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SHELF-AWARENESS --
In a world where spelling bees are more dangerous than
mixed martial arts and more popular than any sport ever devised, one group of
ragtag spellers unite to destroy the secret society behind it all or die trying.
Because losing a match surely means D-E-A-T-H!" That (or something very much
like that) had to have been the pitch the authors delivered to Oni Press when
they first talked about this book. This not-quite-our-world features a society
built on the English language, where every class in high school is somehow
related to the language arts (except for PE, of course), back-alley spelling
bees exist for those banned from official matches, and a shadowy organization
called the Spelluminati run everything and remove undesirables with swift
efficiency. Words and letters can be (and often are) used as weapons in the
right mouths (and occasionally hands) in videogame style matches where dichotomy
can be more dangerous than thaumaturgy. While the world is interesting enough
and the main characters engaging, the awesome cast of supporting characters is
very enjoyable: they're other spellers who come with superhero names, great
gimmicks and excellent, word-related backgrounds. My favorite is the Immortal,
who is rumored to have been alive since the first spelling bee, and knows the
meaning and history of every word thrown at him. Handselling Opportunities: Fan
of magical realist comics like Scott Pilgrim, Sharknife, Street Angel and
Suburban Glamour, among others (it's pure synchronicity that they all
start with "S").