My (Slightly Concerning) Obsession with Graphic Novels and the Zita the Spacegirl Trilogy - Diza B

  I have already posted a review of one of my favorite graphic novels, 'The Magic Fish' by Trung Le Nguyen, but I wanted to go into more about my relationship with this style of book, and a book trilogy that I think everyone should read. I think one of the first graphic novels that made me fall in love with the art of illustrated stories was 'Smile' by Raina Telgemeier, and ever since then, I have added more and more to my library. Currently my collection is at 79 graphic novels, and still growing. In 2017, I went to Comic con and met some of my favorite artists. Although Raina Telgemeier was slightly underwhelming compared to my view of her being an almost omnipotent god, I found many more authors and styles that I soon fell in love with. I lugged my bag full of books to be signed around town, was given some just-published books, and talked to many authors such as the very inspiring Ben Hatke.

Today, a few of my favorite books in my collection are 'In Real Life' by Cory Doctorow, 'The Magic Fish' by Trung Le Nguyen, and 'Nightlights' by Lorena Alvarez, but I think some of the more pivotal books in my life was the 'Zita the Spacegirl' trilogy by, as mentioned before, Ben Hatke. The series should be read by everyone, no matter the age. The trilogy follows the long journey of Zita, an adventurous girl who finds herself on the other side of the universe filled with interesting creatures, robots, beautiful scenery, millions of floating islands in space and new cultures and ways of life. 

In the first book, Zita and her friend, Joseph, had been hanging out in the fields behind her house, when they find an unknown button that Joseph tells her not to press. She presses it anyways, and a large portal opens up and a long snake-like rope comes out and grabs Joseph in. Zita has a small mental break down before pressing the button again to save her friend, but once she does, she finds herself in a bustling foreign city just in time to see Joseph be taken away by a strange goth-robot-octopus looking creature. A different large creature steps on and breaks her button which had fallen, and leads her to a safer alley. The large creature, Strong-strong, is told by his boss to leave, and Zita moves on with her broken button. She helps a bearded man defend himself against angry de-buffed chickens, and he gives her a place to stay for the night. Upon waking up, she is greeted by a large mouse and the bearded man who is working on putting the button back together. She learns some vital information about Joseph, and starts her journey to save him with the help of Mouse. On her way, she saves an angry robot stuck in the ground and he agrees to help her. They move on to the trash heaps, and meet a very shy robot who also goes with them. They have to fight some robots and large spiders before they eventually get to the castle and meet up with the bearded man. After some jail time, door paste, and musical trickery, Zita, the bearded man, and her new friends go to save Joseph. He turns out to be tied to a rock to fulfill the prophesy of the castle's species that he will shine a beam and save the planet from the approaching asteroid. The shy robot, who sits next to Joseph turns out to be the true beam shiner, and creates the illusion of Joseph fulfilling the prophesy. The fake beam shiner, Joseph, is then declared king by the castle dwellers, and Zita is pampered for being friends with him. The bearded man declares that he fixed the button, and Zita and Joseph press it and jump into the portal. However, in the middle of their portal-ification, they lose grip of eachother's hand and only Joseph goes back home. Zita turns to the bearded man and decides to take the long way home. 

The first book, although chaotic, is a masterpiece that deserves to be read. From the beginning to the end, every page has an amazing illustration and fantastical story drenched in colors and detail. I think that it played a big part in my imagination, with how out of the box it is. The next two books are still amazing, and were the first sequels that I actually thought were as good as the first, despite my unfortunate experience from others. Although the next are great, the first one sets the mood and place, and deserves the much longer, detailed summary. 

In the second book, 'Legends of Zita the Spacegirl', Zita, now an intergalactic super-adventurer, is stranded on the planet when a robot who wants her fame clones her and steals her spot on the ship. The real Zita tries to find a way on the ship, and in doing so, meets a strange lady who happens to be an ex of the bearded man. The lady helps her escape some monsters and lets her ride her ship. They have to fight some of the goth-robot-octopus creatures who attack the ship and steal Mouse, and Zita is once again stranded, floating in space in an escape pod. She reaches a planet that has a humongous attack heart in the atmosphere. It turns out that the Zita clone, the bearded man, and her other friends were also stranded there and her and the clone are sent up into the sky to fight the heart. They go up to a human shaped blob, and within is a place for someone to control the blob and fight the heart. Zita goes to the controller, but as fighting, realizes that she is being sucked into it. Fake Zita decides to take her place and be sucked in forever, and lets true Zita go to her escape pod. The blob takes the shape of Zita and beats the heart in the sky. The day is saved it seems while the bearded man and others watch from the planet, but then the attack robots from before, see Zita's escape pod and end the book saying "Gotcha".

The third book, 'The Return of Zita the Spacegirl' follows Zita, who is trapped in the attack goth-robot-octopus ship from the last book. But now, they reveal their plan to destroy Earth. After being given an unfair trial, and being shown the trapped Mouse, she is sentenced to the ship jail. She meets two other prisoners in her cell, a talking rag pile, and a pickpocket skeleton. She uses the pickpocket-pinky of the skeleton, and breaks out. An unknown blue caped person helps her avoid the guards, but she is eventually captured again. The next day, she is forced to do labor along with the other prisoners to find the crystal that helps her get home that the goth-robot-octopi want. However, one of the lucky crystals somehow makes it's way into her pocket without her noticing. She fights a goth-robot-octopus and kills it, but many more then overpowers her. The blue caped person saves her again and he turns out to be Joseph. Wow. At the place he is living in the ship, they do a version of a zoom call to Zita's other friends and learn what happened to them. Joseph and Zita find a forcefield and the crystal in her pocket and decide to blackmail the master of the ship with it. While blackmailing, the forcefield starts to power down with the two of them in it and Joseph pushes Zita out, and takes the button and crystal. What a traitor. She is brought back to the prison cell and Joseph regrets his decision as he is taken with the master. Zita's friends finally get there and save Mouse. After a lot of fighting, forgiveness, and reunion, Earth is saved and the prisoners are freed. Joseph and Zita are sent back to Earth to find that time had not gone forward without them. A year passes, and the shy robot is sent back to Earth with the button and an inscription saying "We need you Zita". Zita then starts a new journey as the trilogy concludes.

This series makes me so indescribably happy. It is beautiful, fun, and I loved having a similar name to the main character. They make an out of world experience and it was so fun to reread them for this blog. I have been trying to find a downside to them, and the most I can get was that I wish the strange lady never got back with the bearded man. She's awesome, he isn't. Despite that unfortunate pairing, you should read it. :)