"MOPED ARMY" MAKES 2007 "GREAT GRAPHIC NOVELS FOR TEENS" LIST
MOPED ARMY has been placed on the final list for the 2007 "Great Graphic Novels for Teens" by the American Library Association and YALSA. See the press release HERE. This news follows MOPED ARMY being named by Voice of Youth Advocates reviewer Kat Kan as one of the top 24 graphic novels reviewed in the last 12 years for VOYA Magazine. For a PDF link to Kat Kan’s "The Double Dozen" article in this month’s VOYA magazine, click HERE

"MOPED ARMY" NOMINATED FOR TWO A.L.A. "BEST OF" LISTS!
First of the nominations is from the American Library Association’s “Best Books For Young Adults” list, a yearly list of graphic novels and prose books recommended for teen readers by a national board of librarians. The awards are announced January 2007 for books released from September 2005-September 2006.

Here’s the official nomination information and recommendation review from the BBYA board:
Best Books for Young Adults
Nomination #49
Sizer, Paul
Moped Army
Cafe Digital Comics
In 2277, after a clash between two rival groups, Simone, an “upper", decides to try life in the Lower City with the Moped Army.
“This clever graphic novel has a lot going on and manages it all successfully in a book that is compulsively readable. There is a dystopian future city inhabited by the rich uppers and the poor “unders” left behind in the Lower City and an inevitable clash between the economic groups as played out by teens is wholly believable. The heroine, Simone, is a sympathetic young girl struggling to find a place where she can discover her strengths and feel valued. Best of all is the very engaging Moped Army, reestablished 250 years in the future. The illustrations work wonderfully, the black and white tones emphasizing the darkness of conditions in the Lower City. Clever details abound for the observant readers and who can resist the idea of the abandoned library providing a welcoming shelter? I found this a very original and intelligent read, one that is sure to engage older teens. I was almost convinced to abandon my car for one of those great mopeds.”

Secondly, MOPED ARMY has been nominated for another award within the American Library Association, the “Great Graphic Novels for Teens” list, a new award created to spotlight graphic novels for a teen audience. The award, in its inaugural year, will be pulling its list from books published between September 2005 and September 2006. The board of librarians on this award are strong proponents of getting graphic novels and comics into libraries across the country as a respected literary format.

REVIEW IN VOYA (VOICE OF YOUTH ADVOCATES) BY KAT KAN, December 2005
"TEEN OUTCASTS IN THE FUTURE"
"In Paul Sizer’s MOPED ARMY, a teen survival clique in the year 2277 has resurrected the Moped Army (there is a real Moped Army in the U.S. now, read the introduction) in Rust City, the old Bolt Harbor upon which a new city was built. High school senior Simone comes from a good family; her father works for a major firm building the aircars that all upper Bolt Harbor citizens drive ever since gasoline was outlawed. She has a boyfriend, son of her father?s boss, and all the advantages a girl could want. Unless one wants to live her own life. Chester is a bully, a dope addict, and loves to ride his aircar down to Rust City and use its air blasts to hurt people down there. One night Simone reluctantly rides with him, and Chester and his friends kill a young moped rider, which horrifies Simone. Some time later, still haunted by the murder, she ventures down to Rust City, where she naturally gets into trouble right away and is saved by two young men riding mopeds. The leader, Dingle, introduces her to his loosely-knit group of young misfits, all of whom ride old mopeds, relics of the late twentieth-century, which they keep fueled by locating old gas stations and siphoning the illegal gasoline. Soon Simone starts spending more time in Rust City with the Moped Army, attracted by their acceptance of her as she is. As she does this, her life in Bolt Harbor becomes more burdensome, and she realizes she can’t stay with the cruel Chester or her clueless parents any more.

Sizer based his story on the real Moped Army, and used two of the Kalamazoo leaders to make sure his depiction of the mopeds and the philosophy of the Moped Army were all true to life. This is a much edgier story than his LITTLE WHITE MOUSE (VOYA April 2005), and is set in the lower, darker parts of the city where poor people have to scratch out a living and scrounge for everything. Older teens will find some harsh language, the occasional middle finger salute, discussion of sex (which occurs off-page), and some violence. They will also find a compelling story with socio-political ideas simmering under the surface of the action, and a coming-of-age story as Simone finds her place in the world. Oh, and the fact that the Moped Army hangs out in an abandoned library and uses its resources to find the information they need is very cool, too.
RATING: 5Q 3P S A/YA"

