If you like stories about, or at least a modernization of Leonardo Da Vinci’s story, you just might like Leo da Vinci: Renaissance Kid by Richard Ashley Hamilton. Of course, things are totally fictionalized (or so one would assume, but perhaps it is set in an alternative reality?). The language is completely of today with actions to match (fist bumps, calling stepfather Tony). Now, maybe it is not the best book, but for certain it is a fun one that I will try to find sequels of. It is in the of The Queen’s Favorite Witch by Benjamin Dickson and Rachael Smith (book two) which was a fun read, though less realistic as it deals with magic, and Hamilton’s story is more rooted in a reality.
Everything about this due in mid-April graphic novel (I read via an online reader copy from the publisher), is both a bit simple but also detailed (such as experiments Leo has done, the city, and even room). There is a good mystery, hints of Leo’s romantic preferences, and the history of his father and mother’s relationship. Sure, there probably was not a masked man, a conspiracy or a young man who lived next door to Leo’s biological father who caught his eye, but I am curious about how his relationship with his family was, his apprenticeship, his first real patron and was there a series of caves that hid the skeleton of an ancient whale. If I have one issue, the ending was a bit quickly resolved, perhaps a bit off, but overall it kept with the spirit of the story.
Mostly polished with the images, things are busy, but not necessarily overwhelming and forcing the illustrations to take over the story, but they are there to be used as needed. They also show the contemporary elements (the new hair style of a female friend, the fist bump). Colors and the paper (even on a computer screen) are glossy, brightly done.
