![](https://image.librarything.com/pics/fugue21/magnifier-left.png)
![Tin Man by Justin Madson](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/1419751042.01._SX180_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Tin Man (original 2022; edition 2022)by Justin Madson (Author)
Work InformationTin Man by Justin Madson (Author) (2022)
![]() None No current Talk conversations about this book. I picked this up because of the Wizard of Oz references, which I assumed would be primarily metaphorical. That isn't the case, but many of them ended up feeling pretty arbitrary aside from the involvement of Campbell, the Tin Woodsman (one of the main characters), and a couple of other plot points. There are Oz names and easter eggs everywhere, but mostly this is fairly traditional YA graphic novel about a teenaged girl who feels alienated within her family and her younger brother, who just wants things back the way they used to be. It isn't badly written, but you can pretty much see where the story is going to go every step of the way. Madson's art reminds me a little bit of Chris Ware's - everybody has a pretty flat affect, and that adds to the general sense of moroseness within the book. 6/10, I didn't enjoy this book at first, but it got better towards the end. The art style was really off putting, the colour palette was nice, but I kept noticing how the eyes were just white circles, gives off a sort of creepiness to it. I would've loved to see more of the worldbuilding, how is there so much steampunk in the world? Half of the plot was very slow after Solar finds Campbell, but it got very emotional towards the last half, and I was really invested in it. In the last half, Campbell tries to stand up against the bullies, and uses his heart, there was a tornado in the neighbourhood, so Solar, Campbell, and another character went into a rocket which actually flew! The friendship between the two main characters really developed, and I liked seeing the two of them together, in the end, Solar even made a new home for Campbell, which was very heartwarming. If you want a story about friendship, this is the book for you. A fairly typical tale about an angsty teen tossing aside her good girl image to hang with some juvenile delinquents is jazzed up by making it an homage to The Wizard of Oz. Her tale parallels and intersects with Campbell, the titular Tin Man, a homeless android with daddy issues (robots have daddies!?!?). The story is too slow, dull, and predictable (an impending tornado is telegraphed over and over). It is shelved with the YA graphic novels at my library, but the simplicity of the tale screams middle school. The art is reminiscent of Jeff Lemire's, with most characters sharing the same two faces -- usually stuck in emotional neutral -- with a mix of different hairstyles to differentiate them. Morose meh. This was weird. But charming. I liked it! A tin man learns having a heart is harder than it looks; searching for direction. Solar, a girl in STEM, feels directionless without her grandma to guide her. Fenn, her younger brother just wants his old sister back before she met her horrid friends. In the midst of all this are small easter eggs to the Wizard of Oz. 3.5 no reviews | add a review
AwardsNotable Lists
"In Justin Madson's debut graphic novel, Tin Man, a girl and her brother befriend the titular Tin Man with unexpected results. Solar is in her last year of high school and is reeling from the recent death of her grandmother. She has abandoned her plans for the future and fallen in with a bad crowd. Her little brother, Fenn, doesn't understand why she's changed--she doesn't even want to help him build their rocket in the garage anymore. Campbell is a tin woodsman--a clunky metal man whose sole purpose in life is to chop down trees. He longs for more, however, and decides to seek out a heart, believing that, with one, he will be able to feel things he has never felt before and, therefore, change his life."--Amazon. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNone
![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)741.5The arts Graphic arts and decorative arts Drawing & drawings Cartoons, Caricatures, ComicsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
Tin man finds a hearts, experiences heartbreak, and doesn’t know whether having a heart is worth it. Also shows a teenage girl rebelling after losing her grandmother and her brother feeling the loss of her of presence. It was ok but nothing great.