What do you think?
Rate this book
Earthboy Jacobus
Chief Edwards retires from the Modesto Police Department a lonely man. On his way home, he hits a flying whale with his car, opening the beast's mouth to find a boy from a parallel universe named Jacobus. Chief discovers that a society of insect monsters want to kill this boy due to a mysterious virus that grows on his hand. He becomes a father figure to the boy and trains him how to survive insect monsters by becoming a great American ass-kicker.
272 pages, Paperback
First published June 8, 2005
165 people want to read
About the author
Doug TenNapel
54 books507 followersDoug TenNapel is the Eisner Award winning writer/artist of over sixteen graphic novels. He is published by Image Comics and Scholastic/Graphics.
He's been married for 27 years to the love of his life and has four book-loving kids.
Doug's favorite authors include G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. He reads mostly philosophy but tends to get his fiction from audio-books.
His performs live art demonstrations on his Facebook page, and has animated using pixel art for clients like BlueSky software and Electronic Arts. He also regularly posts on his Youtube channel.
Doug tries to write and draw something every day as a discipline that also happens to be a career.
He currently lives in Franklin, Tennessee.
He's been married for 27 years to the love of his life and has four book-loving kids.
Doug's favorite authors include G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. He reads mostly philosophy but tends to get his fiction from audio-books.
His performs live art demonstrations on his Facebook page, and has animated using pixel art for clients like BlueSky software and Electronic Arts. He also regularly posts on his Youtube channel.
Doug tries to write and draw something every day as a discipline that also happens to be a career.
He currently lives in Franklin, Tennessee.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
December 1, 2017
Beware this one - it will take you in!
Chief Edwards retires, and then goes out for a supersized meal, and then -
Things change, they really change.
Don't let the humble feel fool you though, this is an epic tale. Characters grow, and change. Good becomes evil, and then becomes good again.
I can't quite compare this to any book in recent memory. It's its own thing.
The violence is cartoonish, so it should be appropriate for younger readers. But check it out if you're an older reader as well. Earthboy Jacobus might just surprise you ;)
Chief Edwards retires, and then goes out for a supersized meal, and then -
Things change, they really change.
Don't let the humble feel fool you though, this is an epic tale. Characters grow, and change. Good becomes evil, and then becomes good again.
I can't quite compare this to any book in recent memory. It's its own thing.
The violence is cartoonish, so it should be appropriate for younger readers. But check it out if you're an older reader as well. Earthboy Jacobus might just surprise you ;)
March 18, 2017
What could have been a well-developed series, is rushed into a three chapter graphic novel. Odd names and pro-patriot themes are thrown in along with horribly evil children and a male teacher who is chastised for wearing a skirt. TenNapel's conservative views (which I don't care for) spring up many times in this novel, which doesn't serve the characters and the readers, only the author.
October 30, 2016
Every good writer/artist/whathaveyou deserves to be forgiven a clunker, and in this case, Mr. TenNapel, who I have enjoyed quite a bit in the past, gets a mulligan for this horrible clunker of a graphic novel.
Jacobus is a young boy found by an atheist ex-marine, who soon discovers the boy has a terrible secret--the desire to be like other kids his age. Oh wait, I mean he's being chased by the most stereotypical socialist revolutionists this side of a red scare movie. No, that's not right. I mean that it's about a boy who convinces his Dad to be a Christian by fighting against evil secularists.
Ah, screw it.
The point is that this thinly-veiled rabidly pro-Christian graphic novel has everything in common with Chick Tracts and very little in common with an engaging struggle against evil doers that want to take over the earth. Public schools are bad, all teens that hang out together will steal things, the aliens force a minister to give up his faith and see the light against "fairy tale" and "invented savior" which would be the worst lines in the book save for this gem:
"Contrarily, we have made it better. Now there is no hunger, no crime, and cradle-to-grave care for all."
