Bionic

by Koren Shadmi

An eerie and beautiful coming-of-age graphic novel for the digital generation, from the stunningly creative mind behind Highwayman and Love Addict.

Bionic is a coming-of-age tale for the digital generation, taking place in the near future. It's the story of Victor, a geeky teenager on a hopeless quest to win the love of the gorgeous Patricia -- but when she returns from a horrible accident with astonishing new robotic parts, both their lives will be changed forever.

Koren Shadmi (Highwayman, The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television) presents a hypnotically illustrated story of warm flesh and cold metal. It's the story of a love that was never meant to be, of overwhelming emotions, trauma, rebellion, loss of innocence, and the fear that wanting something may not be enough.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels Manga, Romance, Young Adult

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2020

About the author

Koren Shadmi is a Brooklyn Based illustrator and Cartoonist; he earned his degree in Illustration in 2006 from the School of Visual Arts in New York. His graphic novels have been published in France, Italy, Spain, Israel, and the US.

Reviews

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this graphic novel because it seemed like such a fun and unique concept — a guy's crush gets in a terrible accident and becomes a cyborg? Who doesn't like cyborgs? — but unfortunately, the execution was a terrible failure for me. I didn't enjoy the artwork, the storyline, and ffs, these characters were so unenjoyable! The main character takes the "nice guy" trope to the extreme, his crush goes from being this sweet, quiet girl in the beginning to immediately becoming a raging asshole, and all of the side characters are shallow and/or irritating. I don't think anything about this story worked for me at all and I don't recommend picking it up.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Patricia Partzlaus is a beautiful and rich girl, all but unattainable to the geeky high school boy, Victor Steiner, who has a crush on her, until the day she is struck by a car and has an experimental procedure replacing a large portion of her body with the bionic parts her dad happens to be developing at his tech company. She then spends the rest of the book being moody about her new condition while Victor follows her around like a puppy that she has no problem occasionally kicking.

Instead of exploring any of the science fiction aspects of the change, the story is content to wallow in teen angst with underage drinking, nudity, sexting, smoking and all the other things I didn't do as a teen.

Way too long and dull. A very disappointing follow-up to the author's excellent The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television.

[Lucille]

Mouais. La sexualisation à outrance de cette lycéenne qui, après un accident, se retrouve à moitié robot, m'a vraiment gênée. Et surtout le héro qui est clairement un gros "nice guy", pas l'un des pires mais pas loin.

Sinon le style graphique était joli, les visages un peu bizarre parfois, mais agréable visuellement.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was beautiful to look at but the plot and characters felt underdeveloped....

[Ryan Fohl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the opening and closing to be a little heavy handed. (Get it? Because of the robot arm?)

All the poor reviews of this book are off base. Are all the characters jerks? Yes, high schoolers can be cruel and self absorbed. Is the main character a “nice guy?” Yup, but the story doesn’t glorify or even empathize with that. Is Patricia a self destructive teenager? Yes, they exist. I like the unreliable confession, we really can never know what actually happened. Which is what it’s like when you are an outsider to a family dynamic.

Victor wants to “help her” or “save her.” Naw dude that’s not what you really want. He wants someone to make him not feel depressed and lonely. His needs are selfish and he pretends they are selfless. He needs to look at himself. I can relate to how he keeps making terrible choices.

I love the art. Patricia and Watt the cat look very cool. But what surprised me is how much the art nails “near future” architecture and fashion. The world feels believable and fully realized. There is only one body size for girls, but boys have multiple looks. That’s a bad choice.

What I learned: Driverless buses and retail stores with no employees, will create a target rich environment for teenagers.

[Erina27 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Histoire interessante, je trouve que la girl humanoïde est horrible avec notre jeune héros ...sinon l histoire est très sympas..

