Pigs Might Fly

by Nick Abadzis, Jerel Dye (Illustrations)

All the sensible hogfolk in Pigdom Plains know that if pigs were meant to fly, they'd have been born with wings but there's no convincing Lily Leanchops. The daughter of renowned inventor Hercules Fatchops, Lily has watched her father's flying machines fail time and time again. Working in secret, Lily is trying to build what her father couldn't: an aircraft that actually works. And of course, she's following his example and employing scientific principals alone, not magic. (Well, a protection spell or two doesn't count, right?)

Lily's secret project takes on a new sense of urgency when a mysterious enemy emerges from beyond the mountains. The Warthogs are coming, and they're piloting flying machines powered by dangerous magic spells. To save Pigdom Plains, Lily must take to the skies in her own experimental aircraft and there's no time for a test run.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Comics, Adventure, Animals, Childrens

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 11, 2017

About the author

Nick Abadzis was born in Sweden to Greek and English parents and was brought up in Switzerland and England. He is a writer and artist who likes comics (which means these days he seems to be known as a "graphic novelist"). His work for both adults and children has been published in many countries across the world.

He also works as an editorial consultant and has helped set up several best-selling and innovative children's magazines, including most recently, The DFC for David Fickling Books, the first British children's comic to feature original characters in nearly a quarter of a century. His storytelling contribution, Cora's Breakfast, was featured in The Guardian. His work has also appeared in The Times, The Independent on Sunday, TimeOut, Radio Times, and various other BBC publications and websites. Other clients have included Eaglemoss Publications, HarperCollins, Harcourt Education, Scholastic, Orchard Books, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and 2000AD. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

[First Second Books]

Magic and science clash in a world where highly evolved pigs fight their mortal enemies, the warthogs, for dominion of the skies! The genius daughter of the renowned inventor Hercules, Lily, uses everything she can to protect Pigdom from destruction and invasion.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily is the daughter of a famous inventor in the Pigdom Plains. She dreams of inventing her own flying machine, succeeding where her father could not. Although she has access to magic, Lily wants to use science to create an engine that will stay aloft on its own power. When a mysterious squadron of attack flyers begin to harass the countryside, Lily scrambles to finish the prototype of her airplane and she takes to the skies to protect her neighbors. But if her father finds out what she has done, Lily will be in big trouble.

I loved this graphic novel! Lily is such a spunky main character. She is so intelligent and brave. I was cheering for her through the entire book! I loved seeing how she interacts with her father, her aunt, and her young cousin. That family dynamic was very dramatic, as they sometimes fight or disagree, but always protect each other. Each of these characters have strong personalities and are very intelligent and independent, so that makes for some great character development.

I really appreciated the depth of the world-building for this pig country. There's history, religion, behavior norms, music, cuisine, politics, and all the elements for a vibrant culture unique to the pigs. And as if that wasn't enough, then we get a glimpse of the religion and history and politics of the boars and warthogs outside of pigland in their own separate culture! And all this information is seamlessly woven into the story, making it an exciting and rich experience.

The artwork is vibrantly colored throughout the entire book. I really loved the art style and the character designs. The panels are easy to follow, and make the action clear.

Loved everything about this book!

[Suzanne Dix · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wise student told me not to judge a book by its cover ... and he was so right! This was a great graphic novel with a plunky female main character. This is a combination of magic and science giving kids a wonderful fantasy story to follow. And based on the final frame, it definitely looks like a book two is forthcoming.

[Geordie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a terrible book, but it never deeply engaged me. I mean, the main character is in a dogfight with sinister warthog invaders, and I'm mainly thinking, 'how is she such a good pilot in her very first flight?' and 'why does the enemy plane have guns on the top-side when they think no other countries have planes?' I get it, it's a YA adventure graphic-novel, I shouldn't be picking apart every detail. But I was. I just wasn't caught up in the action enough to ignore the shaky logic of the setting and its story, even in the heaviest action scenes, I didn't care much, I didn't feel any serious peril for the (vaguely likable) hero.

