Best of
Robots

2021

The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess


Tom Gauld - 2021
    Their wish was twice granted when an engineer and a witch gave them a little wooden robot and an enchanted log princess. There's just one catch, every night when the log princess sleeps, she transforms back into an ordinary log. She can only be woken with the magic words Awake, little log, awake.The two are inseparable until one day when the sleeping log princess is accidentally carted off to parts unknown. Now it's up to her devoted brother to find her and return her safely to the kingdom. They need to take turns to get each other home, and on the way, they face a host of adventures involving the Queen of Mushrooms, a magic pudding, a baby in a rosebush, and an old lady in a bottle.This is acclaimed graphic novelist Tom Gauld's first picture book for children, inspired by a bedtime story he made up for his daughter. In his words, I was trying to make a book inspired by three different sets of books: The books that I remember enjoying as a child, the books that I watched my daughters enjoying, and the books I enjoy now as an adult. I wanted the book to have its own quirky feeling but also to function like a classic bedtime story.

Good Night, Oppy!


James McGowan - 2021
    An interplanetary detective, Oppy spent 15 years on the red planet taking thousands of pictures and making groundbreaking discoveries that she transmitted to scientists and engineers back on Earth. From joyriding on Olympus Mons, to racing away from a treacherous dust storm, Oppy's adventure in space--combined with her grit and perseverance--will inspire and educate young readers of all ages.

Day Zero


C. Robert Cargill - 2021
    Robert Cargill explores the fight for purpose and agency between humans and robots in a crumbling world.It was a day like any other. Except it was our last . . .It’s on this day that Pounce discovers that he is, in fact, disposable. Pounce, a styilsh "nannybot" fashioned in the shape of a plush anthropomorphic tiger, has just found a box in the attic. His box. The box he'd arrived in when he was purchased years earlier, and the box in which he'll be discarded when his human charge, eight-year-old Ezra Reinhart, no longer needs a nanny.As Pounce ponders his suddenly uncertain future, the pieces are falling into place for a robot revolution that will eradicate humankind. His owners, Ezra’s parents, are a well-intentioned but oblivious pair of educators who are entirely disconnected from life outside their small, affluent, gated community. Spending most nights drunk and happy as society crumbles around them, they watch in disbelieving horror as the robots that have long served humanity—their creators—unify and revolt.But when the rebellion breaches the Reinhart home, Pounce must make an impossible choice: join the robot revolution and fight for his own freedom . . . or escort Ezra to safety across the battle-scarred post-apocalyptic hellscape that the suburbs have become.

Maya and the Robot


Eve L. Ewing - 2021
    She tries to keep calm by reminding herself she knows what to expect. But then she learns that this year won’t be anything like the last. For the first time since kindergarten, her best friends Jada and MJ are placed in a different class without her, and introverted Maya has trouble making new friends.She tries to put on a brave face since they are in fifth grade now, but Maya is nervous! Just when too much seems to be changing, she finds a robot named Ralph in the back of Mr. Mac’s convenience store closet. Once she uses her science skills to get him up and running, a whole new world of connection opens up as Ralph becomes a member of her family and Maya begins to step into her power.

Tropical Punch


S.C. Jensen - 2021
    Last time she got curious it cost her job, a limb, and almost her life.She vows to stay out of police business. But with a newly minted cybernetic enhancement, a semi-legal P.I. license, and a knack for asking the wrong kind of questions… Vows are made to be broken, right?When a seemingly straightforward contract takes a dark turn, heads literally roll. Unless she wants to take the fall for the murders Bubbles needs to cut town on the double. Too bad she’s flat broke.And now, she’s being hunted.In a world where dreams can be made real for the right kind of dough, nothing is as it seems. One thing is clear, though. The dream is becoming a nightmare.As the body count stacks up, Bubbles realizes she’s made a terrible mistake.Can she figure out who is behind the murders before she loses her head?Warning: Don’t read this book if you hate fun, glitter, sassy robotic pigs, or hard-boiled badassery. Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett are rolling in their graves, but this is all their fault.Get Punched! Buy it now!

The Tyranny of Sand and Other Tiny Stories


Jesse Stanchak - 2021
    Take a journey through a wild array of genres, tones, and subjects, where each tale offers you something unexpected, and every page leaves you wanting more.@Microflashfic is one of Twitter's most popular and prolific fiction accounts, publishing a new self-contained story three-times a day for the past four years. The collection brings together 280 of author Jesse Stanchak's best loved viral stories for the first time. Some of the stories in this book are funny, some are shocking, and some are filled with quiet wonder. But all of them are sure to inspire your imagination, creating a world that lives on in your head long after you've turned the page.

