Robots Vs. Princesses Volume 1

by Todd Matthy, Nicolas Chapuis (Contributor)

When plucky Princess Zara stumbles upon the Decimator defector Wheeler, she sets in motion events that will pit the spritely cleverness of fairy tale princesses against the raw power of giant robots!
The dream match you never thought you'd see begins here.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Royalty

104 pages, Paperback

Published October 29, 2019

Reviews

[Schizanthus Nerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robots versus anything is always going to be something that interests me and with the “Transformers meet Disney Princesses” marketing attached to this graphic novel I couldn’t help myself. I had to check this one out.

Princess Zara is the only princess who hasn’t chosen her animal for the upcoming recital. The princess’ songs tame wild beasts and apparently the recital is a good place to find yourself a prince.

I’m not certain if Princess Zara is actively seeking a prince but she does want a baby dragon (don’t we all?!) so she sneaks off to the Forbidden Woods to find one.

Meanwhile Wheeler, a robot, decides it’s time to bail on the chaos of Chromia and the abuse he has suffered there.

Zara and Wheeler’s introduction is understandably awkward,

especially when you realise Zara’s song has somehow transformed this downtrodden robot into a mechanical dragon. But not everyone is happy about their new friendship. Well, it’s only sort of a friendship in the beginning. Zara is using Wheeler to wow the crowd at the recital but she does appear to like him as well and they do become friends during the story.

I’m not sure the wild animals of Harmonia would be overly thrilled by being mind controlled by random princess songs and forced to do housework, make clothing or dance on cue.

Sure, they are smiling but are they happy or is this Stockholm syndrome?! Only their therapists know for sure. Anyway, moving on …

Battle scenes and background information ensue, along with some sweet conversations about friendship. We learn a little about the Centurions and the Decimators. Then, before you know it, it’s time for the big battle that’s been centuries in the making.

The battle rages on until what I thought was going to be an Obi-Wan Kenobi moment

turned into, um, the possibility of something else. 😜

Okay, time to get your mind out of the gutter! They don’t mean the euphemism.

The princesses and robots make for an unusual but fun combination. It was nice to see the princesses involved in the battle scenes and while this story is self contained there are definitely strong hints that a sequel could be in the works. I enjoyed the story but it’s not one that I plan to reread.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Dynamite Entertainment and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw this title, I thought to myself, "That makes absolutely no sense, I need to take a look at this." It's better than I thought it would be, because I expected it to be awful. This is obviously intended for younger audiences. On one side, we basically have Disney princesses who can control animals with their songs. On the other side are archetypes of the Transformers with the Megatron type being the main villain. Their's not a whole lot more to it than that. If you have a child under 10, they'd probably think this is fun.

Received a review copy from Dynamite and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's face it – "Robots vs Princesses" isn't the kind of title that gives you confidence. But while I'm going to do the old reductio ad absurdum on this thing, that is actually a bit unfair, as this has a bit more about it than expected. This is a world where Autobots and Decepticons are fighting, while on the other side of the continent in Tweeland the royal princesses think the noise and smoke is evidence of dragons. One princess wants a dragon for a variety show performance, so heads off, and both befriends and captivates a conchie robot – and turns him into a dragon at the same time. Learning of how and why the robot tribes are fighting each other, the humans join in the battle… So yes, a bit of a daft basis for a comic, but it's not too bad – it at least is done with the conviction needed to pull something like it off. A bit more logic about why things change, and greater visual clarity in the key action scenes, and you'd have something to return to. As it is, I was still happy enough to spend some time with these pages.

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The princess part was a bit too girly for my taste. The robot part was good. But overall it felt all too young for me, which is kind of normal because ‘m clearly not in the targeted readers age. What concern me with it is the girly part and the boy part. I know I’m in the stereotypes here and there are exception and all that… but I’m just unsure if it would please more to girls, boys, both or none… I would be very curious to have some data on this one after being read by many kids!

[Doc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Princesses are sometimes more than meets the eye

This is a quick and silly story of fantasy and science fiction mashed together like peanut butter and jelly where we find two seemingly different worlds divided by a forbidden zone. From each side of the zone a lone traveler meets the other against unlikely odds which transforms themselves (one literally) and their worlds as conflicts begin to arise. Resolves will be forged and songs will be sung as Robots and Princesses go to war.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sci-fi and fantasy worlds collide in this short graphic novel story about two neighboring realities that find each other in the forbidden forest one day. Action-packed and dreamy as the two worlds would suggest. Strong themes of courage, perseverance, and friendship. Really enjoyable.

