The Rise of Aurora West (Battling Boy, 2)

I am going to be honest, I picked this up because I really love Rubin's artwork. It is rock solid. The story itself flows really well as a young girls bashes her way through a monster filled world looking to solve the mystery of her mother's death. As a father of young girls myself I identified with the impulse to teach your kids the old ways but the drive to keep them sheltered and safe.Not in the same way obviously, I haven't killed any huge monsters with a knife in like....six years...I haven't read Battling Boy but might just have to because of how good the storytelling was. Did I mention Rubin? His stuff is great!

The first thing you need to know about this is that Paul Pope didn't write it or draw it, despite understandably getting top billing. On the credits page, Pope's name follows Petty's, indicating that he was probably basically a creative consultant. He may have loosely plotted the story, and of course it's got his fingerprints all over it since it takes place in a world he created, and Rubin's inking style is evocative of Pope. I suspect if he had contributed even 1/4 of the writing, his name would be first in the writing credits. Make no mistake, this is not a Paul Pope comic.Pope is my favorite comic book illustrator, so I admit I was disappointed to learn that he didn't have much to do with this book. But then, when it was originally solicited I was shocked to see this Battling Boy prequel come out so quickly after the first volume (which was a LOOOOONG time coming) so it makes sense that he's letting other people play in his sandbox. With Pope's pace, there's no other way we'd ever see these stories. Just important to establish that going in.The art is solid, if unspectacular. Rubin keeps the look of the Battling Boy world fairly consistent without outright swiping Pope's style. At a glance, the cover looks like it could be Pope's work until you look at Aurora's face. It's much easier to tell the difference once you look inside. The ink work has a similar finish to Pope's, but the character designs and layouts are, for the most part, plenty distinctive. I don't think anyone familiar with Pope's work would flip through this and be fooled. Rubin achieves a nice balance here. There are creatures whose designs are so un-Pope-like that it clashes a bit and doesn't quite feel like they should exist in the same universe, but I have mixed feelings about this, because I do appreciate Rubin doing something different as opposed to trying to be a (very) poor man's Pope.The writing isn't quite as strong. It fits with Pope's simplistic style, but I actually find myself missing Pope's naive "voice." There's something almost amateurish about his writing, and that's missing here. It's an odd critique, I know, but it's basically the difference between highly competent but unspectacular writing and writing that's almost intentionally stilted but with a distinctive charm.The size is different from Battling Boy. It's your standard Manga sized digest format, black and white, with that newsprint kind of paper (it's probably not newsprint exactly, but you get the idea; not the thick, shiny stuff). The collector in me would like the volumes to match on my bookshelf, but the digest format really does fit this book. No sense making it any bigger.Overall, it's a humdrum story with unmemorable characters and passable art. Plus, like Battling Boy, this is just part one. Unfortunately, the Battling Boy universe just isn't that well developed yet. The original volume didn't quite tell a proper story and wasn't even especially cohesive for an OGN. Had the groundwork of the universe been better laid, perhaps it would be stronger and give me more to care about, but this just feels like another "sketch" in a universe that doesn't yet feel whole. Heck, in some ways this actually did a better job creating a fleshed out universe than Battling Boy itself, and that's a problem for the series. Honestly, the most grounding element is the fact that this book is centered around a reimagined Batman and Robin, and that's not really earned. Perhaps the entire Battling Boy series will read better once more pieces are in place, and it'll be easier to sink one's teeth into, but for now it still feels incomplete. And that's a problem when you've spent nearly 400 pages in the same universe. As a spin-off of a book that was basically an artist's passion project, it's fine. It didn't grab me, but neither did the original, and I am as big a fan of Pope's as you'll find. But there are worse ways to spend six bucks and a chunk of an afternoon.

Yes it is a small, tiny little book. Yes, it is not illustrated by Paul Pope himself, but neither of these things make it any smaller an accomplishment. David Rubín's artwork is OUTSTANDING. And though he emulates Pope's lines, he has a style of his own. In my humble opinion it works as well as. This partnership could be like so many other great ones: McCartney - Lennon, Jagger - Richards or in the same medium, Jodorowsky - Moebius. This comic book is a must have to any serious comic book fan, as well as for the accidental reader. Get Battling Boy too and read it beforehand. Again, MUST HAVE.

This is a great book! If you loved Battling Boy you will love The Rise of Aurora West. As others have said the drawing is not from Paul Pope, but the story is great and the dynamism of Pope is still present in the narrative. Can't wait for the second part.

i LOVED the book going in, but it left me hanging at the end. The premise of a young side-kick, being groomed for superhero 'knighthood' had me hooked! But I was disappointed that a graphic novel-length book would raise questions that the author didn't bother to answer by the end of the book. I hate it in movies, and I hate it in books. The artwork was grand, as I thought it keenly fit the storyline and style of the story. The main characters were interesting, but the monsters needed a bit of work to me. All in all, I give it a 7 out of 10.

Can't wait for the next! The drawings are good and I can just read it over and over again still catching new details in the art. So good, my friend stole my copy! Yikes! So be careful out there!