Spoken by the evil bug-things right out of the Rush Limbaugh liberals-are-evil playbook. I don't have a problem with putting faith into a story--TenNapel has it in every book and while not appealing to me, they fit within the general story. The problem is that this time, the references are front and center and the villains are just plan paper dolls for the (soon-to-be) Christian heroes to knock over.
"Who is this human who slanders the state?" I'm afraid it's me, warning you to steer clear of this book, its awful plotting and dialog, and the out-of-the-blue conversions that occur towards the end so that the book gets a tidy, WASP-like (and isn't that ironic when the baddies are bugs?) ending. The book makes clumsy allusions to Jonah, but you need a bigger mouth than that whale to swallow this one. (Library, 05/08)
Jacobus is a young boy found by an atheist ex-marine, who soon discovers the boy has a terrible secret--the desire to be like other kids his age. Oh wait, I mean he's being chased by the most stereotypical socialist revolutionists this side of a red scare movie. No, that's not right. I mean that it's about a boy who convinces his Dad to be a Christian by fighting against evil secularists.
Ah, screw it.
The point is that this thinly-veiled rabidly pro-Christian graphic novel has everything in common with Chick Tracts and very little in common with an engaging struggle against evil doers that want to take over the earth. Public schools are bad, all teens that hang out together will steal things, the aliens force a minister to give up his faith and see the light against "fairy tale" and "invented savior" which would be the worst lines in the book save for this gem:
"Contrarily, we have made it better. Now there is no hunger, no crime, and cradle-to-grave care for all."
Spoken by the evil bug-things right out of the Rush Limbaugh liberals-are-evil playbook. I don't have a problem with putting faith into a story--TenNapel has it in every book and while not appealing to me, they fit within the general story. The problem is that this time, the references are front and center and the villains are just plan paper dolls for the (soon-to-be) Christian heroes to knock over.
"Who is this human who slanders the state?" I'm afraid it's me, warning you to steer clear of this book, its awful plotting and dialog, and the out-of-the-blue conversions that occur towards the end so that the book gets a tidy, WASP-like (and isn't that ironic when the baddies are bugs?) ending. The book makes clumsy allusions to Jonah, but you need a bigger mouth than that whale to swallow this one. (Library, 05/08)
May 18, 2012
Doug TenNapel's graphic novels always seem to involve a cynical/jaded man who has lost his faith, an older mentor trying to bring him back, and something he has to protect against monsters/aliens/insurmountable odds. Earthboy Jacobus sticks to the formula, but scales it up with a trans-dimensional story that spans decades.
I appreciate that TenNapel tells stories that involve Christianity in ways that are not preach and that avoid the usual cliches. Maybe he could be a better storyteller but there aren't many people who are willing to try and do what he does. His art, as always, is wonderfully strange and unmistakably him.
I appreciate that TenNapel tells stories that involve Christianity in ways that are not preach and that avoid the usual cliches. Maybe he could be a better storyteller but there aren't many people who are willing to try and do what he does. His art, as always, is wonderfully strange and unmistakably him.
April 11, 2008
About 1/3 of the time I had no idea what was going on in this book, but it was so weirdly sweet and the parallel universe so fully imagined (and eerily drawn) that I didn't care.
Definitely worth a read--very quick.
Definitely worth a read--very quick.
March 22, 2018
Refugee from a parallel Earth, Jacobus comes to Earth, finds a surrogate father in the form of a recently retired police captain/former marine, and engages in a decades-long struggle to free the multiverse from insectoid enslavement. Great, scratchy artwork; fun, enjoyable characters; a positive message of faith; all the hallmarks of TenNapel's work are here. Good work, in a high adventure, dramatically fun world.
October 9, 2017
Very interesting comic book story of the faith journey of TenNapel. Definitely not for children! Language and graphics is for mature readers only.
July 20, 2018
Interesting read. I wasn't too big on the art work and I feel that the whole thing was a bit rushed. But the story was interesting.