[Sandi Faulconbridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wicked-cool read! Princesses (who kick butt) and Robots. A match made in heaven. Bright graphics and not too busy. Like that it’s also got themes of friendship, fitting in, and of course good overcoming evil.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The princesses are preparing for their recital at which they sing and animals perform magical feats to accompany the singing. Zara is determined to have something different, so she goes into the forbidden woods to find a baby dragon. What she finds isn’t exactly a baby and isn’t exactly a dragon, she finds a robot running away from his evil commander, Tyrranus. For a while the two find fun and friendship, but eventually Tyrranus comes looking for his runaway and attacks the people. But Zara and her fellow princesses aren’t going to let any robots get away with evil.

This was a rather unconventional mashup of fairytale type princesses with magical song and warrior robots. But it was ever so much fun. As you can probably tell from the premise, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s a fairly straightforward plotline, and it moves along pretty fast. There’s not a ton of time to develop characters or setting, but there was just enough. The artwork is a mashup of Disney princess and Transformers. And this is the scifi fairytale many people have probably always wanted but never really knew it was what they wanted. Recommended to fractured fairytale fans, scifi fans who love fantasy just as much, and those looking for a light, fun read.

Notes on content [based on ARC]: No language issues. No sexual content. Some scifi/fantasy violence, but only robots get serious booboos (and many of them can be fixed).

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

[Paul Decker · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received this book as an eARC from Dynamite Entertainment via Edelweiss. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

This book is bizarre. Robots versus princesses? It's ridiculous, but also a lot of fun. The story starts with a princess not prepared for her recitial. She needs a song and an animal. She decides to go into the forbidden forest in search of a dragon. In that forest, which is full of robots, is a robot who doesn't want to fight and decides to leave the forest for a better life. The two find eachother and begin a new era in which both worlds learn of the other's existence.

This is a really fun concept, but it fell flat on me. I think I would prefer it in a different media format. A movie or tv show would fit this story better, I think. Especially with how many songs are sung. I give this book a 2.5/5. I wanted a deeper take on this and more unique and different character designs for the humans.

[Gladimore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was afraid of what I would find in this book, I mean read the title. I liked this though! The princesses were tough go getters and the robots were well just robots I guess, but Wheeler the robot was silly and perfect! He was the unique, runt robot, who didn't want to be like all the other ones. Just as Zara was a different kind of princess, who just wanted to find a dragon. Fun for all ages, child and adult alike. Set in a fantasy world that lives on the edge of science fiction. Wonderfully weird combo!
#Netgalley

[Vanessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one was just kinda... meh. This has a silly world concept that I could see really being something fun an unique. But I didn't really feel anything; it felt much more like a pitch meeting then a final product. And I found the characters to be unremarkable. The art was also... lacking if not plain bad. I honestly think the princesses designs changed way too much over the few short chapters; Artelia, for example, goes from (probably) white to (maybe) brown and its was a little jarring. Honestly, the lack of diversity was also disappointing.

[Tracey Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

I downloaded Robots Vs Princesses by Todd Matthy via Edelweiss Plus and I have to say this was amazing. Not only do you have robots that represent good and evil but you also have a legend which the princesses find out about. I loved everything about this the script and the artwork are all of a high quality and I want to read everyone of these volumes when they are released. So I will have to give this an Edelweiss score of 9 and on goodreads this will be a 4. Please please read the books you will have a whale of a time.

[Dolores · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the title pretty much says it all.

I was actually enjoying the book until all the fighting started. It was like watching a Transformers movie. You have no idea who the combatants are, and minimal understanding of why they are fighting. Of course, I'm not the target audience for this book. I'm not entirely sure who that is, but it would be interesting to see if the title is enough to draw kids in. And, all in all, it was better than I expected it to be.

[Jess (bookwyrmbella) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this. It was very different from anything I have read before. I have always liked dragons so I thought it was interesting that they robots magically changed into dragons. Zara isn't your typical princess either. I also liked the art style. I would be interested to see where things go from here in future installments.

I received an eARC via netgalley; all opinions are my own.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute premise, subpar execution.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Zaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saw this on Hoopla and thought I would give it a try.
I didn't care for how chaotic the storyboards were.

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read with really beautiful illustrations. Some typos are distracting as well as the way one of the robots speaks. It's new and fun overall!

[Engel Dreizehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dispute what the overall reviews (and understand that...this is not everyone's cup of tea) say...personally for me, I kind of liked it and worked for me.