[April Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't like starting reviews with "I really wanted to like this, but...." however.... I really wanted to like this, but.
First, the good things: the art was nice, kinda soft, I little blurry around the edges, that pencil-drawn look, y'know? It contrasted nicely with the futuristic setting, all the tech going on. The idea of the story is a nice twist to the "geeky boy wins the heart of the pretty popular girl" trope. This had promise. And yet....
Tropes are fine if they're done well, but it goes overboard here. We have our geek, Victor, who's crushing on pretty, popular, and mostly nice Patty. Through awkward teenage stalking, he finds out she works at a pet adoption agency, and he goes in to see her, pretending to want to adopt a cat. She ends up letting him take home a cyborg cat from her father's company, an experiment she took pity on and swiped (Your foreshadowing alarm should be going off now). A few days later, he sees her get hit by a car and get very seriously injured, and she's taken away and fitted with robotic body parts made by her father's company, making her the first human to get this procedure. When she finally comes back to school, some of her "friends" start bullying her because of her robotic parts. Of course, Victor is nice to her still, and they start a sort of friendship. She treats him like shit, though, alternately coming on to him and ignoring him, while he acts like a doormat. Neither character is likeable, and there's no one for us to root for. Granted, she's got a lot to be upset about (not telling 'cause spoilers, though it's kinda obvious), but dang! And Victor is just annoyingly usable, never really standing up for himself. There are so many questions left unresolved at the end, including ones that don't even get considered in the story- are the robotic parts changing her personality? No one thinks to ask that. I don't know if this meant to be a standalone story, but it really needs a sequel to wrap some things up and hopefully get some character growth, because there wasn't any here. The ending is wishy-washy and abrupt, and doesn't really wrap things up; it feels like a cliffhanger. This was good but not great, and I would read a second volume if Shadmi writes one.

#Bionic #NetGalley

[Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got halfway through and gave up. One of the least creative science fiction comics I’ve ever read (even beats Walta’s Sentient). All these concepts are REALLY played out, and nothing new is done to make them interesting. Art is.. well, it’s not good but it’s not terrible. More interesting than the story but I wouldn’t call it appealing. Add in the whole book feeling creepy as fuck, with the no-personality “love interest” being drawn real sexy (it’s a high school story.. this girl is like 17) and this book was pretty unpleasant ngl

[Deanna Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfect mix of Sci-fi and and teenage angst romance; this graphic novel surprised me because it wasn't a cute love story wrapped in a pretty bow but a story about toxicity and the things we do for love. I enjoyed this story a lot!!

[Matthew Noe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Asks some good questions thematically but I didn't care much for the toxicity of the relationships.

[Tim O'neill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly just a boring retread of the nice-guy trope. I think if it’d just been erotica, I’d’ve enjoyed it more because clearly the author wants to make it with a sexy cyborg, or have a sexy popular girl become a cyborg so he’ll be th’only one who understands her. And there were sex scenes and nudity, but it clearly was tryïng to be a relatable YA story, and sure, it prolly will be, but it won’t expand anyöne’s minds. I was in 2nd or 3rd grade when I thought a way for girls to notice me would be for a dragon to burst from the ground and I could slay it, but... uh... I wasn’t yet 10. We should be past these ideas by the time we hit puberty.

Why ⭐⭐ instead of ⭐? Patricia wasn’t totally one-dimensional, and the comic didn’t offer the reader any nice tidy resolution as to why she was friendly to the geeky guy when noöne else was around—the reader has to put that together. And I also respect th’author for not giving a final answer on the truth about her accident. Mebbe a more mature co-author could’ve pushed this into something interesting. Or, you know... my solution suggested above...

I kinda read this by mistake. Shadmi has a bunch of non-fiction GNs out, and I wanted to read one of them, but they were checked out and this wasn’t, and I liked the cover. At least it was quick. I see the non-fiction ones have better reviews (I should’ve checked the reviews first, but it is a nice cover), so mebbe I’ll give him another chance.

[BookCupid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm here because of the cover!!

Now that the truth is out of the bag, I must say that the story wasn't all that bad. It spoke of bullying, teen/parent problems, first love, and discovering sexuality. Unfortunately, the ''love'' relationship was quite toxic and neither character seemed to fully care about fixing that.

[alejandro galvez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good.

The story is good. The ending could have been better. A bit of a disappointment really to such a good book.

[Lauren Salisbury · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was incredibly toxic and gross (naked 17yos and oh woe is me nerdy white boys ain't it). The storyline didn't have anything else to offer and was a huge disappointment.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unusual science fiction infused tale that tips its toes into Speculative Fiction and hints at a Cyberpunk future for teenagers.

While the main character is reliable, there is an element of the unreliable narrator through Patricia. Throughout the story, there is a theme of coming of sexual age with a constant fluctuation between hyper-attraction and frigid disinterest. We see Patricia through the eyes of Victor, who has a crush on her. Victor is a pretty lovesick teenage boy with a massive crush on Patricia. Before her accident there seems to be a blossoming interest between the two based on a (on his part fake) shared interest in the care of animals.

This is all going to be spoilers because it's looking at what happens after the book, so don't click that tag unless you've really read the book --or you like spoilers.


