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Knee Deep Book One
In the year 2223, a teenage girl must venture through underground tunnels and canals in search of her parents who disappeared while on a mining expedition.
Two hundred years in the future, refugees from an environmental cataclysm have fled underground. They survive, scrounging out a living in a twisted maze of tunnels and canals. Scavengers, mistitfs, bandits, renegades and mutants are among the citizens of this subterranean realm. They are sewerfolk, their home, the bowels of a utopian city that was never completed.
Life is hard enough, but an overzealous mining company, PERCH wants to get their claws on this new underground frontier and they don’t mind bulldozing any sewerfolk that get in their way.
Caught in the middle is a young girl, Cricket. She’s in a desperate search to find her family that fled underground. Join Cricket as she explores this savage new world, to find her parents and unlock the secrets of a past long forgotten, in the three-part graphic novel series for all ages, Knee Deep .
Two hundred years in the future, refugees from an environmental cataclysm have fled underground. They survive, scrounging out a living in a twisted maze of tunnels and canals. Scavengers, mistitfs, bandits, renegades and mutants are among the citizens of this subterranean realm. They are sewerfolk, their home, the bowels of a utopian city that was never completed.
Life is hard enough, but an overzealous mining company, PERCH wants to get their claws on this new underground frontier and they don’t mind bulldozing any sewerfolk that get in their way.
Caught in the middle is a young girl, Cricket. She’s in a desperate search to find her family that fled underground. Join Cricket as she explores this savage new world, to find her parents and unlock the secrets of a past long forgotten, in the three-part graphic novel series for all ages, Knee Deep .
224 pages, Paperback
Published May 30, 2023
6 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Joe Flood
67 books11 followersJoe Flood is a comic book author and illustrator whose work includes the Cellies series, The Cute Girl Network, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, and Orcs: Forged for War. For the Science Comics series, he collaborated with author MK Reed on Dinosaurs: Fossils and Feathers and wrote and illustrated Sharks: Nature’s Perfect Hunter. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York’s Hudson Valley.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
March 4, 2023
Received an arc from NetGalley, thanks!
"Knee Deep" is an interesting take on how the world 200 years into the future can look like – what will happen if the ecosystem falls. This idea obviously has a twist, in order to make an adventure oriented comics, I like it, I think it's a great start to very atmospheric history, but there are a few flaws.
Division of "chapters" (or rather – changes of perspective, from one character to another or from now to past) is a bit confusing. There are no breaks between them, so sometimes reader can lose the thread – I certainly did. Because of that the story becomes messy. It has a spark that makes you want to know more, to continue the story, but it still could be improve.
Can't really say anything about characters yet, as it's the very beginning of their adventure. We just met them, and here the world-building has to stand in the first line in order to build fundaments, so I'm interested to see how it goes.
It's a pretty okay comic despite shortcomings – it has a heart and a soul of a good story, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for it.
"Knee Deep" is an interesting take on how the world 200 years into the future can look like – what will happen if the ecosystem falls. This idea obviously has a twist, in order to make an adventure oriented comics, I like it, I think it's a great start to very atmospheric history, but there are a few flaws.
Division of "chapters" (or rather – changes of perspective, from one character to another or from now to past) is a bit confusing. There are no breaks between them, so sometimes reader can lose the thread – I certainly did. Because of that the story becomes messy. It has a spark that makes you want to know more, to continue the story, but it still could be improve.
Can't really say anything about characters yet, as it's the very beginning of their adventure. We just met them, and here the world-building has to stand in the first line in order to build fundaments, so I'm interested to see how it goes.
It's a pretty okay comic despite shortcomings – it has a heart and a soul of a good story, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for it.
November 4, 2023
A paint by numbers post-apocalyptic society with some “mutant” hybrid animal-people for flair. Nothing about this feels original, the plot jumps and shifts and takes off in five hundred directions at warp speed. None of the characters feel solid enough to make the plot movement make sense.
The art is decent.
The art is decent.
December 25, 2023
This is really good, better than I had anticipated. The art is a perfect style for the story. There are plenty of characters, scenes, tension and drama. I would definitely like to read the next installment in the series.
