REVIEW: Mystery Solving Tweens – Bad Machinery: The Case of Team Spirit
Raves
Rants
Have you ever read a series that consist of a group of Nancy Drews and the Hardy boys? Two groups of kids, the school girl sleuths and the school boy investigators goes around their mid-sized city to uncover and solve all the mysteries they can find in the British comics Bad Machinery: The Case of […]
Have you ever read a series that consist of a group of Nancy Drews and the Hardy boys? Two groups of kids, the school girl sleuths and the school boy investigators goes around their mid-sized city to uncover and solve all the mysteries they can find in the British comics Bad Machinery: The Case of Team Spirit.
Shauna, Charlotte, Mildred, Jack, Sonny, and Linton are six 11 year-old students at Griswald Grammar School who all have affinity on solving mysteries. The start was quite slow paced and introduced us to these six students who all managed to be on the opposite sides on the same mystery. Each one of them has quite different and interesting personalities. Everyone was quite witty and snarky which sells the comic really well. They are like a step up from Scooby-doo without the annoying clichés. It doesn’t have a very complicated plotline but very much entertaining. Seeing as the comics is British, the humor works really nicely for someone who doesn’t get most of the slangs there (HINT: There’s a guide at the back though). Sometime the jokes are subtle but will still make you laugh.
Though it seemed the plot is quite scattered (again, a very Scooby-doo kind of theme) being that it started as a webcomic, it eventually all comes down together and gives us a really cute ending. Reaching the end, you’ll get that everything is actually interconnected in a way which makes it amazing. We get slice of life and mystery as we follow them in their adventures. Though it’s a long read with 100 pages, it was worth reading the ending. John Allison really delivered it well with the storyline.
The art is so pleasing in the eyes. It’s clean, expresive and refreshing to look at. It has the typical kid detective kind of vibe from it but it still is an art that every age can appreciate and works really well with the storyline.
Overall, the series is great. Not fast paced but definitely a good read. It’s something that all ages can really enjoy reading.