This book also deals with mental health, but not necessarily of her own making. We don't get the sense that Patricia is ill. She is simply a reserved teenager who is interested in boys, but not interested in being ogled or fondled. After her accident, there is a shift. It is implied that the chips and mechanical parts working in her head are causing her to behave erratically. She is on a path of self-destruction and seems fixated on ruining her newly created body.

It's implied (and openly denied by the father) that her accident was not an accident, but rather a ploy to promote the father's bionic business. The father casts doubt on his daughter's account of the events. Coupling the layoffs of employees (not a sign that they are growing) with the consistent lack of security and safety of their plant (the theft of the cat --which they didn't even notice was missing! and the incident with Victor's hand), we can see that there are serious issues with their family that are not entirely connected to their increasingly angry/suicidal daughter. There is a maliciousness that permeates the family. Patricia is always alone with no parental oversight, support or attention present. In addition to this, there seems to be a much larger interest in showcasing her investors rather than dealing with her worrying brain static/buzzing that increases as her erratic behavior does. So, while the parents try to paint her actions as rebelliousness, there is some validity to it as present through her suffering and the actions of her parents.

Patricia's hidden dysfunctional family is compared to Victor's dysfunctional family. In Victor's family, the disfunction is not connected to hatred or economy, but rather shame and secrecy. The father pretends he has not lost his job (denial). The mother is holding everything together and is slowly loosing control, so she knee jerks in her response to what is happening to Victor. Victor . . . has problems. He is desperate for female attention, he's bullied, he's working a side-hustle where he keeps getting ripped off, and he develops unnaturally clingy attachments to Patricia. He doesn't know her, but keeps putting himself unnecessarily into dangerous situations for her attention. Victor is a "nice guy." He does favors, buys nice things, and gives attention to Patricia whenever she wants to feed her ego; even when it is very clear she is using him. This seems to be a self-esteem issue --one that might be rooted in his parents' relationship. It seems like they can't be fully honest with each other and indeed their relationship rests on his father's ability to provide for the family.

This is the sort of uncomfortable, unpleasant book that reflects some realities of teenage life. Not everything is happy. Not everything is satisfying as you read it. This book is certainly not an episode of Degrassi --even with the high drama.

[lhianna :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, fabulous cover. Second, I enjoyed this book, however; it has its own flaws.

Bionic has this very interesting art style, I enjoyed seeing it, but I don't think it's the most fitting for this specifically. Also, the way the characters are drawn are pretty trope-y as well, you know? Like this character has this because he's like this. You get what I mean...? But overall; it was not bad.

The characters were kinda trope-y and underdeveloped. I'm fine with the boy being the "nice nerdy guy" and the girl being the "popular" one, but I didn't expect it to be much like that. I was expecting something different, a twist to this over-saturated trope, like how the girl became a cyborg at some point. Anyhow, I still think some parts of them are realistic, teenagers do be like that sometimes. I also don't get the hate with the boy character. Have you ever been in love? Honestly, how he keeps pining on Patricia despite her doing nasty stuff and almost killing him is something that happens when you're in love. So yeah, for the characters, almost nailed it, but not quite.

As for the plot, I think it's okay. I like the fact that the girl turns into a cyborg at one point. There's really nothing I would say about this, I would like more stuff happening... I guess? The topics that the author touches on, though, were something I liked. Toxic, imbalanced teenage relationships, parents, everything of the like. I would like to see more stuff dived into though, there were a lot of topics I think that could've been highlighted based on what happened on the book, but it's okay, it didn't really ruin anything. The ending was good; I liked it, I kind of feel bad for the boy, but not so much because I didn't even got invested in him in the first place. Despite that, it was still a great way to end the book.

Do I recommend this? Yeah, why not? I mean, it wasn't that bad that I'll have to stop you from even ordering a copy from Amazon. I think this is a pretty solid comic, and something that could be worth your time.

(I would love to talk about this more, but I think I'll do that sometime in the future. Probably in my blog. [ https://www.dwxn.medium.com ])

[Bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, want to start off by saying I’m kinda disappointed by these reviews. Seen a couple people complaining that it wasn’t “sci-fi enough” or it didn’t match their expectation, WHICH, in my opinion, is biased and unfair - but go off I guess??
I personally loved it. Maybe I’m projecting, but I think the author perfectly captured how it feels to be an angsty teen struggling to navigate their trauma through romance and impulsivity and being unaware of how it affects those around them. It was so simple, and the sci-fi aspect made it a fun read, yet really had me reminiscing on my own life decisions as a trauma survivor, and how my reactions have impacted others. Idk. Maybe you have to identity with the characters to truly get it???