September 3, 2023
9 4,5 stars - Graphic novels are great - I knew that - but the area of graphic novels for children/YA I had not really explored yet. I know and love many European BD for young readers (The Smurfs, Gaston, Asterix) - maybe it's better to say they are comics for all ages. I hadn't read many from the other side of the pond yet. But of course there are gems to be found among them too - and graphic novels for all ages. Expressive art, sympathetic characters, and layered storytelling and imaginative world building. Combined with sincerity instead of cynicism and without the reliance on sex and violence of some other comics. This is also why I still enjoy animationseries like Voltron, She-Ra, Kipo et cetera. The storytelling can be very complex and the characters and their interactions can be deep but there is no cynicism troubling the mix. It is not 'dark' just to be edgy. There can be hope in here without it being seen as 'twee'.
I had the same feeling while reading this first part of a projected trilogy. It starts out in a dystopic future where thanks to a shortage of phosphorus agriculture has collapsed. There are hints given about the mines and what is going on there, while at the same time young Cricket has a hard time fitting in the regulated environment. When her teacher returns from underground after being thought lost, she starts out on and adventure. And - almost like this being a portal fantasy - she enters a world filled with danger, colorful characters and giant alligators. A bit of Mad Max meets Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan, complete with pirates and human animal hybrids. Her determination is clear but also the fact she is not prepared for the world she finds herself in. I also liked the action scenes. And the nerdy references to everything from 'Gravity Falls' to 'Star Trek' (A Gorn is shown).
At the end of volume 1 the story is slowly getting underway, as this first part is mostly concerned with setting up the world and introducing its complexity. But the worldbuilding is compelling enought to pull the reader through - a sense of wonder dominates (as is fitting with this genre). I for one look forward to reading the second book in 2024, and I recommend this graphic novel to every reader of dystopian SF with an imagination that has managed to stay young (as it should).
I had the same feeling while reading this first part of a projected trilogy. It starts out in a dystopic future where thanks to a shortage of phosphorus agriculture has collapsed. There are hints given about the mines and what is going on there, while at the same time young Cricket has a hard time fitting in the regulated environment. When her teacher returns from underground after being thought lost, she starts out on and adventure. And - almost like this being a portal fantasy - she enters a world filled with danger, colorful characters and giant alligators. A bit of Mad Max meets Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan, complete with pirates and human animal hybrids. Her determination is clear but also the fact she is not prepared for the world she finds herself in. I also liked the action scenes. And the nerdy references to everything from 'Gravity Falls' to 'Star Trek' (A Gorn is shown).
At the end of volume 1 the story is slowly getting underway, as this first part is mostly concerned with setting up the world and introducing its complexity. But the worldbuilding is compelling enought to pull the reader through - a sense of wonder dominates (as is fitting with this genre). I for one look forward to reading the second book in 2024, and I recommend this graphic novel to every reader of dystopian SF with an imagination that has managed to stay young (as it should).
February 19, 2023
I don’t want to sound mean, but there was nothing I liked about this comic. The plot was all over the place, the characters had no distinct personalities, and I really didn’t like the art style. And why were there people with animal heads? I think I missed the explanation, if there was one.
[I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.]
[I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.]
December 11, 2025
Enjoyable world building!
May 11, 2023
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.
Knee Deep is a sci-fi / fantasy based graphic novel. I did enjoy the illustrations of this book, but the plot / storyline was lacking in some areas.
I'm not too sure what the target age is here to be honest.
The plot had some obvious holes.. and since this is book one, it is an unfinished story... which i'm not a huge fan of .
Knee Deep is a sci-fi / fantasy based graphic novel. I did enjoy the illustrations of this book, but the plot / storyline was lacking in some areas.
I'm not too sure what the target age is here to be honest.
The plot had some obvious holes.. and since this is book one, it is an unfinished story... which i'm not a huge fan of .
December 19, 2023
I have no idea what was going on here. The synopsis interested me, but the book felt like it was all over the place. The tone kept changing and it felt inconsistent.
July 20, 2023
4.5 Stars
Graphic novels bring a sense of nostalgia to me. My mom used to get me graphic novel versions of Shakespeare's plays, Pride and Prejudice and The Odyssey. These graphic novels were the stepping stones to me reading the unabridged versions of these novels but, they were also an experience in and of themselves, compelling me to read these novels countless amount of times. Knee Deep Book One evoked the same feeling in me - a need to read every panel again, to scrutinise how drawing characters like that would ever be possible for me and to just stare at the art style.
