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Dodge City
(Dodge City #1-4)
by
Dodge City is a YA sports comedy about making sense of a chaotic world and growing up against the insane backdrop of competitive dodgeball, told through the eyes of oddball Tomás and his teammates.
Life comes at you fast, but dodgeballs come way faster! Tomás is a teenage misfit, but when he joins the Jazz Pandas dodgeball team, he's thrown into a family of oddballs and out ...more
Life comes at you fast, but dodgeballs come way faster! Tomás is a teenage misfit, but when he joins the Jazz Pandas dodgeball team, he's thrown into a family of oddballs and out ...more
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Paperback, 112 pages
Published
November 6th 2018
by BOOM! Box
(first published October 31st 2018)
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Start your review of Dodge City

Super-diverse, super-queer YA graphic novel about a dodge ball team. Friendship! Intrigue! A team of oddballs called the Jazz Pandas! (For one match they face off against a team called Game of Throws, ha!) Many characters have great hair, and there's a huge found family vibe, two things which are always my jam. Really looking forward to the second volume in this series.
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There have been a few really wonderful stories about growing up and inclusivity using sports as a narrative in the last couple of years. Fence by C.S. Pacat, and Check Please by Ngozi Ukazu being the best of the bunch. Each of them tells an interesting story that happens to involve sports. Fence is a cool look at classism and gender-attraction, and Check Please is about accepting your queer self and teaching empathy by example. Dodge City is just a bland book about Dodge Ball.
I got no sense of a ...more
I got no sense of a ...more

Oooh I really liked this! Honestly, there hasn't been a sport-focused comic I haven't liked, what's up with that? I normally never like reading about sports
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i live for sports comics. this was cute!! would have liked to have seen a little more from it, but it was a fun read. hopefully there's a volume 2.
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Graphic novels and comic books are some of the most personal mediums out there. The combination of writing and images can invoke so many more feelings than just writing in many ways. This is why I’m stunned at how graphic stories are at the forefront of diversity and inclusion in media today. In “Dodge City” we have characters of different ethnic backgrounds or races, queer characters, even a differently abled character where his deafness is incorporated logically into the story with text messag
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If you liked SLAM! Vol. 1, you'll love Dodge City. Another niche team sports story with a cast of misfits. Lots of diversity, great sense of humor and you're rooting for everyone to find their way.
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Actual rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
A fast-paced dodgeball comic that I feel like could've benefitted a lot more from character development and circumstances surrounding the game than throwing us into the middle of the game. However, the characters were fun and quirky, and I really liked all the great representation features (several people of color, characters who speak Spanish to each other, two girls dating, a gay deaf character). If this at some point gets picked up for any kind of adaptation d ...more
A fast-paced dodgeball comic that I feel like could've benefitted a lot more from character development and circumstances surrounding the game than throwing us into the middle of the game. However, the characters were fun and quirky, and I really liked all the great representation features (several people of color, characters who speak Spanish to each other, two girls dating, a gay deaf character). If this at some point gets picked up for any kind of adaptation d ...more

Lots of teenage drama and poorly illustrated dodgeball action. Solid representation, which is always important, but the characters are severely underdeveloped. I guess with only four issues here, and most of those issues devoted to dodgeball, it's tough to get to know anyone. Follows in the footsteps of all the other Boom Box sports titles like Slam and Fence: brightly colored, noisy, not a lot under the hood.
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This rating is more indulgent than usual. Even though I do rate books on how well I enjoyed them compared to are they well written, hows the plot, how are the characters yada yada, this one is more pure enjoyment on my part [pushing it up to a 4 instead of a 2.5].
Art: Art is good, there's a lot of individuality in designs. I love the colors and the faces they pull.
Characters: I love all of these idiots, yeah they mess up, yeah they're kinda dumb, but they're trying, and they're precious.
My only ...more
Art: Art is good, there's a lot of individuality in designs. I love the colors and the faces they pull.
Characters: I love all of these idiots, yeah they mess up, yeah they're kinda dumb, but they're trying, and they're precious.
My only ...more