The story was just all over the place. It crams in action/adventure and family conflict, racism, oppressive governments, war, coming of age tropes, science vs magic, and on and on. The writer seemed to be trying to make this an exciting comic for kids that also tackled deep issues, but just couldn't pull it together.

My biggest problem is, ultimately, "Pigs Might Fly" is boring. It's hard for me to put my finger on exactly why (other then the already mentioned 'all over the place' and lack of urgency), sorry, but that's just the best way I can think of to describe it. Boring.

[disco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many puns.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Take Porco Posso and smash it together with the female-led movies of Studio Ghibli like Nausicaa and you get this strange, but rather delightful tale about a land of pigs, magic, and airplanes. It's exciting, but with some interesting dialogues about faith and technology that are accessible to children. Longer than most graphic novels for this age group, but that means the story is meatier, and the characters better explored. The female lead is excellent, both strange and brave, and the world is such a strange, but quaint little place that I think kids will enjoy diving into.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lily Leanchops knows that pigs can fly. Having watched her father, Hercules Fatchops, fail at getting planes aloft without using magic, Lily is determined to do so with only science. Well, maybe a dap of magic provided by her cousin Archie. Thus, she's secretly designed her own plane and has even taken it on its maiden flight. When the Warthogs send several craft into the area, Lily worries that Pigdom Plains is in trouble and that her homeland may be the object of an attack. When her father learns her secret and overreacts, Lily steals away and heads for the Warthogs' land. There are several great scenes of fighting in the air, and readers will like this brave young woman even while wishing she were not quite so impulsive. Although she is captured once she arrives at her destination, she finds unexpected help there. As it turns out, there are a lot more individuals dabbling in magic than her father has any idea about, and magic and science somehow find a way to live together peacefully at least briefly. I really liked Lily and her aunt, but didn't particularly like how the story ended or the last few images in the story. I enjoyed thoroughly all the porcine references in the text and in the illustrations, even the characters' names, which can be appreciated even more upon subsequent readings.

[Lauren (WesterDrumlins) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐

I bought this extremely discounted so didn't have high expectations for it, especially as it's not the kind of art style I would normally gravitate towards.

However, I loved the map on the first page and enjoyed trying to identify the pig-ified place names 😂 personally I didn't find the pig puns too off-putting though I can understand why some people might. I found myself surprised by the direction of the plot multiple times, and so much more was included in this than I expected. I also loved the way Lily was drawn as well as her relationships with all the other characters. I shall definitely be encouraging friends that also like graphic novels to pick this up!

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the combination of science and magic, uneasily coexisting. Plus, so many pig puns!

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The strong female character was my favorite part of this graphic novel.

Lily (a pig) is an inventor; she's working on an airplane that could fly using science rather than magic. Although her best friend thinks some protection spells would also be useful; he's probably right about that. Lily needs to find a solution quickly because it appears that the warthogs have gotten their hands on planes and are planning to wage war on the folks in Pigdom Plains.

Lots of action and adventure, great use of color. More advanced/complex than bird and squirrel but with some of the same themes of friendship; also explores topics of family, racism, and stereotypes.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot
Lily's father, Hercules, has been working on flight for many years without succeeding, and his protégé, Ham Trotters wanted to use magic to keep the planes in the air but was fired for it. Lily, however, has also been working on her own planes and has finally succeeded! Just in time for warthogs to show off their flight abilities. Lily takes matters into her own... hooves and chases after the warthog planes, shooting them out of the sky. However, she must keep it a secret despite her father being chosen to build the pig aerial army so they can retaliate. Lily is later captured by the warthogs, and she finds Trotters has become the leader of the warthogs and is using their magic to power their planes. Now, Lily has to find a way to save her village and keep Trotters from destroying everything.

Review
This took me a long time to get through. It was wordy for a graphic novel, which was fine, but the plot wasn't terribly interesting and parts of it didn't make much sense to me. I also wasn't a fan of the art style.