Not only nostalgic in the feelings it evokes but also with an amazing plot I think Knee Deep might have been one of my favourite reads this year. I love the incorporation of flashbacks, science and the ‘mystery parts’. However, I do have to say that this book gets boring at times because when the action isn’t there, the plot becomes deflated at times. It’s almost as if you’re going up a rollercoaster, you drop, you go fast and then you go really slow for some time. Apart from that, this book is a great read!
Read if you like, science fiction, great art and good action scenes!
Thank you, NetGalley and Oni Press for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Graphic novels bring a sense of nostalgia to me. My mom used to get me graphic novel versions of Shakespeare's plays, Pride and Prejudice and The Odyssey. These graphic novels were the stepping stones to me reading the unabridged versions of these novels but, they were also an experience in and of themselves, compelling me to read these novels countless amount of times. Knee Deep Book One evoked the same feeling in me - a need to read every panel again, to scrutinise how drawing characters like that would ever be possible for me and to just stare at the art style.
Not only nostalgic in the feelings it evokes but also with an amazing plot I think Knee Deep might have been one of my favourite reads this year. I love the incorporation of flashbacks, science and the ‘mystery parts’. However, I do have to say that this book gets boring at times because when the action isn’t there, the plot becomes deflated at times. It’s almost as if you’re going up a rollercoaster, you drop, you go fast and then you go really slow for some time. Apart from that, this book is a great read!
Read if you like, science fiction, great art and good action scenes!
Thank you, NetGalley and Oni Press for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
April 6, 2024
This was a fun, fast read. The character design is so striking throughout, and definitely the best part of the book. I think the concept of the world is really interesting. Not just the idea of an underground society (because that's been done a million times), but the idea of the society revolving around phosphorus felt different to me. Some of the character choices seemed a little chaotic, and there wasn't enough reactions from them regarding the absolutely crazy stuff that went down. They mostly seemed pretty chill about it. However, I wouldn't be opposed to picking up the second volume.
November 27, 2023
Wow! What fun! When is the next book out?
February 3, 2023
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Plot -
We follow a young girl, Cricket, on her adventure through the mysterious sewers under the surface world, where everything she has been taught is a lie. While the book focuses a lot on the start of her journey and we don't see much of Cricket's development as a character (since this is the first book in a series), we do get a lot of set up to what can be expected in future installments. The world building was done through art, flash backs, and character conversations. It doesn't feel overwhelming but by the end of the book, readers have a solid understanding of the world Cricket lives in. It is the start of an intriguing plot and I'm curious to see where it goes.
Characters -
We meet Cricket a teenager who's parents have mysteriously disappeared in a mining accident. She's headstrong and stubborn the opposite of her sister who is prim and proper for lack of better description. Cricket's main schtick is that she was a student of a rebellious scientist John Mathis who dies of a mysterious illness. Most of the characters have a trait and that's all we get to see about them. I would have liked if Flood had fleshed out his characters a bit farther than their archetype but nonetheless, the characters are compelling and drive the story when the writing falls short.
Writing -
The writing is done through the dialogue as much as the art style. Flood shows more than tells when drawing fight scenes or flash backs. The medium helps to convey plot and development throughout the novel. The writing itself felt dry. There were few scenes that felt unnecessary and slowed down the overall story pacing. However, there were really well done scenes that add to the emotional element of the book.
Characters: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Plot -
We follow a young girl, Cricket, on her adventure through the mysterious sewers under the surface world, where everything she has been taught is a lie. While the book focuses a lot on the start of her journey and we don't see much of Cricket's development as a character (since this is the first book in a series), we do get a lot of set up to what can be expected in future installments. The world building was done through art, flash backs, and character conversations. It doesn't feel overwhelming but by the end of the book, readers have a solid understanding of the world Cricket lives in. It is the start of an intriguing plot and I'm curious to see where it goes.
Characters -
We meet Cricket a teenager who's parents have mysteriously disappeared in a mining accident. She's headstrong and stubborn the opposite of her sister who is prim and proper for lack of better description. Cricket's main schtick is that she was a student of a rebellious scientist John Mathis who dies of a mysterious illness. Most of the characters have a trait and that's all we get to see about them. I would have liked if Flood had fleshed out his characters a bit farther than their archetype but nonetheless, the characters are compelling and drive the story when the writing falls short.