Dodge City is a teen graphic novel that centers around a dodgeball team made up of misfits and outcasts. Tomas is new in town and joins the Jazz Pandas in the hope of feeling less lonely and making some friends, but grossly underestimates the highs, lows and intense drama of being on a team. The story follows Tomas making the team and making friends, as well as his first dodgeball tournament as part of the Jazz Pandas.
This was a super quick read that I liked, but I honestly wished I liked it bet ...more
This was a super quick read that I liked, but I honestly wished I liked it bet ...more

This was so cute and entertaining!
Dodge City is 4 issue/chapter comic about dodgeball team Jazz Pandas and their new team member Tomas. We follow their training, couple of games in the championship and a bit of personal drama happening in the private life. The characters are diverse (many characters of color, f/f side romance, different maybe-future m/m romances), the characters have memorable designs and vivid personalities.
It's clear that the creators were inspired by sports anime/manga. Dodge ...more
Dodge City is 4 issue/chapter comic about dodgeball team Jazz Pandas and their new team member Tomas. We follow their training, couple of games in the championship and a bit of personal drama happening in the private life. The characters are diverse (many characters of color, f/f side romance, different maybe-future m/m romances), the characters have memorable designs and vivid personalities.
It's clear that the creators were inspired by sports anime/manga. Dodge ...more

This was a very energetic and engaging series with characters that were easy to grow attached to, and I would love to read more about them and the aspects of their life away from dodgeball that were only briefly touched upon so far.
My only compliant is in regards to Huck's place in the series, almost all of his hearing friends were uninterested in communicating with him when they didn't deem it to be useful or necessary, which made them seem rather callous. I was relieved their inconsiderate beh ...more
My only compliant is in regards to Huck's place in the series, almost all of his hearing friends were uninterested in communicating with him when they didn't deem it to be useful or necessary, which made them seem rather callous. I was relieved their inconsiderate beh ...more

So this is a bit more adorable queer comic wish fulfillment than it is a tightly plotted novel. New kid Tomas joins a dodgeball team to make friends and discovers an intense world akin to roller derby,entirely populated by teens. The Jazz Pandas are on a solid losing streak thanks to the defection of several players after their cheating scandal the previous year.
A lot of the relationships confuse me. Chase is semi-ignored by their teammates and seems way happy when people actually listen to the ...more
A lot of the relationships confuse me. Chase is semi-ignored by their teammates and seems way happy when people actually listen to the ...more

I liked this a lot! I think it's just getting started and I hope future volumes give a little more character development! I loved the weirdness of the teams but because of that, some of the intensity about the game seemed a bit misplaced? (Then again, I have no idea what goes on in Dodgeball so this may be par for the course).
Also it's v. queer and nicely inclusive (deaf characters, spanish speakers, etc) which was rad! I got to flex my old spanish muscle but do wish for people without internet ...more
Also it's v. queer and nicely inclusive (deaf characters, spanish speakers, etc) which was rad! I got to flex my old spanish muscle but do wish for people without internet ...more

Nov 07, 2019
Kelsey Riggs
rated it
liked it
Recommends it for:
tweens & teens
Shelves:
graphic-novel
This book has a very diverse set of characters and even includes spanish dialoge from latinx characters. I LOVE that! I also don't know that I have every come across a book (graphic or otherwise) about dodgeball. I had high expectations because I know many people will be excited about this subject. However, there was a whole buildup about cheating, losing a game, and relationships that was never resolved. Fights were started between characters that obviously had a connection, but the author neve
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Although Dodge City does have some heart and some vibrant, splashy colors that definitely appeal to the eye, the plot is kind of dullsville. It's about, and only about, dodgeball. The storyline never moves away from there and everything we learn about the characters basically happens on the court. The characters aren't exactly one dimensional but they're not very deep either. Things pick up in Parts #3 and #4 when the Jazz Pandas make it to the big tournament, but even then I wasn't ever more th
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I never knew how badly I needed a comic series about dodge ball until I read this. The art is so pretty, I absolutely loved it, and with how short it is the characters grew on me so quickly that was really nice. And the diversity! Gotta love it!
There's a lot left open at the end which I'm assuming is because they planned on creating more issues but it doesn't look like we're getting any more so that's a real bummer. This could have easily ended up one of my favorite comic runs if only it were l ...more
There's a lot left open at the end which I'm assuming is because they planned on creating more issues but it doesn't look like we're getting any more so that's a real bummer. This could have easily ended up one of my favorite comic runs if only it were l ...more

