Paperback
Published July 28, 2020
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 28, 2020
A frenetic, hallucinogenic sports comic that owes as much to mange tropes as it does to Scot Pilgrim (who, in a knowing nod by the artist, even makes a cameo here). The plot is manga basic, and the characters are little more than cool designs with quirks, but the art is equally brilliant and overwhelming. Fun for a quick reading.
May 28, 2020
Graphic Novel
I received an electronic ARC from Lion Forge through NetGalley.
A middle grades novel that will appeal to tweens, but it felt disjointed to me. The graphics pull readers into the sports and appear 3-D on many pages. I like that Lewis offers sports that are outside the mainstream. His characters are relatable but fairly one-dimensional.
I'm not sold on the take a pill for the full experience message presented. It's too easy to see that message warping to reality.
It will be interesting to see where this series goes in future volumes.
I received an electronic ARC from Lion Forge through NetGalley.
A middle grades novel that will appeal to tweens, but it felt disjointed to me. The graphics pull readers into the sports and appear 3-D on many pages. I like that Lewis offers sports that are outside the mainstream. His characters are relatable but fairly one-dimensional.
I'm not sold on the take a pill for the full experience message presented. It's too easy to see that message warping to reality.
It will be interesting to see where this series goes in future volumes.
May 14, 2020
I want to like this because it’s definitely creative, but there are a few things that feel rather uncomfortable to me, especially considering this heavily sports-manga-and-martial-arts-influenced graphic novel is written by a white dude:
Two of the Aurora Skeddos wear headscarves, but one has a hook nose / evil look going on [75] and the other has slits for eyes. They pray to a kickball totem [30], are the “protectors of kickball purity,” say things like “Kickball is your only lover!”, and are positioned as the bad guys.
The characters occupy an Asian mashup world, with random caricatured Tibetan monks, sushi and eggrolls, magic fortune cookies, Chinese (“Hiyaa!”) and Japanese (“Yosh!”) phrases, vaguely ethnic-but-not names like Jeeauh Yeeauh and Gleff Shujo [22], a character whose last name switches from Fujishirow to Raddinson, and a Japanese character (Chieko) that owns a Chinese restaurant named the Guangdong Factory.
The only three girl characters are named Sassy Elmetto (whose signature move is a butt bump), Smarmy Ellie (the slit-eyed, headscarf-wearing Aurora Skeddo who’s mostly silent), and Helen of Boys (who barely features).
Two of the Aurora Skeddos wear headscarves, but one has a hook nose / evil look going on [75] and the other has slits for eyes. They pray to a kickball totem [30], are the “protectors of kickball purity,” say things like “Kickball is your only lover!”, and are positioned as the bad guys.
The characters occupy an Asian mashup world, with random caricatured Tibetan monks, sushi and eggrolls, magic fortune cookies, Chinese (“Hiyaa!”) and Japanese (“Yosh!”) phrases, vaguely ethnic-but-not names like Jeeauh Yeeauh and Gleff Shujo [22], a character whose last name switches from Fujishirow to Raddinson, and a Japanese character (Chieko) that owns a Chinese restaurant named the Guangdong Factory.
The only three girl characters are named Sassy Elmetto (whose signature move is a butt bump), Smarmy Ellie (the slit-eyed, headscarf-wearing Aurora Skeddo who’s mostly silent), and Helen of Boys (who barely features).
June 2, 2020
Peng! takes place sometime in the future and follows a kickball tournament. This kickball is really a mix of kickball and baseball with the stakes ramped up. Players have impossible moves, the ball can disappear because it's going so fast, and injuries where the player's brain can spin 180° around aren't uncommon.
There is a questionable portion where the spectators have to take a slo-mo pill to completely experience the game. Which is later described as a "sensation [which] could be misread as a vibe specific to a stadium stoned on drugs..." Because of which, I would probably only recommend to older school age children.
I also did find some panels difficult to read or interpret. Some of the art seemed fairly cluttered and it took me re-reading some sections to understand what happened. Though I received an eARC from Oni Press so that may have contributed to my confusion.
Otherwise, the action is fast-paced and never stops. And there certainly are some funny moments that are sure to appeal to kids. I would only recommend to sports genre fans.
There is a questionable portion where the spectators have to take a slo-mo pill to completely experience the game. Which is later described as a "sensation [which] could be misread as a vibe specific to a stadium stoned on drugs..." Because of which, I would probably only recommend to older school age children.
