I really enjoyed this book. It had a great premise and some really fun characters. I really liked the creativity shown by the protagonist and am super excited to learn more about what's going on in the world. The tidbits of worldbuilding we got were quite tantalizing. I am super excited to read the next volume.

A really good intro to a new, interesting series!

The art style and character designs are delightfully fresh, fun, and crisp! From the first chapter, both the protagonist and her motivations are interesting, likeable, and really easy to root for. Her rather mysterious new teacher just adds to the intrigue of the wider world she’s stepping in to!

The world building is kind of info-dumped but that’s easy to overlook ( the dumping, not the building). There are some parts where it felt a bit choppy.

Looking forward to the next book!

A good start to a fresh looking manga series. I was immediately drawn in from the cover featuring a female protagonist with dark skin. The storyline fits with typical manga and Shonen storytelling, and I’m excited to see where the series goes. As for purchasing, I will hold off until a few more issues have been released. If the series is a hit with our library patrons, it’s nice to have the next book to give them. Manga readers aren’t always willing to wait indefinitely for the next issue and I hate to see them lose interest in this promising series because we only have the first one. Thank you to Net Galley and Issaka Galadima for providing me with the digital ARC.

In this amazing start of the series, we have exciting characters paired with a strong focus on friendship and family. The story is exciting, and a lot of powerful action is happening. Therefore, readers are easily bond to the story and characters. The illustrations are clean, easy to understand and same way very dynamic. It is a lot of fun to explore the world and read the book. Strongly recommend.

What. An. Introduction. The first volume blew me away, with so many elements inspired by shounen manga. The visual storytelling, steampunk vibes, and world-building is incredible, with engaging deep plot arcs switching up flashbacks and present time to develop a diverse cast of characters. From suspicious organizations to teachers, their back stories and motives shape the high stakes and fast-paced narrative, and Cast does her best to create technology that is for the greater good, not for destruction.

I love Cast as a character. She uses her gift of remodeling old hardware and a mobile lab prosthetic (left hand) to protect herself and those in need. I love her energetic personality that shines through in her dialogue, her intelligence and eagerness to learn and grow, and her determination to make a change for her family and the society she lives in. Her mentor, Ms. Philomena Clock is a badass old woman. MY GOSH. What a dynamic female duo 🙌

There are topics that touch upon discrimination, rich vs poor, physical disabilities, and the celebration of women in STEM.

Overall, this is a wild reading experience. Saturday AM, well freaking done. Such a promising series with lots of potential. I will continue to follow and look into more of your diverse graphic novels, comics, and manga.

I really wanted to like this book, but it was very confusing. Part of it seems new, modern and futuristic. At the same time you have a group of engineers working on clockworks. I got about halfway through this book and ended up with a DNF. I wanted to like it, but found myself not caring because I was having a hard time following the story.

The first book in a sci-fi manga series where a young girl finds herself as a sidekick to a legendary warrior, called a SMITH, which leads to one adventure after another.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Quatro Publishing Group for access to this exciting arc!

5/5 stars!!

This graphic novel was just so exciting! I loved this from front to back. The characters were all well rounded and unique, making the story even more enthralling as I got absorbed into Cast's dreams of becoming a SMITH and annoyed with all the villains! I love how smart and quick witted Cast is, and I can't wait to see how her story plays out.

I've already ordered this in for the bookstore I work for, and I can't wait to hand sell this to teens this summer!

“No one comes from a perfect background but, it’s how we handle the obstacles in
our lives that determine how far we can go.”

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Tik Tok Striker Clock 💁
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: Cast
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Easy
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲: Comic
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Adventure, sci-fi
4.8/𝟱

🌱THE EXCELLENT
~ Amazing action panels
~ MC with a missing limb (she lost her hand)
~ Well seasoned inequalities & repercussions
~ Well-rounded characters
~ Believable villains

Cast, little girl from an impoverished town, is determined to become SMITH - a super engineer super hero, who is capable of providing for her ailing mother & her brother. Although she has amazing talent, situations (lying teachers, underserved school districts & lack of resources) try to hold her back - UNTIL a fateful meeting with ‘Ms. Clock’ brings much needed change. Finally able to study under a SMITH, Cast becomes a Striker, & so begins her journey to becoming the leader of the SMITHS & uncovering their secrets.

✨𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.

🦖 This really worked for me. I loved how they treated topics such as educational differences, hidden potential vs. opportunity, physical disability/ability & the importance of dreams & goals at all ages. A fun read. I’d love to keep reading the series.

🌱THE MEH
~ 🤔 some of the panels were a bit ‘much’? Movement-wise… hummm

♡🌱 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲 ;)

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
Cast's dreams of being an engineer and leaving her small hometown are realized when the mysterious Ms. Clock takes her on as a striker, or apprentice SMITH. Cast has struggled for recognition of her skills despite the fact that she only has one hand. Ms. Clock recognizes Cast's abilities. When Cast joins Ms. Clock she signs up for helping people no matter what, just like any proper SMITH, and mysteries that seem to follow Ms. Clock.
I thought that the story was good, as was the art. My problem was with the pacing. There is a large flashback section that could have just been the introduction, with everything else following chronologically. Sometimes it was difficult to tell what was happening when, and I think that is the fault of the order of events as they are told in the book.
This is a good story for those who enjoy a more science-fiction based action story.

This really exceeded my expectations! Excellent character designs with deeply engaging action and strong bonds of friendship and family that pulled me in very quickly and kept my attention the whole way through. The story is very unique, but also gave me a little bit of Fullmetal Alchemist vibes, which I wasn't expecting (but made me really happy!). Would definitely recommend this if you enjoy FMA, strong and daring characters, and very clean art!

This was a very interesting manga at first I was at Longshaw when I got into it and I started to understand the systems and the main character. I actually really really enjoyed this mind I would hundred percent recommend. It has a younger female lead but she is mature enough to hold her own and not be swayed by someone else’s opinion, which I think is actually very important and it really is a very important information to his audience. I also really enjoyed the original concept of this manga as it’s quite hard nowadays to have a Original story, but I would 100% recommend this, and I will be reading more from the series and this author

I have been in a manga phase and having such an exciting story and an inspiring tale is such a win! I was not expecting in volume 1 to have such character growth and it was a great discovery!! The story flows very well and the art is great

Cast is Striker (apprentice) to Ms. Clock, a Smith. They fight bad guys together, and work to save those who need help. But just a little while ago Cast was a poor girl with only dreams of being a Smith. She’s had the science and tech skills, but her teacher refused to let her take the test to become one. Little did Cast know that her teacher had his own agenda, and had her brother Fender in his clutches. When Ms. Clock, a new teacher, was added to the school Cast finally finds someone who believes in her. She finds a mechanical hand just prior to that so she can better manipulate things in the lab too. Uncovering the corruption in the town and school was Cast’s first team up with Ms. Clock.

Cast’s world is very interesting. It’s a post robot/tech war world with Victorian touches in which the average citizen no longer has access to all the tech, but it is still out there for those who know where to look and the scavengers. Some of the characters have a bionic limb (like Cast, who only has 1 hand), and some of the characters are mostly robotic or nanotech. There appears to be a vast divide between rich and poor, and corruption appears to be rampant. So Cast is like a steampunk tech wiz heroine who doesn’t fit the Smith mold. She’s told most smiths are men, and it is implied that not many Black people are Smiths either. But Ms. Clock encourages Cast to not listen to other people. It threw me at first that the text bubbles and pages are read left to right as opposed to the right to left of most manga. That will make it more accessible to a wider range of readers but long time manga readers may take a moment to adjust. Hand this to action hero adventure fans and steampunk/dystopia fans, but know the reader you hand this to (see content notes).

Notes on content [based on ARC]: About 45 minor swears. No sexual content. There are a lot of fight scenes. But fight sequences are mostly either zoomed way out or obscured by noise words and clouds and most of the people getting shot are cyborgs, robots, or some other form of mostly machine.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this interpretation of the Manga as I have yet to try any of the titles in that genre. This was an uplifting and inspiring story of how a young girl can be who she wants to be even with her limitations and people not believing that she is able to complete her dream. It follows her from school to getting an apprenticeship which leads to her being involved in fighting crime. Cast is the character which I resonate with the most and she is the one that links the story together and keeps everything cohesive. This is a fast paced story which is engaging and it has made me interested enough to continue with the series if more of it.

I really enjoyed this manga and was surprised that majority of it was in black and white. It did not take away from the story, it was still enjoyable and was purely captivating.

This is the third manga I've read from Saturday AM and I am loving what they are creating here. This story is crafting a truly inspiring tale that many people will be able to connect with. Cast lives in a town without many resources and doesn't have a left hand. Despite this, she wants nothing more than to join the Smiths - an elite group of warrior engineers. However, her teacher discriminates against her for this very reason, despite her showing just how brilliant she can be. This is one of the best origin hero origin stories I've read in a while.

There is a ton of character growth throughout this first volume which shows how well Issaka and Frederick understand their characters and what hardships and setbacks will push them to become better. As fantastical as some elements of the story are, it is all very much grounded in real-life scenarios, including the teacher Mr. Tucker being discouraging and putting his students down. Cast's resilience shines during her origin arc and displays just what she is capable of in a short period of time.

The artwork in this is fun and dynamic, keeping a great balance through the battle sequences and dialogue alike. The pacing of the story has been phenomenal so far, with a great mix of heavy action and lulls in action, allowing the reader to decompress or ramp up to the next bit. That's the fun with the Shonen manga still being employed in Clock Striker! If you're looking for a different take on manga that features a diverse cast of characters, both in race and disabilities, Clock Striker is definitely a great place to start!

Rating: 8.5/10

Clock Striker, Volume 1 releases on February 7th!

*ARC provided by NetGalley in return for an honest review*

Classic art style, but I-barely-could-focus plot.

I loved the diversity and the classic manga art style that this manga brought. However, I found the plot line to be incredibly slow and dull. I truly struggled to get into this story, and for that reason I do not see myself reading it in the future. That's not to say it wouldn't interest someone who isn't me though, hence I gave it two instead of one star.

Clock Striker, Volume 1 is well made graphic novel. The way that the story flows has a very manga feel. I can almost hear the voices of some manga TV shows as I read the book. The book is about the adventures of girl named Cast who dreams of being a Smith. Smiths are a group of engineers. She is talented but raw. She has to harness what she already knows and learn from others in order to accomplish her dreams.
The pace of the book was a bit choppy for me. It was fast paced and sometimes jumped too quickly between things. With that being said, it was very manga TV show and I think that if you like that, then this is well suited to you. The art is spectacular. Only the chapter title pages are in color. I wish the entire thing was in color because all of the chapter pages looked so amazing. Still, even the black and white pages were amazing. You can tell a lot of talent went into the drawings and art itself. I love the style of each page. I love graphic novels that have different sized frames on the page. It makes the action a lot more fun. I also like that some things are bigger and we get a lot more details. I would recommend this book to people from 5th grade to adult. I think any younger and the words may be a challenge to read to understand. I think kids younger than that could definitely read what's on the page, but I think they miss some of the nuance and storytelling.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

I originally heard about this manga from a session with Saturday AM and was absolutely THRILLED to see it on NetGalley. It is geared more middle grade/lower high school but I think it’ll thrive in my high school. I love the disability rep (although a bit tropey with her mechanical arm), a Black female lead as well as her absolute love and knowledge of math and science. #womeninstem Cheesy at times, this new manga really touches on a lot of what anime and manga fans love. I’m really excited for Saturday AM in general gracing my library and think this was a phenomenal first book. I really look forward to reading the rest of the series. We love diverse manga!!!