The angular and sharp art by Alex Puvilland is wonderfully suited to the this suspenseful tale of Addie, a young woman who lives on the outskirts of a strange spill or alien attack. Her sister Alexa was one of the children who survived the attack but says nothing. It's very mysterious, but ends on a cliffhanger. All we know is a strange young man has come from North Korea to find Addie.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

Spill Zone is the first book in a new graphic novel series by Scott Westerfeld, with Alex Puvilland as the illustrator. Spill Zone is the story of a teen, that enters the “Spill Zone” (previously known as the town of Poughkeepsie) to take photos of the area that was destroyed by a radiation spill (but nobody knows what the PO’ town Spill was, exactly), in an effort to sell her photos to support her younger sister and herself as their parents were killed in the radiation spill three years prior.

My journey into reading graphic novels is quite limited but this first book in the series is a good start to an interesting storyline. I found the artwork superb and kind of creepy all at the same time. Not necessarily my style, but certainly engaging and appropriate for the story line. I quite liked the use of colour – there was a lot of it. Depicting the strange creatures in the spill zone was fascinating and took me a bit to appreciate what the artist was trying to do with the depictions.

I must say, Lexa’s doll friend – Vespertine, was kind of creepy. What is her story? Vespertine could communicate with Lexa telepathically and she seemed to be on the lookout to help Addison from getting into too much trouble when she entered into the forbidden zone.

It will be interesting in future books to see how Don Rae (a character that was effectively just introduced with minimal depth in this story), Addison and Lexa interact. Especially as it seems that Don Rae and Lexa were affected somehow by being in the spill zone when the radiation leak occurred in their own towns.

This was an interesting start to a new series. While I did not love this book, I would like to carry on as a lot of questions were presented, with no clear resolution. I suspect that was what was intended ☺ Get the reader hooked for the long haul.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

A mind-bendy, trippy exploration of an unexplainable (and unnatural?) phenomenon and its physical and emotional aftermath, Spill Zone is a truly wtf-is-going-on-here start to a fantastic series. Although it measures over 200 pages, this graphic novel feels like nothing short of a whirlwind introduction to main character Addison's life post-Spill -- sneaking into the containment zone and navigating the physical realities of the Spill to take pictures of who-knows-what and providing for her (probably traumatized) sister. I literally had to force myself to slow down and admire the gorgeous illustrations by Alex Puvilland and coloring by Hilary Sycamore because all I really wanted to do was speed-read fast enough through Westerfeld's narrative.

And then I got to the end of the book and blinked a lot and thought, "Well, that sucks" because it just ends and I NEED MORE. Honestly, if I had known this was merely the start of a series, I would have waited to read the entire narrative arc -- because right now I am itching for Westerfeld to finish this goddamn masterpiece.

There's something appealing about the art direction of this graphic novel. It reminds me, in its line art, of Sharon Shinn's "Shattered Warrior," which hits a little heavier on the subject of trauma but shares some story-DNA as well. "Spill Zone" also has a lovely palette, reminiscent of Brian K. Vaughan's "Paper Girls, Vol. 1" (they do not share any colorists, so far as I'm aware). The storyline is interesting, too, with hints of the Soviet-era "Roadside Picnic" and this whole idea that something Other has touched our world, and has rendered certain parts of it dangerous, but also valuable enough to inspire certain intrepid individuals to keep going back for some sort of retrieval. Here, that character is a young and good-hearted older sister, however, and that distances it from Roadside Picnic by a thousand kilometers.

Without spoiling anything, I would recommend this graphic novel for those who are, like me, new to the form and still fascinated by the notion of continuity. The art grew on me, the characters grew on me, and there's still plenty of story left to explore in future volumes. It's appropriate for a wide age-range (so far, anyway) and it could fall neatly into an older-Junior-Fiction or a younger-Young-Adult collection, while still offering something of appeal to older readers such as myself.

Call me strange, but this book smells great. It’s why I’ll always be a print guy, I love the smell of ink and paper and let me tell you, Spill Zone smells great. I don't have anything else to follow that, but yeah... take it all in.

The story around Spill Zone is quite interesting. There was an event that changed a town leaving it uninhabitable. In a way, it’s as if a toxic event happened, but that even has left things like meat puppets, seemingly dead people that float. Cats that talk, rats that stack cheese and control territory. It’s a dangerous place and illegal to go inside.

Which of course introduces us to our main character Addison who makes a living by taking pictures of the spill zone and selling them on the black market. It’s the only way she knows how to make money to support herself and her sister. Her sister who hadn't spoken since they day of the accident and was in town when it happened. As the story goes on, we learn that her sister Lexa has a big secret from that day as well. Eventually, though, one of Addison’s buyers comes to find her and gives her a job in the zone… for another government.

The only real problem I have with this story is that it doesn’t have a solid conclusion. Granted it’s a book series as it says “to be continued” at the end, but every volume should stand on its own and have a rewarding conclusion. The endings not bad, hell, it will even make you want to read more, but there’s still a bit too much teased and not enough concluded.

As for the story though, the narration is very strong and controls the pace throughout. Usually, I don’t care for stories that lay out the rules for any particular thing. Especially in sci-fi as that means that they’re about to be broken. That doesn’t change here, but at least Addison as a character wasn’t always going on about her rules to the point that it broke her character’s logic when forced to abandon them. Lexa’s character isn’t quite fleshed out yet, we get a bit of her throughout, but not enough to appreciate what’s going on with her in the story. There are a few other minor characters introduced, and they’re handled quite well, and all have believable dialogue. That’s one thing that was nice about this YA sci-fi story, believable dialogue, and honest reactions.

