Tim Eldred

A talking gorilla in space. Combining those two ingredients sounds awful to me. But it works.

Most of the stories revolve around Robin, a new mechanic cadet and his new boss, Mac, the talking gorilla. It'll take a few chapters before you finally understand why there is a talking gorilla on a spaceship

It's a fascinating backdrop to the story. But the heart of book is a coming of age story for both Robin and Mac.

Wow! Fun book to read. Very long but keeps you going. Loved the bond between the main two characters--and the non-Disney ending. The author notes at the end are very humble but also intriguing, a view into the making of a successful graphic novel. I'd like to read his other stuff. Grateful to my son for bringing me this book: "Mom, I want you to read this." I handed it back after, saying he'd probably enjoy reading the author notes as well.

Merideth says: After Earth has been devastated by an alien attack, a young mechanic serves with an all-female fighter squadron, a sentient gorilla and various other characters in this graphic novel.

Slightly geeky Cadet Robin Plotnik, a mechanic, fresh from academy, begins his term of service on the space station The Fist of Earth. There, he assigned to the all-female Barbarian squadron, and to work with Mac, a sentient gorilla in a 'No Crap' t-shirt. Humanity, haven been reduced 60% by show more alien attacks three generations ago, now works side by side with gorillas, whose intelligence has been accelerated by alien 'Benefactors'. Despite their outward disparity, Mac and Robin make a good team, and the two have various misadventures aboard the Fist of Earth -- most of which involve their romantic entanglements with a gorilla admiral and a deeply unmotivated library clerk.

I did enjoy Grease Monkey. Eldred has a clean art style, and manages to give all of his characters, gorilla and human real verve and personality. He is also to be commended for shoehorning a tremendous amount of back story into 12 page comics without stopping the plot. My main gripe with this book is that after the first few chapters, it doesn't seem to go anywhere. The characters and plots seem stuck in a rut, often resulting in sitcom style hi-jinks. Also, aside from Mac and Robin, most of the supporting characters are woefully underdeveloped. All in all this GN represents a wonderfuly original idea that never quite meets its potential. (cross-posted by MeriJenBen) show less

After Earth has been devastated by an alien attack, a young mechanic serves with an all-female fighter squadron, a sentient gorilla and various other characters in this graphic novel.

Slightly geeky Cadet Robin Plotnik, a mechanic, fresh from academy, begins his term of service on the space station The Fist of Earth. There, he assigned to the all-female Barbarian squadron, and to work with Mac, a sentient gorilla in a "No Crap" t-shirt. Humanity, haven been reduced 60% by alien attacks three show more generations ago, now works side by side with gorillas, whose intelligence has been accelerated by alien "Benefactors". Despite their outward disparity, Mac and Robin make a good team, and the two have various misadventures aboard the Fist of Earth -- most of which involve their romantic entanglements with a gorilla admiral and a deeply unmotivated library clerk.

I did enjoy Grease Monkey. Eldred has a clean art style, and manages to give all of his characters, gorilla and human real verve and personality. He is also to be commended for shoehorning a tremendous amount of back story into 12 page comics without stopping the plot. My main gripe with this book is that after the first few chapters, it doesn't seem to go anywhere. The characters and plots seem stuck in a rut, often resulting in sitcom style hi-jinks. Also, aside from Mac and Robin, most of the supporting characters are woefully underdeveloped. All in all this GN represents a wonderfuly original idea that never quite meets its potential. show less