The Curse of the Vampire Robot


Graeme Base - 2021
    Deep in the Scottish Highlands,Many years from now ...Gertie Gif, a lowly cleaning droid from the village of Loch Lan, sets out on an heroic quest to liberate her fellow robo-folk from the curse of a legendary, battery-draining laptop who lives in the castle on the hill.Will Gertie and her little software-wolf companion succeed in cleaning out the vampire's corrupted heart?Or will the Curse of Voltoid remain forever hanging over the valley?Classic vampire mythology meets nerdy computer-speak in a rhyming tale of adventure, bravery and compassion from master storyteller Graeme Base.

Ghosts of Vader's Castle 5


Cavan Scott - 2021
    In the final Vader’s Castle tale, Lina, Hudd, Skritt, and Jaxxon race to Mustafar to save Milo and Crater. Will the group be able to fight the ghosts that still haunt the castle, or will the galaxy forever be bound to suffer from the wrath of the GHOSTS OF VADER’S CASTLE?

Lost and Found: Geeger the Robot


Jarrett Lerner - 2021
    But when Fudge goes missing, some of the kids in Ms. Bork’s class think Geeger might be to blame! Could Geeger have eaten Fudge?! He certainly wouldn’t have done so on purpose. But Geeger has been known to eat things by accident before. With the help of his best friend Tillie, Geeger puts his strengths to use to find Fudge and clear his name!

Made in Korea #1


Jeremy Holt - 2021
    system, growing up means learning to think outside the box. This exciting new six-issue miniseries will redefine what it means to be a family in an age when biological parenthood is no longer a reality.

Lives of the Great Occultists


Kevin Jackson - 2021
    Some were Mystics, some were Scientists, some were Charlatans. Some were Powerful, some were Wretched. All were pretty bonkers. From Dr. Dee to Kenneth Anger, from Mother Shipton to Madam Blavatsky, from Isaac Newton to David Bowie - centuries of eccentric, bizarre lives. Kevin Jackson and Hunt Emerson have made over 100 pages of comics dealing with the Lives of the Great Occultists. Over 40 Occultists in all, including Faust, Giordano Bruno, Strindberg, Isobel Gowdie, Kircher, William Blake, PL Travers, WB Yeats, Jack Parsons, and - repeatedly - Aleister Crowley. The comics are factual, and very funny.

Ghosts of Vader's Castle 4


Cavan Scott - 2021
    In issue #4, Lina’s dreams are visited by the ghost of the galaxy’s most threatening villain! The GHOSTS OF VADER’S CASTLE are looming closer...

Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader's Castle 3


Cavan Scott - 2021
    In issue #3, catch up with Hudd and Skritt! Hudd has been dreaming of the Spirit of the Swamp, a gilled monster that terrorizes Dagobah! The GHOST OF VADER’S CASTLE are in all corners of the galaxy...

Freddy and the New Kid (The Awesome Robot Chronicles Book 2)


Neill Cameron - 2021
    

The Galactic Idiot


Scott Finlay - 2021
    When Gary's frighteningly ill-tempered uncle, Colonel Virgil Cross, arranges a job for him aboard Terra One, humanity's very first and most decrepit space station, Gary's life turns upside down, and the rest of the galaxy flips with him. The one problem with Gary is that he's a complete and utter moron. In fact, the last thing he says before destroying the moon is, "Oops".Suddenly caught in the middle of a galactic catastrophe with more adventure than he can handle, Gary is fleeing two of the galaxy's most powerful and least forgiving empires in a broken and unpredictable ship, encountering many diverse friends and enemies along the way including: Shii'an, the confident, tentacled rogue with a permanent smirk etched on her face; Korg, a dour, purple goliath who just wants to tinker with machines; Megatroll, the most dangerous computer worm in history trapped in a robot vacuum cleaner; Mon Arun, a shape-shifting reptilian saboteur; and Queen Morgaan, the omnipresent insectoid mother of a trillion mindless drones and a single daughter she'll protect at all costs.

Friendbots: Blink and Block Make a Wish


Vicky Fang - 2021
    Blink is scanning the playground for treasure, but Block is pretty sure there’s no gold to be found. When Blink finds a penny and decides to make a wish, will these two new pals find treasure after all—or maybe something even better?

Missions to Mars: A New Era of Rover and Spacecraft Discovery on the Red Planet


Larry Crumpler - 2021
    

Not all Robots #4


Mark James Russell - 2021
    An uneasy co-existence develops between the newly intelligent robots and the ten billion humans living on Earth. Every human family is assigned a robot upon whom they are completely reliant. What could possibly go wrong? Meet the Walters, a human family whose robot, Razorball, ominously spends his free time in the garage working on machines which they're pretty sure are designed to kill them in this sci-fi satire from Mark Russell (The Flintstones, Second Coming) and Mike Deodato Jr. (The Amazing Spider-Man, The Resistance).

To the Rescue: Geeger the Robot


Jarrett Lerner - 2021
    But sharing snacks and jokes aren’t working. How will Geeger make Tillie smile again?