The art does a lot of the heavy lifting for this story. Alex Puvilland brings Scott Westerfeld’s story to life. I don’t know if Puvilland also lettered the story, but the lettering played a huge part in humanizing the story. Back to the art itself, it was wonderful to look at all throughout (and that smell!). The panel layouts, in particular, were incredibly smart and made the story flow easily. The creepy designs made the town look and feel incredibly dangerous. Every fiber in my body said, “stay away from there” which I’m sure is exactly what the creative team wanted.

Lastly, the coloring from Hilary Sycamore amplifies everything from the story to the art. Sycamore’s coloring intensifies that creepy feeling, but also gives the town it’s entire presence and personality in the story. This book is as gorgeous as it is because of the coloring.

There will be more Spill Zone I’m sure, and I for one will be waiting to read more. This strange world only looks to get stranger and perhaps more dangerous. While the final act of this first book misses the mark some it’s otherwise, a great first installment to what I hope is an amazing and interesting new series.

This graphic novel by Westerfeld has a cliff hanger ending that leaves readers eager for the next in the series. Adventure, sci-fi and mystery are the author's specialty and this quick read illustrates how polished he has become. Pictures by Alex Puvilland help tell the story.

This was a very strong first book. The introduction to the world was solid, and the ending left me wanting more.

A strange event occurred in Poughkeepsie three years ago. It deprived Addison of her parents and left her younger sister Lexa seldom talking and in a strange relationship with her stuffed animals. To keep the family feed, Addison takes midnight rides into the Spill Zone, selling the photographs. But then a collector promised a million dollar pay-off if she would obtain a certain item from the hospital. Read and find out if the payout is worth breaking all of Addison's safety rules.

The story was decent, but the artwork made it hard to concentrate on the storyline. And of course there is a cliff-hanger ending.

Horrific look at how far one girl would go for art -- how art is therapeutic -- and just how creepy dolls can be. Yup, there are irradiated corpses floating in the air and I get the most jeebies from the weird doll. Whether you like Westerfeld or graphic novels or sci-fi or horror, this quick read will stay with you for quite a while.

Really great graphic novel from Westerfeld. I will definitely be recommending this to my students. I can't wait for the next volume!

It was only a matter of time before someone wrote about what amounts to technology zombies. And if someone had to do it I'm glad it was Scott Westerfeld. He stands the best chance of doing the subject justice. This is a compelling first volume, but it is little more than the barest of introductions. At the end of the book we don't really have a clearer picture of what is going on than we did at the very beginning. All this book really achieves is to introduce us to the characters. Personally, I'll need at least one more volume before I can say for certain exactly how I feel about the series.

As great as I thought it would be. Strange, mysterious occurrences, potential government cover-ups, creepy dolls, strong girls/women, supernatural forces that appear dangerous but could be on your side. Can't wait for more.

Thank you to Netgalley, First Second Books, and Scott Westerfeld for the chance to read and review this ARC;

I love, love, love Scott Westerfield and have been on the ground for Uglies, Leviathan, Peeps, and so much more. Spill Zone continues to deliver on amazing characters, indepth plotting and unexpected, but delightful, hairpin turns. The rough art, and the stark white and blackness of it, leads to a creepy, rough, ragged feeling that leaves chills and keeps you aware of what kind of world it is.

I am so ready for the second installment and I'll be telling everyone to read this series!

Can Scott Westerfeld do anything wrong?

(No. The answer is no. He's amazing. He's so skillful that he manages to be one of my favorite authors (at age 35) and one of my son's favorite authors (at age 13).)

Spill Zone is just one more example of his awesome talent.

http://www.bethfishreads.com/2017/04/stacked-up-book-thoughts-4-mini-reviews.html

I loved Scott Westerfeld's writing and Spill Zone has only helped to solidify that opinion! With a perfect blend of creepiness, fantasy and a touch of government intrigue, I absolutely can't wait to see where this will go next, more please!

I found this a thoroughly interesting story. The world building was incredible and so the story that was told was boosted by this incredible world. I want to know more and experience this world so much more.

A wonderfully creepy graphic novel where I could not stop reading until I devoured every frame of the book. It has been a while since I have been so gripped by a teen graphic novel that I jumped online to see if I could find a pub date for the next one in the series!

Addison Merrick has permission to live in her family’s home, even though it is near the Spill Zone. Her parents and her little sister were inside the zone when the incident happened and only her sister came out. Now Addison travels inside the Spill Zone to photograph the animals and the places, but never the people. She is approached with an opportunity to make more than she ever dreamed of, but will this one job be her last? What risks is she willing to take to help her sister?

The Spill Zone is the first book in a new graphic novel series with the same title. The graphics are weird, yet exciting and the story moves along very quickly. This 200+ page book can be read in about an hour and when readers reach the end they will discover they want the next volume. Readers will quickly feel a need to know more and will definitely be left with a lot of unanswered questions. The Spill Zone will delight readers of science fiction and graphic novels.

Thumbs up. A young woman supports herself and her little sister by sneaking into the Spill Zone to take photographs. No one knows exactly what the Spill Zone is, but some bad, bad things live there. Nicely creepy, but not disgusting. Intriguing story but I can't say I cared much for the art. It's not bad, just not to my taste. YMMV.