Writing -
The writing is done through the dialogue as much as the art style. Flood shows more than tells when drawing fight scenes or flash backs. The medium helps to convey plot and development throughout the novel. The writing itself felt dry. There were few scenes that felt unnecessary and slowed down the overall story pacing. However, there were really well done scenes that add to the emotional element of the book.
January 30, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! 3.5 stars technically!
Knee Deep is an interesting post apocalypse story. It follows Cricket, a young girl trying to find out what happened to her parents after their "disappearance". Her entire family works for PERCH, a militarized mining company, tasked with mining a mineral needed to assure the continuation of human life after the apocalypse. One weird thing is that I noticed the plot description describes the sewer people living in "the bowels of a utopian city that was never completed". The story itself never mentions this, so some of the locations confused me since I thought they were living in the sewers of the PERCH facility, not an entire city. The characters are interesting, and the designs of characters in the sewer can flip-flop wildly between terrifying and goofy. Some things are a bit too much on the nose, however. In the background of the office for the head of PERCH, there's a Nazi Eagle statue, and the owner of Kamikaze Corral is a Japanese man. I winced a bit seeing that Eagle. Sure, maybe the intended audience of middle schoolers won't realize what it is, but as the adult looking over it for them...yikes. Also, cute nod to Gravity Falls with the Dipper hat. The art style was interesting. Not really to my taste, but it was good in its technical aspects. The story just felt very fast and they rushed you through the world-building a bit quicker than I would have liked. It is the first volume so I can excuse it a little bit, since most series like to info dump in the first volume, so they can focus solely on the plot in the next volumes.
Knee Deep is an interesting post apocalypse story. It follows Cricket, a young girl trying to find out what happened to her parents after their "disappearance". Her entire family works for PERCH, a militarized mining company, tasked with mining a mineral needed to assure the continuation of human life after the apocalypse. One weird thing is that I noticed the plot description describes the sewer people living in "the bowels of a utopian city that was never completed". The story itself never mentions this, so some of the locations confused me since I thought they were living in the sewers of the PERCH facility, not an entire city. The characters are interesting, and the designs of characters in the sewer can flip-flop wildly between terrifying and goofy. Some things are a bit too much on the nose, however. In the background of the office for the head of PERCH, there's a Nazi Eagle statue, and the owner of Kamikaze Corral is a Japanese man. I winced a bit seeing that Eagle. Sure, maybe the intended audience of middle schoolers won't realize what it is, but as the adult looking over it for them...yikes. Also, cute nod to Gravity Falls with the Dipper hat. The art style was interesting. Not really to my taste, but it was good in its technical aspects. The story just felt very fast and they rushed you through the world-building a bit quicker than I would have liked. It is the first volume so I can excuse it a little bit, since most series like to info dump in the first volume, so they can focus solely on the plot in the next volumes.
May 2, 2023
This graphic novel definitely surprised me. Knee Deep was the perfect mix of dystopia and science fiction with some weird and wonderful characters.
Knee Deep Book One is the first volume of a three part science fiction graphic novel series written by Joe Flood. The book is set 200 years into the future and follows Cricket, a rebellious and headstrong teenager, who flees into an underground city built in the sewers to; escape PERCH, a deceitful mining company who has control over her life, to search for her missing parents and find out the truth behind the lies she’s been told her whole life.
I was really drawn in by the characters and the story and I’m very intrigued to see where the following volumes take us in Crickets journey.
Thank you to NetGalley and OniPress for providing me with a copy of this e-ARC,
Knee Deep Book One is the first volume of a three part science fiction graphic novel series written by Joe Flood. The book is set 200 years into the future and follows Cricket, a rebellious and headstrong teenager, who flees into an underground city built in the sewers to; escape PERCH, a deceitful mining company who has control over her life, to search for her missing parents and find out the truth behind the lies she’s been told her whole life.
I was really drawn in by the characters and the story and I’m very intrigued to see where the following volumes take us in Crickets journey.
Thank you to NetGalley and OniPress for providing me with a copy of this e-ARC,
August 13, 2024
The art style was cool, I enjoyed the premise, but I just didn't get sucked into the story. The writing/pacing felt confusing at times, leading parts to drag without much direction, and other parts were really interesting and fantastical, but we would move onto another and felt like I was missing things.
This is only book one of the series, so maybe it needs to be read with the next installment to better enjoy/understand. I'll revisit the series when the next is announced!
This is only book one of the series, so maybe it needs to be read with the next installment to better enjoy/understand. I'll revisit the series when the next is announced!