I also did find some panels difficult to read or interpret. Some of the art seemed fairly cluttered and it took me re-reading some sections to understand what happened. Though I received an eARC from Oni Press so that may have contributed to my confusion.
Otherwise, the action is fast-paced and never stops. And there certainly are some funny moments that are sure to appeal to kids. I would only recommend to sports genre fans.
October 11, 2020
First, the art style here is really funky, and I mean that in a good way. It’s highly-stylized and unique. However, the coloring style, it reminds me of overly saturated highlighters, is distracting.
Onto the main story, it is about a wacky kickball tournament. There’s very little context given outside of some player skill cards. Things seem a bit futuristic and many players have superpowers. A few questionable things here and there (magical "drug use," of course, only female characters have moves that involve their butts, inconsistency). My recommendation: Don’t try to understand everything that’s going on. Just enjoy the chaotic energy.
There are some other side stories as well that balance the art and coloring much better than the first. I feel like this whole series would be better animated.
Onto the main story, it is about a wacky kickball tournament. There’s very little context given outside of some player skill cards. Things seem a bit futuristic and many players have superpowers. A few questionable things here and there (magical "drug use," of course, only female characters have moves that involve their butts, inconsistency). My recommendation: Don’t try to understand everything that’s going on. Just enjoy the chaotic energy.
There are some other side stories as well that balance the art and coloring much better than the first. I feel like this whole series would be better animated.
June 22, 2020
I read this graphic novel as an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Peng! is action-packed with stories about kickball, hacky sack, and breakdancing. The strongest story is the first one about kickball. Peng! is funny and weird enough to satisfy late elementary aged kids to the hard-to-please younger teens. Anime and manga fans will enjoy this book. The outrageous illustrations intensify the silly action during the kickball match.
It's a good choice for school libraries.
Peng! is action-packed with stories about kickball, hacky sack, and breakdancing. The strongest story is the first one about kickball. Peng! is funny and weird enough to satisfy late elementary aged kids to the hard-to-please younger teens. Anime and manga fans will enjoy this book. The outrageous illustrations intensify the silly action during the kickball match.
It's a good choice for school libraries.
December 6, 2022
Busy art
The story is pretty much what you would expect from a sf/f Shonen sports anime, hot-blooded and over the top. The main detraction was the art which had a limited pallet of black, white, and mauve(?). There were nearly no straight lines used and the uniform line weighting made for details blending into eachother and some very busy panels, particularly when sound effects were used.
The story is pretty much what you would expect from a sf/f Shonen sports anime, hot-blooded and over the top. The main detraction was the art which had a limited pallet of black, white, and mauve(?). There were nearly no straight lines used and the uniform line weighting made for details blending into eachother and some very busy panels, particularly when sound effects were used.
May 18, 2024
Just a good old sports manga type of thing with a ton of creative stuff, a bit of rad mystisism and some great text and artwork. Fun read! Glad it is short because with little plot developement it wouldn't hold my attention for a longer book.
Not a huge sports manga fan, but I really enjoyed the style! and the action scenes were well done.
Kinda hard to tell the characters apart sometimes so Im glad theres a page that names and shows all of them.
Not a huge sports manga fan, but I really enjoyed the style! and the action scenes were well done.
Kinda hard to tell the characters apart sometimes so Im glad theres a page that names and shows all of them.
November 28, 2023
3 short stories about kickball, hackey sack, and breakdancing. I expected lighthearted action but it was too jam packed to be enjoyable.The hackey sack one was the best out of the 3 being short & sweet and clever. I felt like the kickball one was slightly confusing, perhaps too many panels per page? Would probably make an awesome anime short but as a graphic novel it was hard to follow.
June 28, 2020
Peng! features energetic storytelling and active visuals. I loved the creative craft moves if this author/illustrator. A book I would gladly share with other readers.
January 11, 2021
I can't claim to having understood what’s going on most of the time but the over the top action and visual extravaganza surely did entertain me!
March 25, 2021
Corey Lewis just gets me! 🤙. This story just vibes for a certain brainwave and thought process. High brow intense artwork shenanigans in a can of liquid fire.
July 24, 2024
I think I’m officially old.
December 19, 2022
The breakdancing section is poetry in picture form!
September 22, 2020
A dystopian package filled with fun and action. The characters were interesting and the strips were nicely done.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews