TELEPORTATION AND OTHER LUXURIES

In Bongiovanni’s YA graphic novel, a science competition gathers diverse students to design and create a viable new invention.

The Blamazon Corporation welcomes Tyler Risley as an entrant in its Teen Scientist Competition. He joins a team of four who’ll live in a lab for six weeks and collaborate to invent something; members of the winning team will earn full college scholarships. Ty, the son of “rockstar scientists,” is a shiftless rich kid who immediately clashes with teammates Gabby Thomson, L.J. Colón, and Allegra Peabody. None of them can agree on what their collective invention will be. (If they produce nothing at all, Blamazon will send them home and require them to pay for their lodging, flights, and meals.) Ty’s idea for a teleportation device may sound implausible, but it’s one this team of young geniuses is willing to try. When their prototype turns out to be somewhat dangerous, should they disregard its shortcomings and go for the win or start over and risk total failure? In the cast of characters, Bongiovanni showcases a medley of backgrounds and personalities. Allegra, for example, is meek, brilliant, and, like Ty, trans; nonbinary Gabby takes any opportunity to share their pointed opinions on greedy corporations. Even their goals differ: Ty wants to appease his parents, who expect him to follow in their footsteps, and Gabby harbors their own secret agenda. The four spend pages butting heads or pondering their flaws. Their scenes of bonding (as when they sneak outside the lab) are the narrative’s highlight, illustrating how distinct individuals can connect with one another. The character development, however, overshadows the story’s SF element—their amazing device is a relatively small part of the story, and a hilarious montage of Ty testing the prototype is disappointingly brief. (“Let’s fire this baby up! I plugged it in to drop me off in Hawaii!”) Verhoeven’s lively, cartoonish artwork brings everything to life with indelible settings (like the futuristic city outside) and the cast’s exaggerated, sometimes anime-like expressions.

An entertaining character study with shades of SF.