5/10, it was ok. ( )

5 stars for the art and silly humor
3 stars for the story, especially after the big reveal

Maybe I’m thinking about it too hard, but I couldn’t make sense of it. I mean, how did he live? Where did he get money? How did he go for more than one school year without being enrolled or anyone looking for his parents?

I was still glad to discover there was a Jimmy Gownley book I hadn’t read yet, and I enjoyed most of it. ( )

Gownley is trying for a madcap and quirky Ferris Bueller tone in this story about kids trying to change the world one good deed at a time, but the end result is a cluttered and overlong jumble that left me caring little about any of the characters or their actions. Meh. ( )

I like this. It has such a Sunday morning comics feel, y’know. This also has to be Gownley’s most racially-diverse series too. There’s some real heart here, and the dialogue’s witty. kudos, for subverting the reader. I was just counting down the pages until Kirby died (morbid I know), but he didn’t! A lot of the story’s events are farfetched like… how’d Kirby manage to keep up his identity as a viral youtuber(?). surely, some kid would’ve known him. Where was he living at? In another foster home? , but kids will love it.

Again, this is a story made for kids in mind. All the teachers are literally super-villain evil haha, so that’s going to appeal more to a kid angry at teach for too many Zoom assignments more so than an adult who knows teachers can be multifaceted (tho there are some seriously miserable teachers).

Still, I liked reading this for the most part. There are also multiple plot points with Kelly's letters to Mimi, Raj's subplot, Kirby Finn shenanigans, and the countdown of reasons not to grow up.

3.5 ( )