I did like that this book contained a strong female, magic, science, and religion co-existing [though magic is looked down upon], which is very rare in a single book, especially a lower grade fiction book!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-developed mythos, and an intelligent, independent, and resourceful young woman are the two ingredients that make this work a winner. The conflict between magic and science is one we’ve run into as readers many times, but Abadzis take on it is fresh. I particularly liked the generational clash: two inventors trying to solve the same puzzle, a father wanting to protect his daughter and a daughter trying to help something larger than herself. But each blind to the other’s good intentions.

Pigs Might Fly is a very good YA graphic novel. A steampunk pig world infused with magic and fun.

For my full review: https://paulspicks.blog/2018/10/26/pi...

For all my reviews: https://paulspicks.blog

[OpenBookSociety.com · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://openbooksociety.com/article/p...

Title: Pigs Might Fly
By: Nick Abadzis
ISBN: 162672086X (ISBN13: 9781626720862)
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

Summary:

All the sensible hogfolk in Pigdom Plains know that if pigs were meant to fly, they’d have been born with wings but there’s no convincing Lily Leanchops. The daughter of renowned inventor Hercules Fatchops, Lily has watched her father’s flying machines fail time and time again. Working in secret, Lily is trying to build what her father couldn’t: an aircraft that actually works. And of course, she’s following his example and employing scientific principals alone, not magic. (Well, a protection spell or two doesn’t count, right?)

Lily’s secret project takes on a new sense of urgency when a mysterious enemy emerges from beyond the mountains. The Warthogs are coming, and they’re piloting flying machines powered by dangerous magic spells. To save Pigdom Plains, Lily must take to the skies in her own experimental aircraft and there’s no time for a test run. (Goodreads)

Review:

Pigs Might Fly is a graphic novel written by Nick Abadzis and illustrated by Jerel Dye. Lily Leanchops, daughter of inventor Hercules Fatchops takes it upon herself to prove to her father that she has created a viable flying machine. After all:

“He doesn’t listen to me. He can be so swineheaded and mean sometimes.”

One thing that I found difficult was when Professor Fatchops was musing to himself – the writing was VERY small and difficult to read. I also found his manner quite unbearable. He was not at all nice to his daughter when he found out she had created and flown a perfectly good aircraft!

In the midst of making the flying machine, Pigdom Plains comes under attach by the Warthogs, thus making it even more imperative that they can fight back. Hercules is charged with getting an up and running fleet of flying machines by the mayor. He stresses out and will not listen to Lily, that she can help him. She takes it upon herself to fight off the Warthogs. In the process, she gets stranded in the land where the Warthogs live now. Oh what to do…

Lots of action and a bit on an interesting storyline. Of course, anytime magic is involved, interesting and surprising things seem to happen. I won’t go into too much detail, as I want to leave the storytelling for those who want to read the story for themselves.

The graphics were okay. As indicated earlier, at times reading the wording (and it was actually a wordy graphic novel at that) was difficult as it was very small print. The characters were more multidimensional than I anticipated (Lily’s aunt was an interesting character). Overall, I found the story entertaining and enjoyed the fact that a “girl” was the main hero in this story. As far as a graphic novel for

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

[Jordan P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you ever wonder what it would be like if pigs can fly? If you should read the book, “Pigs Might Fly” by Nick Abadzis & Jerel Dye. In this book pigs and warthogs fight each other with battle planes! If that doesn't sound crazy enough they also learned how to use magic to make their planes even better. The protagonist is a pig named “Lily” that builds planes undercover from her father. Until one day she takes her plane for a text flight and it almost crashes into her neighbor's yard but her cousin “Archie” saves the engine with magic. But the plane ends up crashing into her neighbors yard and he tells the mayor (her father) about this. But her father doesn't believe she did it since he and the government have been trying for months to build a single plane.









SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
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A couple days later there was an attack on their town by warthogs in planes. Since they were in planes they had no way to fight back since they haven’t learned how to build planes yet. So, Lily gets her plane ready for takeoff, and her cousin Archie puts magic on her plane to protect it. She takes off looking for enemies and locates them. She starts shooting her glue gun at their propellers to make them fall to the ground, but gets hit by an enemy. Later that day on the news there was a report about an unknown enemy and the town celebrates whoever saved them. She continues to go out in secret to save the day until one day she gets caught by her dad. Her dad tells her how dangerous it is and takes away her plane but she had another secret one. She ends up flying away to the enemy's base to take them down but soon as she gets there she gets captured. She ends up teaming up with an enemy to take some planes and fly them to their village to over power the enemies. Afterwards a bad spirit ends up possessing her cousin Archie leaving a plot twist. Overall, I would rate this book a solid four out of five stars. The reason why is because this is a book that has pictures to actually show what the characters look like, what the setting looks like, and because it’s not too long of a book.

[Cindy Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lily Leanchops has a secret. She’s developing a plane that may actually fly on it’s own, without the help of magic. Her dad has been trying unsuccessfully to do the same thing for years, and she wants to show him she can be helpful. But when mysterious planes from another country come over the mountains to attach Pigdom Plains, the time for experimenting is over. Lily must do her best to save her town from warlike warthogs.

Pigs May Fly by Nick Abadzis and Jerel Dye is a sort of steampunk fantasy adventure graphic novel with a plucky heroine. Lily isn’t afraid to fly into the unknown, even when it turns out to be dangerous. She’s brave and capable and determined to do what needs to be done. She believes magic exists, but knows it has limitations, which means she relies on science to create lasting solutions for her inventions.

Parts of the story are reminiscent of Star Wars, but its originality comes from creating a land where pigs live, work, play, perform experiments, and yes, fly. It’s a compelling tale with fascinating illustrations of pigs in Victorian gear working on advanced machinery. Lots of fun!

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Salamah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good graphic novel. I have to admit it was not my favorite and for some reasons it took me a long time to finish it. I kinda lost interest in the middle of the story but then it became interesting again as I kept reading. I also think the small print and images made the book hard for me to read at times. I felt like I had to concentrate so hard and my eyes are very poor. However, the book has strong female characters with the main character Lily being a very likeable pig. I enjoyed how Abadzis mixed science and magic together creating a cool sci fi story. I also enjoyed the amount of adventure and mystery in this story. There is so much going on in the adventure arena that boys and girls will gravitate easily to this title. Th gist of the story is that Lily is a smart pig who has learned how to use science instead of magic to fly an airplane. Her father is a famous aircraft maker but has not discovered what his daughter Lily has discovered in making airplanes fly without magic. Lily's community is attacked by warthogs and she goes on a quest to stop them from further destroying her way of life. The ending was good too leaving a cliffhanger for those who wish to continue reading.

[Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the sensible hogfolk in Pigdom Plains know that if pigs were meant to fly, they’d have been born with wings—but there’s no convincing Lily Leanchops. The daughter of renowned inventor Hercules Fatchops, Lily has watched her father’s flying machines fail time and time again. Working in secret, Lily is trying to build what her father couldn’t: an aircraft that actually works. And of course, she’s following his example and employing scientific principals alone—not magic. (Well, a protection spell or two doesn’t count, right?)

Lily’s secret project takes on a new sense of urgency when a mysterious enemy emerges from beyond the mountains. The Warthogs are coming, and they’re piloting flying machines powered by dangerous magic spells. To save Pigdom Plains, Lily must take to the skies in her own experimental aircraft—and there’s no time for a test run.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

it is ok i did not like it but you would may de it is you differnts and i should it to mt sis and she love it we have differnts it favtrotes so dontbe rud e and live is live you could just said i HATE IT

[Virginia Mcgarvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily Leanchops has watched her famous inventor father, Hercules Fatchops, fail time after time in trying to invent and airplane that actually flies. Lily has secretly built her own flying machine and decides to use it to find out what the Warthogs are up to in their magic powered airplanes on the other side of the mountains. But, when her plane runs out of gas, she becomes Ham Trotters and his Warthogs’ prisoner.
This fun, fast paced graphic novel will delight and entertain young readers. Clever names have been given to the pig characters which adds even more fun and humor to the story, which coexists with a suspenseful plot. In addition to the great story is the visual appeal. Full color graphics are lively, compliment the text and will engage the readers.