January 5, 2020
Pretty enjoyable narrative of an intergalactic refugee kid, space whales, a gruff old Marine, salvation -- if a bit too ham-fisted with the conservative Christianity redemption themes for my tastes.
October 31, 2025
Great premise and very well thought-out development.
I like very much the expressiveness of his characters and how he quickly manages to explain a whole plot point visually.
I like very much the expressiveness of his characters and how he quickly manages to explain a whole plot point visually.
June 10, 2014
The opening page of “Earthboy Jacobus” deserves a review all of its own. Across a starry night, cut-out letters ring in “Chapter 1”. Dangling from these words hangs a Pinocchio-like marionette-doll above a loosely sketched drawing of the Modesto police department office.
The three elements – font, character and location – make for such a beautiful collage of imagery, I had a hard time moving on from that first page.
Anyway! On with the review!
“Earthboy Jacobus” starts at the Modesto PD, where Chief Edwards has just started his retirement. But he will not enjoy it. From now on, a life of loneliness and insignificance will plague him continuously. Days take forever and nights are only made bearable by taking long nocturnal drives through town.
It’s during one of these drives that Chief Edwards stumbles across a flying whale – a split-second before his car slams into the beast. Dazed and confused, he inspects the fantastical creature he just discovered, when he hears a voice from somewhere within the animal. Opening the whale’s mouth, he finds a young boy. His name is Jacobus.
From there on, Doug TenNapel's “Earthboy Jacobus” continues to be a story both increasingly more sweet and charmingly weird. As Chief Edwards takes it upon him to raise and protect Jacobus, more of the boy’s disturbing past comes to light.
Coming from a different world where insect-like creatures hunt him, Jacobus fears some of these so-called ectoids have followed his whale to Earth and are dead-set on turning Earth into the same barren wasteland which Jacobus has fled. It’s up to Chief Edwards to train the boy to the best of his abilities for what’s to come.
Put down on paper with lush, energetic brushstrokes, TenNapel’s hand is instantly recognizable from the first page. His artwork looks lively and animated, and the action sequences and other big scenes have a truly epic feel to them.
Everything with this book seems to suggest one thing – fun. Combining elements from “Star Wars”, “The Iron Giant” and a goodly pinch of Errol Flynn (Swash, swash! Buckle, buckle!), TenNapel is utterly fearless in putting together wacky ideas and preposterous situations, and never takes the book too seriously. Nothing seems to stop him from telling a story with an enthusiasm which instantly transfers to the reader.
It’s only during the last thirty or so pages that plot-wise, “Earthboy Jacobus” starts to get a bit shaky. The pacing is high throughout, but when during the climax past, present and future follow up one another at dazzling speed, the emotional power of these scenes diminish. And the über-conservative undertone, which comes floating up during these passages, feels not only forced, but wrong. It's clear what he wants to get across, but none of it gels with all that came before.
Apart from that minor issue, TenNapel’s “Earthboy Jacobus” is both an endearing and heartwarming novel. Like its opening page, the book might seem like a collection of entirely random aspects, but brought together by TenNapel, form a successful, fun story.
The three elements – font, character and location – make for such a beautiful collage of imagery, I had a hard time moving on from that first page.
Anyway! On with the review!
“Earthboy Jacobus” starts at the Modesto PD, where Chief Edwards has just started his retirement. But he will not enjoy it. From now on, a life of loneliness and insignificance will plague him continuously. Days take forever and nights are only made bearable by taking long nocturnal drives through town.
It’s during one of these drives that Chief Edwards stumbles across a flying whale – a split-second before his car slams into the beast. Dazed and confused, he inspects the fantastical creature he just discovered, when he hears a voice from somewhere within the animal. Opening the whale’s mouth, he finds a young boy. His name is Jacobus.
From there on, Doug TenNapel's “Earthboy Jacobus” continues to be a story both increasingly more sweet and charmingly weird. As Chief Edwards takes it upon him to raise and protect Jacobus, more of the boy’s disturbing past comes to light.
