Graphic Novel Reviews: Darryl Openworld

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Title: Darryl Openworld

Published by: Magnetic

Written by: Remi Guerin

Illustrated by: Krystel

ISBN: 9781951719500

Ages: 12+

Full steam ahead!

Darryl Openworld is steampunk at its finest with a touch of magic and spirits. Journalysts are the adventurers in Darryl’s world, and he is the best. He will accept any challenge, and although he is mischievous and arrogant, he cares deeply for his friends.

Gifted with the ability to cross between worlds, Darryl makes friends with an unusual assortment such as a girl who can see ghosts, the ghost she had befriended, a secretive elf, a determined fairy apprentice, and a journalystic rival. His home is in peril when the town’s clock tower mysteriously stops, and Darryl may have to risk it all by traveling to the Underworld – Fallsworn, the last stop in the dirigible line – to save those he cares about.

Steampunk is a science fiction subgenre that mixes 19th century machinery with futuristic technology and sometimes magic. The plot, characterization, and drawing make the worldbuilding in this graphic novel seem deceptively effortless. The artwork is lovely. The artist, Krystal, has a skill of making the fanciful feel more like a slice-of-life and depicting characters with soulful eyes. With hues of gold and blue, the illustrator keeps Darryl’s world bright, the Underworld dim, and our world somewhere in-between.

Readers are pulled into the action almost as if they become Darryl’s apprentices and race to keep up. This graphic novel is easy to read in one sitting, and although the story is complete at the end, readers will want another adventure with Darryl and his friends.

This graphic novel is Newsies meets April and the Extraordinary World. Darryl Openworld will make readers into steampunk fans. This title is a strong choice for fantasy collections.

For fans of The Boy with the Clockwork Heart, the Percy Jackson series, and Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series.

– Angela Dabrowski, Senior Library Assistant

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Angela Dabrowski
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