When the news announced months ago regarding Battling Boy's prequel, I got enthusiastic because I love Paul Pope that goes way back to the first debut his THB comic book, in the late 1990's.I pre-ordered via Amazon for a hardcover copy and waited.After it arrived at my doorstep, I was really disappointed. Even the art is great but its format was too small, as it was stated on the first second books web site:"We made the decision to publish this very girl-centric story in a slightly different format than Battling Boy - black and white, and a smaller size. It echoes a little the traditional US manga publishing format! Also, it's just adorable."I don't believe that. I felt this book is for all age, all gender, not "very girl-centric".Even the Battling Boy itself was smaller than the usual standard size but I was a bit tolerating with it, in a rather positive note.I can't see art or read words from The Rise of Aurora West at normal range and it wasn't comfortable putting it up close, barely touching my nose.A day later, I returned it to Amazon for a refund.I hope in the future it will be reprinted in larger size.

This is a fun story and a great addition to what is already going on with Battling Boy.Keep in mind when purchasing this that the illustration is not done by Paul Pope.

I have yet to go through the story and evaluate it's merit but the size of the book is extremely small, almost twice that of the original Battling Boy book and is also black and white, which would have been a nice thing to mention in the description.Had I known these facts, I would have considered the purchase more in view of other options.

Great story of how Aurora become a hero following her father steps. Great read, great art and after reading Battling Boy you can learn a little more about Aurora and Haggard.

Sebbene i disegni non siano di Pope, lo stile del disegnatore è molto simile e la storia è davvero bellissima.Funge da ottimo prequel a Battling Boy (da comprare assolutamente, un capolavoro), tessendo una trama interessante e mai banale.Il formato è buono, piccolo e in stile "manga". La carta pensavo fosse più resistente, mentre è abbastanza opaca e forse troppo "manga" per una storia del genere. Pensavo fosse a colori come BB e invece è in bianco e nero. Ma questo non incide poi sulla qualità dell'opera in sé.Aspettando che esca il seguito.Spedizione come al solito veloce e perfetta.

Ce commentaire porte sur l'édition en format "broché", qui est un petit livre de dimensions et de qualité de papier comparables à celles des mangas. Ce livre est en noir et blanc plus tramage.Autant aller au plus vite au devant des VNU, je ne suis pas un fana de Paul Pope, son style graphique "crade" (cf. ces traits qui font "pas soigné") se trouvant éloigné de mes préférences graphiques. Ce n'est pas pour lui et sa série "Battling Boy" (dont je n'ai pas lu le premier volume) mais pour le dessinateur espagnol David Rubin, dont j'ai apprécié les deux tomes de son 'Le Héros' (cf. ' 1 ' et ' 2 ').L'histoire est celle d'Aurora West, gamine de 13-14 ans environ, fille de Haggart West, un célèbre héros tueur de monstres dans le monde du Battling Boy. Ce dernier, un personnage de justicier à la Batman (il en a une voiture inspirée de la marque Bugatti et des gadgets) et du Midnighter (son masque. Car si tout le monde connaît son vrai nom, personne ne connaît son visage. Pas très crédible à l'heure de paparazzi et réseaux zozos). Depuis peu, Aurora est le "Robin" de son papa, qu'elle accompagne en mission nocture de dézingage de monstres. Ms. Grately joue le rôle de gouvernante, un "Alfred" qui serait une fille au physique de She-Hulk, mai qui a perdu une jambe et porte une prothèse. Ms. Grately s'occupe aussi de l'entraînement physique d'Aurora.Incidemment, Aurora découvre un signe - un "squiggle" à la Prince - gravé sur un mur de la maison caché par un meuble de bibliothèque. Ms. Grately lui dit qu'il signifie "Mr. Wurple", le compagnon imaginaire d'Aurora lorsqu'elle avait 3-4 ans, et qui a disparu... le jour de la mort de sa maman, assassinée par un monstre dans des circonstances de relâchement de l'attention, juste au soir d'une grande victoire du couple West contre les monstres.A l'insu de son papa, et à l'inquiétude de Ms. Grately, Aurora remonte dans ses souvenirs de sa vie avec ses parents et lance une enquête sur l'assassinat de sa maman, tout en poursuivant ses missions avec son père contre les monstres de Sadisto et de Medula.Dessiné dans un style "cartoony" mais "indie", avec des références à Pope mais aussi Charles Burns et d'autres dessinateurs "indie" de monstres, mais sans trop d'horreurs malgré l'omniprésence de monstres qui enlèvent les enfants la nuit venue, ce livre s'adresse aux jeunes dès la fin de la pré-adolescence. Les principaux personnages sont sympathiques mais certains "mystères" paraissent relever de facilités scénaristiques On veut bien que Aurora ne se souvienne pas (à 13-14 ans, tout de même) de ce qu'elle faisait à 4 ans, autour du moment de la mort de sa maman. Mais qu'elle redécouvre là, avec toute cette précision, tout ce qui revient à sa mémoire paraît curieux. Et c'est cette redécouverte qui est le moteur du récit.*** et 1/2 12

The book was sold to me in a misleading way. It seems to be listed as in brackets in the title: "battling boy", a book I have been dying to read a sequel too. The title of the listing is incorrect. On closer inspection of the copy I hold in my hand it clearly reads by the author of battling boy.On even closer inspection the writer of battling boy is a co writer and not even the main writer of the two. The actual writer and artist are both complete unknowns and I do not want this comic in my collection.Artwork is far too manga reminiscent for my liking and the story is really bland and predictable.