written by Jim McCann; illustrated by Janet Lee. Los Angeles: Archaia, 2010. 978-1932386905. Recommended for all ages by the publisher.
Return of the Dapper Men by Jim McCann and illustrated by Janet Lee is a visually stunning book. It is the story of a future world, Arnov, where time has ceased to exist. It is full of children of the age of 11 who have forgotten what night time even looks like, they have forgotten everything and moved underground where they do nothing but play. Above ground lives the robots who do all of the work. Enter in our main characters a boy, Ayden, and his best friend a robot named Zoe. Ayden and Zoe are different, they interact as robots and humans are not supposed to, they remember and are inseparable friends. Because of this, Ayden lives above ground with the robots who accept him. Then one day, unexpectedly time begins to move again and out of the sky come 314 Dapper Men to remind the people of Arnov to remember and not forget.
The main strength in this book is the illustrations. This book is visually stunning and grabs the reader with its illustrations. The weakness would be the story, which was pretty simple and sometimes a bit confusing. It is a graphic novel, so from time to time, if you are not used to reading comics and graphic novels, you can get a little lost. Overall though it is a wonderful story about friendship and growing up. It is no wonder that it is a Will Eisner Winner for Best Graphic Album.
This book is good for an afternoon read or for any child that is interested in both art and futuristic tales. The story does take some thought and would make a wonderful addition to any library.
Purchase it here on Amazon.
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