This was another whim pick and I have to admit that after having finished this title I'm sad that there doesn't seem to be anything more with these characters. Here we follow a dodgeball team and get a glimpse into the off the court drama that follows them. The cast was diverse, the dynamics between the members were great, and the art style was one that I fell in love with. It was a quick read and for the most part tells a contained story. Again, I would recommend because while it is short it co
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Okay so I really really liked this as an intro, and for some reason I thought this had three volumes and was super excited to continue reading. I have now been made aware there is only 1, and it was published three years ago so I'm not too hopeful of a sequel. As a standalone story it doesn't have an ending so I can't recommend it too highly based on that, but(!!!) I really loved it as a beginning for what I believe is a series I'd love if there was more of it 😔
I can only hope the creators invol ...more
I can only hope the creators invol ...more

Sadly not for me, I couldn't finish.
All of the character setups were too much for me, I felt like I was getting hit over the head with all of the very deliberate shows of diversity. Like. I'm glad? But also I wish it felt less like an after school special from 1991.
I also didn't love the storytelling style in general, the visuals left me feeling very harried and ultimately that's why I stopped reading this one. Might be good for manga fans though, the artwork on each page is very active. ...more
All of the character setups were too much for me, I felt like I was getting hit over the head with all of the very deliberate shows of diversity. Like. I'm glad? But also I wish it felt less like an after school special from 1991.
I also didn't love the storytelling style in general, the visuals left me feeling very harried and ultimately that's why I stopped reading this one. Might be good for manga fans though, the artwork on each page is very active. ...more

For people who like character-driven narratives, you might like Dodge City more than I did.
There was nothing wrong with it, per se; it was just light on storytelling for my tastes.
On BIG plus in this title is the intentional diversity of its characters. It goes above and beyond, not only having different races, genders, and sexualities, but also including people of different faiths and people with disabilities.
A good way to spend an hour, but not a title I’d pick up a second time.
There was nothing wrong with it, per se; it was just light on storytelling for my tastes.
On BIG plus in this title is the intentional diversity of its characters. It goes above and beyond, not only having different races, genders, and sexualities, but also including people of different faiths and people with disabilities.
A good way to spend an hour, but not a title I’d pick up a second time.

Dodge city was a cute read with a multiplicity of characters. I liked that the creator made an explicit effort to diversify the cast and provide representation across the board. Further, I like how the writer integrated Spanish dialogue without translation which added to Tomas’ authenticity. Overall, this is a fun and light read. I don’t think there is a greater meaning to this series outside reading about a bunch of young folks playing dodgeball.

This was cute! Nothing spectacular but I enjoyed the first four issues and I think it’s biggest strength is how gorgeous the art is! I was probably more engrossed in the art over the story but I’ll continue reading it! I do wish they had a translation somewhere for the conversations in Spanish though :(

Love the art and color, but it felt way too truncated and fast, like, there should have been more meat to it and more time passing. It just blew by, and we got some glimpses at who the characters are, but it was so quick it was jarring, and I didn’t get to feel attached to or invested in the characters.

I think the brightest spot in this was having a deaf character that I didn't hate. I liked Huck. Even though he's pretty background, he feels honest and I wanted more from him. And I like how Tomas learns some sign to include him and that we also get to see Chase attempting to learn some sign too.
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