GUNNERKRIGG COURT VOLUME ONE: ORIENTATION

Artist and Author: Thomas Siddell

Published by: Archaia Studios Press

(2008)

ISBN-10: 1932386343

ISBN-13: 978-1932386349

review by G. Galuschak

9/11/09

During her first week at Gunnerkrigg Court, Antimony (Annie to her friends) acquires a second shadow. The shade in question has horns and glass eyes and wants to return to its home, the Gillitie Woods. To do this it must cross a floodlit bridge, where there are no shadows. Annie – who is forbidden to leave school grounds – constructs a robot from spare parts. It strolls across the bridge, shadow in tow. Thus begins Annie’s first term at Gunnerkrigg Court, which is part boarding school, part industrial complex.

Annie has a lively year. Her mother is dead; her father has wandered off, to parts unknown. She is in Class 7 and her teachers keep mistaking her for her deceased mother, to whom she bears a strong resemblance. Annie’s best friend, Kat, is a science whiz who builds a gravity field generator from a thermos and coat hangers. Her stuffed animal is possessed by a body-hopping entity named Reynardine. She meets a fledgling ghost named Mort, who favors the retro look (a floating white sheet); a pair of fairies, who want to be squashed; a Technicolor coyote; and an insane forest god.

Gunnerkrigg Court features engaging characters, clever plotlines, plenty of humor, some understated horror and a larger story arc that does a good job of keeping the reader guessing. Nobody in this graphic novel is named Harry Potter, another point in its favor. More information may be found about Gunnerkrigg Court online at http://www.gunnerkrigg.com.

Highly recommended.