Walked into a book store today, sat down with a copy I found and read it ALL. Walked out feeling a mix of emotions. Probably one of my favourite reads in a while. Been thinking about it since I got home.

Special thanks to the author, hope they see this.

[Edward Champion · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm truly stunned by all the negative reviews of this tremendously fun, thrilling, and unique spin on teenage romance. Koren Shadmi's art is beautiful and I like how he draws the dad to be as skinny and as gangly as the kid. I completely bought into Patty's angst after the accident. And remember, folks, that our protagonist here is a confused teenager. And confused teens tend to stick it out with girls who are very bad for them. But I absolutely adored this graphic novel and I'm incredibly surprised how much you folks hated it. Is Koren Shadmi an asshole or something? LOL. All I know about the guy is that he writes and draws some fun comics.

[Jonathan Pavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a lot of potential, and the concept seemed like it could be interesting. I really liked the art style and I was hoping for more elements that would give the story more depth, but it seemed to follow in similar nerdy, sexual used/objectification/ and angst tropes.

That being said, if a sequel was made I would probably be bought in for the fact that the storyline hopefully could only be up from here and that with the right writing direction, the next story could be a great coming of age moment.

[Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unlikable characters who keep screwing up, and not in a fun way. Dude's crush that he's obsessed with becomes a cyborg and he keeps pining for her. She says she doesn't want a relationship, he keeps going after her. She sleeps with other dudes, he keeps going after her. She nearly kills him, he keeps going after her. It's teenage lustful obsession, I guess, without any real humanzing moments other than feeling sorry for, well, reading the book in the first place.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was written for me

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and IDW/Top Shelf Productions for the digital review copy.

Victor, a geeky teenager in the near future has got a major crush on Patricia, a teen girl who has been bionically rebuilt after a horrible car accident that would have killed her. Patricia has adopted a carpe diem outlook on life now that she’s half machine, and she keeps pushing the limits. Meanwhile, Victor is always there for her, falling a bit more in love each day. Described as a “coming-of-age tale for the digital generation,” this comic follows normal teenagers in extraordinary situations, still just being teenagers.

It’s comforting, I suppose, that even in the future world of cool tech and bionic limbs, teenagers are still the same. Awkward and overly dramatic. There are things I enjoyed about this comic. Most of the artwork is stellar. I’m not a huge fan of Victor’s character overall, either with the way he’s presented in personality or physically drawn, but that’s a personal preference. The craft is present.

I am really really over the whole “nice guy” troupe, though, and Victor’s character was a tad boring to me. I kept yelling at him to snap out of it, but you know, Patricia is super hot, and guy want to have sex with hot teenage girls. That’s another thing that was a little ugh for me. Teenagers and sex and their gross bodies fresh from puberty. No thanks. I could have done without some of those details, but including them made it more realistic I suppose.

I loved the weird storyline, and I loved Patricia’s artwork. I didn’t like her character so much, but again, teenagers. Overall, though, it’s pretty good. It’s out in November if you’re looking for something different to switch up your comic reading.

[Trisha Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why I chose this book: I chose this book because I really enjoyed Highwayman by the same author.

What I liked about this book: I like that this book explores heavy emotional issues and imbalanced relationships. I wasn't expecting that, but it added a realistic weight to this sci-fi drama.

What I didn't like about this book: The illustration and characterization of the geeks in this novel felt painfully stereotypical at times. The main character, who is your archetypal AV-club-computer- geek, needs to be weak and irritating for the story to work, but man, his inability to stand up for himself while this bionic girl emotionally abuses him really grated on me; that's kind of the whole point, though, so I'm not sure how well that holds up as a critique. What I didn't like is that I wanted some deeper characterization because I felt so bad for the poor guy, and often his geekiness feels like an archetype more than an integral part of his personality.

Overall thoughts: This stand-alone comic is an intriguing story that's more about how emotional pain disrupts our behavior than it is about bionics. Though the imbalanced relationship between the bionic girl and the main character is hard to put up with, it is representative of real-life dynamics.

[Mister (B)aranowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprised to see negative reactions to this book, but it is, in so many ways, a strong work of science fiction from Koren Shadmi.

What we know of the world is shaped by our guardians, and the absence of responsibility and authenticity can awaken tumultuous feelings within us, especially as teenagers. Shadmi uses science fiction to explore one of the most universally frustrating experiences of all: teenage romance. Words like “love” and “understanding” are tossed around without abandon during this time, but the truth that we are rarely ready to face is the limitations of our perspective. Partners open up new possibilities for improved vision, but also challenge us to be introspective- and in the end, we are lucky if we emerge from any such romance unscathed.

Shadmi perfectly encapsulates this idea through evocative and tragic imagery, characters who voice our deepest concerns and observations, begging us to reconsider what impact technology has upon the quintessential experience that is young love- perhaps challenging us to acknowledge the universality of it, regardless of time or place. Though it may not present flattering characters or easy answers, Bionic is raw, tragic, and thought-provoking.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young geeky kid begins to have feelings for one of the popular girls in school. After she has a bad accident, she is saved by having cybernetic parts implanted in her. What follows is her anger at the way she was "saved" and his feelings for her causing him more harm than good.

I thought this was a pretty decent "first love" type story, where the guy falls for the wrong girl, and no matter what she does, he is there for her. And while that is interesting and made for a good plot, the characters came off as very one dimensional at times. They never really elevate past "geeky guy in love" and "mean girl who cant accept love" character types. Koren Shadmi uses these character tropes to their fullest and gives us an entertaining story, but it would've been nice to see other sides to these characters in order to make them more real/human.

The ending also seems a bit rushed to me, which is strange because there are many instances where I kept wanting to tell the main character to end the relationship with the girl already. But when it happens its very abrupt and leaves the story open ended in a way. I do wish the ending was a bit more fleshed out.

[Kate]

I figured this would be offensive, as “hot girl cyborg/sad sensitive boy” stories generally are (Alex + Ada, for example), and I wasn’t completely disappointed. But, there was actually a good story here...in the sense that it’s about a girl who had something terrible happen to her, and the complete failure of the people around her to comprehend how to help and/or understand her in its aftermath. But the disappointing thing to me is how this story centers the wimpy Blankets-esque main character when his relationship with Patty is so pathetic and honestly kind of cruel. This is your standard “nice guy doesn’t WANT anything from the dream girl...EXCEPT MAYBE” sort of stories, that are honestly just gross and we should be able to not have to read them anymore.

Anyway I picked this up because I like Koren Shadmi’s editorial illustrations but this was pretty bleh.

[Sarah Metts · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mixed bag of good and bad for me. There is potential here to explore the concept of body autonomy from a female and male perspective and have the two main characters reckon with their understandings of it in light of Patty's accident. There is also friendships vs love & lust, with the dynamic between Victor and his friends vs his interest in Patty before and after the accident. So much potential - but it is left to teenage drama which is messy and complicated. The illustrations are unique and character design is great, though the popular girls could have had more variety and nuance visually.

Overall, it's a "meh" read for me and inspires me to think of how the story line could have gone in order to create a deeper meaning/story.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like Koren Shadmi’s “Bionic” should be subtitled “How Viktor Became An Incel.” This is a gorgeously illustrated graphic novel but the story itself has some serious Arthur-Fleck-in-“Joker”-style repressed Nice Guy white boy angst. I’m gonna spoil this a little because it’s not worth your time to read it; if you feel compelled, I’d recommend just looking at the pretty drawings. Viktor is not a sympathetic protagonist. Everything bad that happens to him is of his own doing. He chases after a girl who treats him terribly, abandoning his loyal and geeky friends, and he continues this cycle, over and over, never learning from his mistakes. And then the book just ends. I’m left with so many questions, primarily: Koren Shadmi, who hurt you so badly?

[Chelsey Hostetler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really Really REALLY wanted to like Bionic, I did, but I am so over the highschool troupe of the "nice guy" being in love with the "popular girl" and maybe if he waits, she'll love him. Bionic is that, except Patty (the popular girl) becomes part cyborg. While I thought the idea behind the novel was interesting, I was not impressed with the execution. I was bored. I didn't even finish the novel fully because of that fact, I'd felt I'd read it before and done better. I won't likely recommend this Graphic Novel.

I will say, the artwork was amazing. I really enjoyed the color pallet and the style. I just wished I'd gotten hooked on the story.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Koren Shadmi's Bionic has a lot of potential, but it doesn't quite manage to live up to it. I particularly liked the art style, especially in how it appears to contrast in tone with the sci-fi and futuristic elements. I wasn't a fan of the characters though. I don't know if any more stereotypes and teen angst could have been crammed into the story. I was hoping for more of an exploration of the sci-fi side of the story rather than what we ended up with.