February 1, 2023
Thank You to NetGalley and OniPress for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Knee Deep is Joe Flood’s upcoming Middle-Grade Graphic Novel. It follows the story of Cricket who is caught between the dystopian world above ground and those who escaped it to the underground. She sets out on an adventure to find her family and unlock secrets long buried. I loved the art in this graphic novel. Overall, it was an interesting story and I would be interested to see where it goes from here. Dystopian society, science fiction/fantasy, mystery... this ticked a lot of boxes for me. However, I draw some issues with the age range it is written for as there were some scenes depicted that did not seem appropriate for that audience. Some of these instances included what could be perceived as potential sexual harassment by an older male, or a young girl helping a wealthy older man bathe. Then at one point, there were the booty shorts for the main character's uniform - it is even addressed that it's the "cut" of the clothes after portraying the young woman's struggles to put them on. While this story has some great potential, overall I'm not exactly sure it's being promoted to the right audience. In my opinion, it needs to pick a lane. While it's trying to be geared toward a younger audience, some scenes are not appropriate. I say this as someone who typically has a very open mind.
Story: 3 stars
Art: 5 stars
Fitting the intended audience: 1 star
Total rating: 3 stars
Story: 3 stars
Art: 5 stars
Fitting the intended audience: 1 star
Total rating: 3 stars
May 2, 2023
3.5/5
- Huge thanks to the author and publisher for approving me a copy of this title through NetGalley -
Mixed feelings for this one.
It was a fine read but I didn't feel that spark while reading it.
I really liked the pace of this book because it's very fast, it's hard to get bored and the art was okay as well. We learn from the title that this is a "book one" and a book two is absolutely needed because:
1) the story is unfinished
2) there are many plot holes
Speaking of the plot, yes, there are many plot holes. I think that for the amount of ideas that were thrown into the story all together, there are way too many characters to handle.
The result is that all of them were pretty flat and sometimes it was hard to remember who was who.
And this connects to the fact that there are not many explanations of what was happening in general and this never helps when a book is a very fast read.
Definitely more infos were needed because I did feel lost, especially when the story was cut due to the end the book. I hoped for more explanations and maybe less characters but used better.
There are many ideas there but they are all over the places, they are left here and there and every time we think we found a main path, there's already a new addition to the story.
Not gonna lie but I am curious to know if we will ever get a solid worldbuilding behind all this or not, and if all the questions find an answer... but for now, three stars it stays.
- Huge thanks to the author and publisher for approving me a copy of this title through NetGalley -
Mixed feelings for this one.
It was a fine read but I didn't feel that spark while reading it.
I really liked the pace of this book because it's very fast, it's hard to get bored and the art was okay as well. We learn from the title that this is a "book one" and a book two is absolutely needed because:
1) the story is unfinished
2) there are many plot holes
Speaking of the plot, yes, there are many plot holes. I think that for the amount of ideas that were thrown into the story all together, there are way too many characters to handle.
The result is that all of them were pretty flat and sometimes it was hard to remember who was who.
And this connects to the fact that there are not many explanations of what was happening in general and this never helps when a book is a very fast read.
Definitely more infos were needed because I did feel lost, especially when the story was cut due to the end the book. I hoped for more explanations and maybe less characters but used better.
There are many ideas there but they are all over the places, they are left here and there and every time we think we found a main path, there's already a new addition to the story.
Not gonna lie but I am curious to know if we will ever get a solid worldbuilding behind all this or not, and if all the questions find an answer... but for now, three stars it stays.
January 31, 2023
Knee Deep is a fast-paced graphic novel that has tons of potential but ultimately fails to zero in on a singular plot line or character arc. The story has a lot of promise but just was not executed well. The characters are fun, unique, and quite likable, but no character is given a robust backstory, so the reader is left trying to fill in gaps and make assumptions without necessary information. The story also skips around the timeline unnecessarily - except for one beautifully illustrated spread when one character’s experience in the past and the present in the same setting is depicted. Other than that moment, the story would flow much better were it told in sequential order.
The book includes lots of action and fantastic artwork, but the backbone of the story just wasn’t there for me. I finished the book without a good understanding of the characters’ desires or motivations and without any desire to read the second or third installment in the series. Sci-fi and/or graphic novel lovers may want to give this novel a try, but they will likely find themselves confused and/or frustrated with the surface-level (pun intended) treatment given to the plot and characters.
Recommended for Grades 8+
Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for the ARC!
The book includes lots of action and fantastic artwork, but the backbone of the story just wasn’t there for me. I finished the book without a good understanding of the characters’ desires or motivations and without any desire to read the second or third installment in the series. Sci-fi and/or graphic novel lovers may want to give this novel a try, but they will likely find themselves confused and/or frustrated with the surface-level (pun intended) treatment given to the plot and characters.
Recommended for Grades 8+
Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for the ARC!
February 6, 2023
Thank you NetGalley and Oni Press for the advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review.
It’s the year 2223 and the survivors of an environmental cataclysm are living underground in the sewers. It’s the home for frontiers, savages, and mutants.
Our main character, Sarah Higashi aka Cricket, is running away from the Perch, a scientific mining company, with the last secret information she obtained from her teacher before he died of a mysterious disease. Finding her way into the underground searching for her missing parents, Cricket meets the sewerfolk. The journey of finding forgotten secrets begins and the Perch will not stop pursuing Cricket and seizing anybody who assists her.
I enjoyed exploring the sewers through Cricket’s eyes and meeting the sewerfolk. This graphic novel took a while for me to get into. I didn’t understand the main plot until the very end, it felt rushed and needed a slower character build-up. The art is absolutely well done, but the lines on the cheeks made the characters “blush” unnecessarily which I found bothersome.
Knee Deep has the potential to become a great comic if we get more world-building and more character growth and personality, showing a bit of the emotional side would be lovely.
It’s the year 2223 and the survivors of an environmental cataclysm are living underground in the sewers. It’s the home for frontiers, savages, and mutants.
Our main character, Sarah Higashi aka Cricket, is running away from the Perch, a scientific mining company, with the last secret information she obtained from her teacher before he died of a mysterious disease. Finding her way into the underground searching for her missing parents, Cricket meets the sewerfolk. The journey of finding forgotten secrets begins and the Perch will not stop pursuing Cricket and seizing anybody who assists her.
I enjoyed exploring the sewers through Cricket’s eyes and meeting the sewerfolk. This graphic novel took a while for me to get into. I didn’t understand the main plot until the very end, it felt rushed and needed a slower character build-up. The art is absolutely well done, but the lines on the cheeks made the characters “blush” unnecessarily which I found bothersome.
Knee Deep has the potential to become a great comic if we get more world-building and more character growth and personality, showing a bit of the emotional side would be lovely.
February 1, 2023
200 years in the future, a young girl descends underground to try to find her missing parents while fighting off the above ground military and the underground dwellers. Different take on what could happen to our world if the climate truly collapses. Curious to see what happens in book 2.
Two hundred years in the future, refugees from an environmental cataclysm have fled underground. They survive, scrounging out a living in a twisted maze of tunnels and canals. Scavengers, mistitfs, bandits, renegades and mutants are among the citizens of this subterranean realm. They are sewerfolk, their home, the bowels of a utopian city that was never completed.
Life is hard enough, but an overzealous mining company, PERCH wants to get their claws on this new underground frontier and they don’t mind bulldozing any sewerfolk that get in their way.
Caught in the middle is a young girl, Cricket. She’s in a desperate search to find her family that fled underground. Join Cricket as she explores this savage new world, to find her parents and unlock the secrets of a past long forgotten,
Thanks Netgalley for the Arc!
Two hundred years in the future, refugees from an environmental cataclysm have fled underground. They survive, scrounging out a living in a twisted maze of tunnels and canals. Scavengers, mistitfs, bandits, renegades and mutants are among the citizens of this subterranean realm. They are sewerfolk, their home, the bowels of a utopian city that was never completed.
Life is hard enough, but an overzealous mining company, PERCH wants to get their claws on this new underground frontier and they don’t mind bulldozing any sewerfolk that get in their way.
Caught in the middle is a young girl, Cricket. She’s in a desperate search to find her family that fled underground. Join Cricket as she explores this savage new world, to find her parents and unlock the secrets of a past long forgotten,
Thanks Netgalley for the Arc!
April 8, 2023
**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**
Joe Flood presents Knee Deep Book One, a graphic novel set 200 years in the future after a climate disaster. Mining for phosphorus is essential to life as Cricket knows it, but she maintains that her parents are missing, not dead as she has been told. When her childhood teacher gives her a warning prior to his death, Cricket sets off underground to find them.
Flood has a story here that really takes some of the best aspects of dystopian scifi and puts it at the forefront. There is a science basis to the story and a clear timelime and establishment of how things got to our starting point, but we are strategically focused in on Cricket and her perspective. The world is much bigger than the story and the lens Cricket views the world through is in the process of broadening. Combine this with a really neat art style and a color palette that manages grunge without being overly saturated with blacks. Flood absolutely has a winning combination here.
I am happy to have had the opportunity to read this early and I look forward to future installments in Cricket's journey.
Joe Flood presents Knee Deep Book One, a graphic novel set 200 years in the future after a climate disaster. Mining for phosphorus is essential to life as Cricket knows it, but she maintains that her parents are missing, not dead as she has been told. When her childhood teacher gives her a warning prior to his death, Cricket sets off underground to find them.
Flood has a story here that really takes some of the best aspects of dystopian scifi and puts it at the forefront. There is a science basis to the story and a clear timelime and establishment of how things got to our starting point, but we are strategically focused in on Cricket and her perspective. The world is much bigger than the story and the lens Cricket views the world through is in the process of broadening. Combine this with a really neat art style and a color palette that manages grunge without being overly saturated with blacks. Flood absolutely has a winning combination here.
I am happy to have had the opportunity to read this early and I look forward to future installments in Cricket's journey.
February 19, 2023
A dystopian YA comic full of adventure, threats, evil corporation, environmental break down causing terrible futures, and an aggravated girl who luckily learnt to use a katana ... this comes from a genre which seems to be super popular in the last 10 years. This comic will please the 14 to 16 age group, but was a little lacking in characterisation. There is a very long karaoke scene which I suppose is meant to make us feel more for the characters, but I would have really preferred another way of getting them to bond and for us to get to know them. In a cartoon music works, without the sound it reads a little weird and pointless.
Depending on the future volumes, this could be a very good series, as it stands I'm not quite sure which way to go. It really depends on how in depth the plot is going to turn out and the character journey. There is nothing very new here, but if you feel angsty like teens usually do, like the hero, this will probably talk to you more.
Depending on the future volumes, this could be a very good series, as it stands I'm not quite sure which way to go. It really depends on how in depth the plot is going to turn out and the character journey. There is nothing very new here, but if you feel angsty like teens usually do, like the hero, this will probably talk to you more.
September 7, 2023
Joe Flood's post-apocalyptic tale, Knee Deep, is jam-packed with ideas, most of which are pretty cool. Underground societies, dystopian farming communities, animal-human hybrids, robot somethings, all kinds of gangs. It's got everything! Unfortunately, with this much going on, it's easy to lose the thread.
Knee Deep revolves around Cricket, an orphan child of famous parents in the above-ground dystopia. After she learns the truth of her circumstances, she escapes below ground, where she finds a whole other world. Flood introduces characters at a fast clip, all of whom seem to have some reason to hang around Cricket, but are also mostly lacking any kind of backstory. The pacing ramps up until we get a power-pose conclusion and the promise of more to come.
It's all pretty enjoyable (and the art is above average), but I'm guessing I'll be hard-pressed to recall what happened by the time the second volume comes out.
Knee Deep revolves around Cricket, an orphan child of famous parents in the above-ground dystopia. After she learns the truth of her circumstances, she escapes below ground, where she finds a whole other world. Flood introduces characters at a fast clip, all of whom seem to have some reason to hang around Cricket, but are also mostly lacking any kind of backstory. The pacing ramps up until we get a power-pose conclusion and the promise of more to come.
It's all pretty enjoyable (and the art is above average), but I'm guessing I'll be hard-pressed to recall what happened by the time the second volume comes out.
February 7, 2023
Knee Deep is a sci-fi meets dystopian graphic novel about a girl who refuses to accept her lot in life. She lives in a compound run by the organization PERCH years after her father and mother are deemed traitors. She misses her teacher from years ago and her parents.
This is a nice introduction to sci fi for inexperienced readers who are not sure if they’ll enjoy the genre. While the author is heavy handed in his warning to society now and what will happen if we don’t change our ways (much like Disney’s Wall-E), a middle grade student who is new to the genre will appreciate the transparency.
The characters are adequately developed and create interest for readers. I want to know what happened to all of them, and there are a lot of them.