Coming from a different world where insect-like creatures hunt him, Jacobus fears some of these so-called ectoids have followed his whale to Earth and are dead-set on turning Earth into the same barren wasteland which Jacobus has fled. It’s up to Chief Edwards to train the boy to the best of his abilities for what’s to come.
Put down on paper with lush, energetic brushstrokes, TenNapel’s hand is instantly recognizable from the first page. His artwork looks lively and animated, and the action sequences and other big scenes have a truly epic feel to them.
Everything with this book seems to suggest one thing – fun. Combining elements from “Star Wars”, “The Iron Giant” and a goodly pinch of Errol Flynn (Swash, swash! Buckle, buckle!), TenNapel is utterly fearless in putting together wacky ideas and preposterous situations, and never takes the book too seriously. Nothing seems to stop him from telling a story with an enthusiasm which instantly transfers to the reader.
It’s only during the last thirty or so pages that plot-wise, “Earthboy Jacobus” starts to get a bit shaky. The pacing is high throughout, but when during the climax past, present and future follow up one another at dazzling speed, the emotional power of these scenes diminish. And the über-conservative undertone, which comes floating up during these passages, feels not only forced, but wrong. It's clear what he wants to get across, but none of it gels with all that came before.
Apart from that minor issue, TenNapel’s “Earthboy Jacobus” is both an endearing and heartwarming novel. Like its opening page, the book might seem like a collection of entirely random aspects, but brought together by TenNapel, form a successful, fun story.
June 13, 2012
Chief Edwards has his retirement party from the Modesto Police Department. He is a lonely man, never married, ex-military. On his way home, he hits a flying whale with his car. That's right, a flying whale. He gets out and hears someone calling for help. He opens the whale's mouth and finds a boy from a parallel universe named Jacobus. Edwards discovers that a group of insect-type monsters want to kill Jacobus because of a mysterious virus that is growing on his hand. He becomes a father figure for Jacobus and trains him to be a fighter and teaches him how to survive attacks from the insect monsters.
TenNapel has been one of my favorite cartoonists since I was a kid. When I found out he wrote and illustrated graphic novels, I knew I had to get one. And boy, am I glad this is the one I got. Being in the Army, I hope that I can get enough training to be as awesome of a butt-kicker as Chief. I don't want to end up alone and angry like he is at the beginning of this story, but you get what I mean. And I am so glad that science fiction is making such huge stride in graphic novels. Good stories like this make it so I don't have to read things like "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Brave New World." This is a great graphic novel!
TenNapel has been one of my favorite cartoonists since I was a kid. When I found out he wrote and illustrated graphic novels, I knew I had to get one. And boy, am I glad this is the one I got. Being in the Army, I hope that I can get enough training to be as awesome of a butt-kicker as Chief. I don't want to end up alone and angry like he is at the beginning of this story, but you get what I mean. And I am so glad that science fiction is making such huge stride in graphic novels. Good stories like this make it so I don't have to read things like "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Brave New World." This is a great graphic novel!
March 1, 2024
Well written with nicely developed characters. Unfortunately also very noticeably neo-conservative, which is a kind way of putting it. Transphobic, weak-ass anti-socialist commentary, highly critical of public schooling for the silliest of reasons, Evangelical fundie Christian, etc. If that's your thing, you probably won't be bothered. It's definitely not the worst neocon jerkoff fiction; the fact that Earthboy Jacobus is actually well written with solid art puts it a cut above the rest. If you're not sipping on that Flavor-Aide, though, do us both a favor and skip this one.
Dougie. Come on. Be better.
Some of the dialog and plot developments were too predictable for my tastes. Spoiler alert: expect the traditional type of ending.
Two stars for its merits.
Dougie. Come on. Be better.
Some of the dialog and plot developments were too predictable for my tastes. Spoiler alert: expect the traditional type of ending.