[Jesse Post · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a remarkable book, with unexpected things at every step of the way. The pastoral rural scenes are gorgeous and the pre-flight historical setting is so realistic that it just winds up making sense that it also has magic and anthropomorphic pigs. Abadzis is skilled at not drawing too much attention to his cool ideas and being cute about it — he takes it seriously and just presents an episode in a lived-in fantasy world. The characters driving it could use a little more space for us to get to know them and understand what they want, but whatever shortcoming that is is more than made up for with the exciting magic aerial combat period piece story. If you like The Rocketeer, this is a good one for you.

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this graphic novel which is possibly aimed at UKS2+. A play on the phrase itself, Abadzis has created a world of anthropomorphic pigs who dream of reaching into the skies. It is a world partly of magic and science and both are in conflict as Lily finds the warthogs beyond the mountains looking to attack her country.
Dye's packed panels accompanied by a well-paced, humorous and gripping narrative provided by Abadzis makes for an exciting and rich lead with plenty of strong female characters. Not sure why it's average on Goodreads is so low, I thought it was of a high standard in both style and story.

[Ginny Kaczmarek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique characters and world-building, filled with clever puns, drive this story through surprising twists. The graphic elements are cinematic, though I had a bit of trouble following some of the airborne plane battles. I enjoyed how the female characters, all of whom have been dismissed or diminished by power-hungry (though still complex) male characters, save the day with their cleverness and persistence. I also appreciated how all characters agree, in the end, that unity despite cultural differences will benefit their cultures the most.

A fun adventure with subtle messages of tolerance and respect.

[Ro Menendez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel follows the classic plot of genius daughter of a genius scientist, dad doesn't know how capable his child is, child outdoes father, father rejects daughter's greatness and later begs for forgiveness when daughter saves the world against evil, only the characters are all from the porcine family. The strongest themes explored are: melding science with faith (in this case magic), allowing your children to follow their dreams, how wrongdoing is perceived from different POVs, and the power of belief. Lily Lambchops is a kind heroine who is brave and a first class inventor. The action-in-the-air is exciting and jumps off the page.

[Flemer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of pigs with flying machines is a usually untold fairytale. Though this book is odd it is absolutely amazing. When the farmer complains to Lily's father he loves the design of the plane what he doesn't know is that his daughter is the maker of the plane. She hides it from him until he sees her plane coming into the landing strip after fighting the warthogs who are attacking the pig doom plains. Lily gets locked in her room but escapes the next day and flies into the warthog fortress where she is held captive.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK - imagine a world "peopled" by pigs, mechanical flight is just being developed and there is magic. It's a big jump I know, but I thought this was a whole lot of fun. The young female pig, Lily, is trying to prove her skills and fight for opportunities when an aerial invasion of her country makes her talents even more important.

Loved the richly detailed illustrations and of course all the pig jokes. Different and very entertaining.

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exuberant middle grade graphic adventure novel in which Lily Leanchops, a teenaged pig, makes an airplane that can fly without the use of magic and uses it when the Warthogs threaten to invade Pigdom Plains. See my full review here.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel is about Lily, a pig, who builds a flying machine even though her inventor father has been unable to do so. It also involves magic and exciting air battles with the Warthogs who live beyond the mountains. There's messages about faith and immigration amongst the story that are a touch heavy-handed but overall I think that children will really enjoy this book.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A coming of age pig story. Lily has managed to create a plane that flies by science alone - no magic, but is it enough to keep the Warthogs from invading Pigdom Plains?

A good premise but all of the pig, swine and hog talk felt contrived. I like pigs, don't get me wrong, but everyone's name and every location was a variant on a porcine word.

[Brian Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun. My daughter and I got it at the Boston Children's Museum in their exhibit on local Boston comics creators and I enjoyed it's off beat nature. The story ends up being very self contained, which was a touch of a let down after all the world building because it ends up feeling a little too neat, but if you see it, give it a read.

[Elizabeth P · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was engaging and unique. There were a couple of things I didn't like, though- the father was not supportive of his daughter. (Seriously, why can't parents ever be supportive of their kids in books? I guess it furthers the plot along, but still). Also there was a weird syncretism of religions.