Essentially: a quick, entertaining read that I enjoyed.
This is a nice introduction to sci fi for inexperienced readers who are not sure if they’ll enjoy the genre. While the author is heavy handed in his warning to society now and what will happen if we don’t change our ways (much like Disney’s Wall-E), a middle grade student who is new to the genre will appreciate the transparency.
The characters are adequately developed and create interest for readers. I want to know what happened to all of them, and there are a lot of them.
Essentially: a quick, entertaining read that I enjoyed.
May 31, 2023
3.5 Stars this has potential, but only the next two in the series will really tell. Half a star off in this ARC version for the couple of scenes of violence towards and the portrayal of women as there for male enjoyment; these are two very small sequences, but for me detract from the whole story. The positive: This comic reminds me of those I read and enjoyed when I was a young teenager. Comics with a fun easily followed story in picture and text, lots of battles with ‘kaboom etc’, which I find is perfect in this setting. Now with an adult eye I see detail and simplicity in the artwork that matches with a story that has secrets and twists and turns. Bar my previous comment I enjoyed reading this and I look forward to seeing where the story goes. Thank you to ONI Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.
December 20, 2023
A fun post-apocalyptic graphic novel about a girl who ends up hiding in an underground sewer tunnel system, joining up with a band of "pirates" who fight back against the evil mining company that has taken over as a dictatorial government force. There are "hybrid" characters--people who are mutant animal-human combinations from a science experiment originally intended to create traits that would be better suited for life underground, since the Amazon rainforest collapsed and ecosystems have failed worldwide. Etc. etc. Sarah "Cricket," the main character, wants to find her parents, whom she'd thought were dead. The book has a definite "Mad Max" feel to it, only in dark sewers instead of desertscapes. The characters are quirky, Cricket is feisty, there's lots of action with robot-like red-eyed "Pit Vipers" soldiers and whatnot. I'm in for book two!
July 4, 2024
A reasonably interesting apocalyptic future story of a (supposedly) orphaned teen girl raised more by her beloved teacher than her somewhat powerful uncle. There's the dull food and blasted landscape, secret past, evil corporation harboring a current secret, journey underground to struggle with mutants....
Lots of tropes but handled with some interesting bits--main character is a Japanese-ancestry girl with martial arts skills, and bits of science are mixed into the story in proper SF fashion--and there's plenty of action.
Problems include flashbacks that aren't always clearly delineated (a complaint of a professional reviewer) and dozens of tired tropes, though some are updated with unique characters and subtleties.
Good for about 7th grade level readers (violence but mostly plot complexity) and above who like apocalyptic and/or SF stories with cool characters and action scenes, and will put up with some timeline confusion and stereotypes/longtime tropes.
Lots of tropes but handled with some interesting bits--main character is a Japanese-ancestry girl with martial arts skills, and bits of science are mixed into the story in proper SF fashion--and there's plenty of action.
Problems include flashbacks that aren't always clearly delineated (a complaint of a professional reviewer) and dozens of tired tropes, though some are updated with unique characters and subtleties.
Good for about 7th grade level readers (violence but mostly plot complexity) and above who like apocalyptic and/or SF stories with cool characters and action scenes, and will put up with some timeline confusion and stereotypes/longtime tropes.
February 8, 2023
(3.5/5) This middle grades graphic novel is a great intro to dystopian sci-fi, and I enjoyed reading it. The art style is engaging, character designs are interesting, and the storyline was a bit too straightforward for me (though I think that's fine for middle grades readers, for whom this graphic novel is intended). The story moves very quickly and jumps between scenes/times with little to no warning, which was sometimes a bit jarring. I will definitely be requesting the sequels, since I think the setup in this book is very promising! Hoping that future installments will give the characters more depth and expand the worldbuilding.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.
January 27, 2023
As quite often happens with graphic novels, the gorgeous artwork in Knee Deep bolstered my enjoyment of it generally. There's brilliant worldbuilding here - both Perch and the sewers were really interesting locations. I'm assuming we will get to see more of the wider worlds both above and below ground in further instalments, and I'm keen to see that. I do have a few niggles - the characters could have been expanded upon further, and lacked depth, and the dialogue was often a little clunky. That said, Knee Deep was an enjoyable read, and I can see further instalments only improving upon it.
Thanks to Oni Press and Netgalley for the ARC.
Thanks to Oni Press and Netgalley for the ARC.
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