Two stars for its merits.
February 12, 2016
The last TenNapel book from the huge haul my 7th grader got from the library a few weeks ago. I am not the target demographic for these books, so I always struggle with rating them.
I actually liked this one more than most of the others. The story was not as jumpy, and was actually TOLD within the comic (rather than leaving the reader trying to figure out what is going on).
However, as usual, I think this one is just soooo far fetched. Yes, it's clever, but it's too clever. Terra whales. Ectoids. Weird hands. A parallel universe. A dog in a exoskin. But this story is at least straightforward.
I actually liked this one more than most of the others. The story was not as jumpy, and was actually TOLD within the comic (rather than leaving the reader trying to figure out what is going on).
However, as usual, I think this one is just soooo far fetched. Yes, it's clever, but it's too clever. Terra whales. Ectoids. Weird hands. A parallel universe. A dog in a exoskin. But this story is at least straightforward.
July 28, 2011
I really enjoyed this, especially for its originality and the relationship between the two main characters. Though some of the larger (political, religious, etc.) themes weren't fully developed, they did add to the story and changed it from being just a fun adventure into being thought-provoking, as well. The father-son relationship is extremely well done. It manages to be touching without being sappy, and was surprisingly realistic.
The ending felt a little too perfect, but for some reason I didn't mind. I will definitely be picking up more works by Mr. TenNapel.
The ending felt a little too perfect, but for some reason I didn't mind. I will definitely be picking up more works by Mr. TenNapel.
July 24, 2012
Doug Tennapel's work always has a right-leaning limp to it, but in spite of that, this is one of the comics I value most in my shelf. He puts together a genuinely entertaining adventure story told over a lifetime, with a sort of tenderness to it that caught me completely off-guard. Say what you will about Tennapel's politics and religion, but if you skip on Earthboy Jacobus on account of your beliefs, you'll be missing out on a book that makes me, a non-religious moderate, all warm inside each time I pick it up.
April 20, 2008
Doug TenNapel creates a vivid sci fi world and characters and this entire read is above average, not fantastic. The characters are well reasoned and rounded, the tale spans many years and the worlds are vividly imagined. The black and white art is striking and gorgeous and always serves the tone and atmosphere of the scene. It's a good read, not a great one. Which is more than most comic offerings.
December 9, 2008
I like Doug Tennapel, good off center fun. World eating beasties, insect folk, and butt kicking, it's refreshing to find an indie graphic novel/comic that doesn't take itself so seriously. For the purist who compared this graphic/novel to a Christian tract, lighten up, it has the same mythical archetypes as Star Wars, it's not Animal Farm or any other book that uses analogy.
December 31, 2012
So this one is more blatantly about religion and blah blah, but mostly I was just concerned about how hard it was to follow some of the fight scenes with the alien monster creature things. Otherwise, it was an enjoyable story - more so than the last couple of his that I read - and he's never to pushy about his beliefs, which is nice.
December 18, 2011
Another great read by Doug TenNapel. The art is great - enough detail to keep it interesting but not so much that it is muddy and the story is original. The black and white format keeps the violence from taking over the imagery.
December 9, 2012
Some really great art is offset by a so-so story, weird shoehorned Chris imagery (not to mention blatant religious weirdness without much of a lead-in), and an ending that kinda lacks resolution. Meh.
July 5, 2016
Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Heartwarming and humorous. The alien creatures were reminiscent of those in the beloved Calvin and Hobbes comics. This had an engaging storyline and I was immediately won over by the principal characters.
May 14, 2008
Imperfect but really absorbing. I love the thick brushy art, and it's so sweet and sad. This should be a movie, and it would be kind of like iron giant.
July 31, 2008
This was an interesting Sci-Fi GN. It's impressive how much he fit into one book!
February 4, 2009
Serious fun!
June 4, 2014
It really has its moments, although part of the ending was a little disappointing and it tends to paint in broad Hollywood strokes.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews