Xoc: The Journey of a Great White

I am a longtime comic book collector as well as an avid scuba diver. Portraits of the undersea world are actually not that common in the present offerings from graphic novels or other examples of the comic book medium being published today. Most tend to be unrealistic and fantastic, like Aquaman. The theme of and look of Xoc was therefore a real treat. Scuba divers and the undersea world appeared quite often in the early history of comic books, with titles such as the Sea Devils, the Frogmen, the Aquanauts and Sea Hunt itself.I now find myself looking for and collecting old comic books that have scuba diving or the undersea world as a theme. But unlike these books, Xoc uses modern scientific knowledge to create an interesting and accurate picture of its protaganist, a great white shark. This is not a 'cutesy' animal book, but actually a dramatic story of a great white shark as it struggles to survive off the Pacific coast. The artwork and story telling are dynamic and interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the undersea world and its inhabitants. Hopefully the author will continue to explore storytelling in this environment.

Not your average graphic novel about a great white shark on a ocean journey to Hawaii I think where along the way the shark goes though all kinds of things to make the trip interesting to the reader. The art is done pretty well and it gives you an interesting view on if sharks could communicate this is what would be going on. Very weird and corny at times but still not bad.

Purchased this book for my son and nephews after listening to an interview with the author on NPR. Interesting way to discuss environmental concerns and the life of oceanic animals. Patents may want to read it prior to giving it to sensitive kids.....

I did not get this book from Amazon, however I got it in a Comic Bento Box, and wrote a review about this then. After reading I recently let my friend's daughter read it (She is 8 and loves comics and animals) and she read it in a day and loved it. While this isn't going to be the best book for adults, it's a great starter Graphic novel for children.Below is the Blog Post I made SEPTEMBER 10, 2016:XOC The Journey of a Great White is written by Matt Dembicki, who is both the artist and writer. This comic is published by Oni Press, and I picked it up in my August Comic Bento Box. The book itself is a nice hard cover book with 120 pages.XOC (pronounced Shock) is a story of a great white shark and a turtle he meets along the way. As XOC travels through the ocean, the journey is filled with other underwater animals, and man-made problems he runs into along the way. The story focuses on life in the ocean and issues caused by pollution. Underneath the environmental awareness, this story is a buddy tale of an odd couple.Visually XOC is pretty good. There isn’t anything setting it apart from a normal graphic novel, however it seems to have some art that is a little bit better than your normal children’s book.TL:DR This is a great book for children, shark lovers and nature lovers. While this wasn’t bad, it’s just nothing I would go out of my way to read anything like this again. That being said I will most likely give this to my niece who I think will really enjoy it.

Advertised as the story of a great white's journey from California to Hawaii. In reality, it was just a ruse to beat you over the head on the dangers of polluting our environment and fishing for shark fins. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for stopping these things but this was done so ham-fistedly that the story basically stops for each Public Service Announcement.

Xoc was included in the August 2016 Comic Bento box. It fit the theme really well with a shark as the main character. The book follows Xoc on her journey beginning off the coast of California to her destination about 2,000 miles away. There are some very educational moments sprinkled throughout the book, even though they aren't called out as such.The art is just beautiful and the colors bring everything to life. There are a few different interactions between Xoc and humans, though a couple are indirect. These can be sort of horrifying when you realize the impact we are having on the oceans.There is a lot more going on here than I would have expected at first. It is worth picking up for the art alone.

I think this book is great. It's a very easy read and would be great for kids too. Help them understand early on, the impact humans have and to work towards a better future. The shark does attack and there is blood, so if your child is sensitive to those things, don't give them this book. If you read this and don't at all feel like you need to go out and make a change (even just with the products you buy), then you're heartless and ignorant. It's not some deep novel, but it has an impact and it does it simply. It gets the point across. I hope you enjoy this book and learn from it.

This is a graphic novel with minimal text; some pages have none. It follows a great white shark, Xoc, who has conflicting relations with mammals. She's perfectly happy to eat seals. But dolphins and killer whales tend to beat her up. And then there are people! Accompanied on part of her journey by a sea turtle, she encounters pollution and vicious fishing practices.I have mixed feelings about the message. I broadly agree with the author about the problems of pollution and some fishing practices, but I find the book overly strident. Sometimes a little subtlety goes further than repeated sledgehammer blows.While this books purports to be suitable for children--at least on the publisher's listing I saw--I think not. This is a dark, violent, feel-bad book. It will probably appeal to people who are very angry about the things the author is very angry about. I don't see it having much appeal for anyone else. People who generally agree with the author may end up depressed. People who fundamentally disagree with the author may end up apoplectic.The publisher provided me a copy for review.

It's a very good comic for kids and adults that interested in marine life especially sharks. It tells a journey of a shark following her migration route to the Pacific. The story is full of knowledge about sharks, I learned some new things from it. The minus point of this story: most part is told from the third person view, but sometimes the shark speaks up her mind and that's a bit confusing. Overall this book is great.