BEST OF 2005 (TOP 10 LIST)
#4. Moped Army (Café Digital).
Life imitates art: mopeds, despite their relative scarcity, are considered a low-tech, cheap, and fun alternative to cars and public transportation. In mid-October, weeks after Paul Sizer came out with his graphic novel inspired by the real-life Moped Army, rider Dave Brzezicki was involved in a hit and run accident with, of all things, an SUV – the embodiment of middle class excess and the “bigger is better” spendthrift mentality. Sizer’s book begins with a similar scene, one which also establishes the theme of class warfare that permeates the story. Moped Army envisions a future where the rich and affluent build their exclusionary society literally atop the poor, brushing them under the carpet and keeping them out of sight. The bonds that make a society, however, keep the misfit riders of the story together through thick and thin, as was the case when the online moped community rallied to help pay for Brzezicki’s living expenses.

Moped Army does not argue against technology, but rather the reckless and irresponsible use of it, and the danger inherent when it shapes society, instead of the other way around – a lesson a certain SUV owner would do well to learn.

Paul Sizer’s MOPED ARMY (Cafe Digital Comics, $12.95) portrays a near-future showdown between cars and bikes as a turning point in a young woman’s life. Although the core elements are familiar — an unhappy rich girl learns to stand up for herself — the well-thought-out setting and believable characters give the story an exciting freshness.

In the year 2277, Simone is finding herself bored with life. She’s got the right boyfriend (although Chester is really a self-centered, image-obsessed boor) and the right future mapped out for her, but none of it seems to be about her. Someone else who followed the rules and wore the right clothes and kept her mouth shut could easily take her place… and someone who was willing to do that would probably fit in better.

One night, the drunken gang they hang with leaves a party and decides to buzz the bad part of town, a rusted-out decaying part of the city’s infrastructure. They use their hovercars to hassle a group of moped riders who aren’t cowed by their flash and privilege, resulting in tragedy. The incident preys at Simone, but her idea to venture alone into the lower city isn’t a good one.

Luckily, members of the Moped Army happen to rescue her, and she’s fascinated by their vision of a different kind of life. Instead of being pressured to forget herself and her dreams, they encourage her to try different things and avoid pre-determined roles. She grows up, taking responsibility for herself and living with the ramifications of her decisions.

Sizer’s uniquely exaggerated style handles both the people and machines techno-organically, making it a perfect match for character-based science fiction. He captures crisply the inner monologue of a girl on the cusp of womanhood, struggling with decisions based on questions everyone else would rather she not ask. The casual sexism Simone faces everywhere but when she’s with the Army is uncannily realistic. (Those familiar with his previous series, LITTLE WHITE MOUSE, won’t be surprised that he’s able to create an accurate portrait of a young woman who struggles to survive.)

The lifestyle of the moped-riders is awfully alluring. They value education, working to continually improve and reuse the tools they have and what they can find. They cooperate and help each other out, valuing how everyone’s individual talents contribute to the greater good. They’re a true community, gaining strength from each other instead of squabbling for status.

Moped Army is set 250 years in the future, 2277 AD in the city of Bolt Harbor, a city that is strictly stratified by class status. Bolt Harbor plays an integral role in the story as its different sectors represent the contrastingly different lifestyles its citizens occupy. Bolt Harbor can be separated into two different sectors: Upper City where the privileged live and Lower City; or Rust City where the less fortunate call home. An infrastructure level unites these two vastly different sectors, as Upper City was built upon the remnants of Rust City.

As in Little White Mouse, Moped Army revolves around another strong female lead character, however she is not merely a cardboard cut out of Loo. The heroine of Moped Army is named Simone, an 18-year-old girl who comes from a rich family who lives in Upper City. She is a senior at a prestigious high school and is going out with the most popular boy in her school, Chester, who has already graduated. From the outside, she seems to have it all, but as we turn the pages it becomes evident that Simone is anything but satisfied with her life. Chester is not the prince that others make him out to be, her friendships are shallow and she comes to realize that money can not buy happiness, a theme that reoccurs throughout the story.

After an accident on the streets of Rust City that leaves one of its inhabitants dead, Simone leaves the comforts of her comfy “rich girl” lifestyle to rectify her guilty conscience. In the polluted, forgotten streets of Rust City, she finds an urban community united by their love of mopeds and there strong will to survive in the worst of situations. As time progresses, she visits more and more often, forges strong friendships and learns to live for herself instead of living for others, even if it’s at the cost of her luxurious lifestyle.

Sizer does an excellent job of contrasting these two opposing worlds in both appearance and in the characters that inhabit them. Upper City represents both the positive and negative aspects of a capitalistic society; the characters presented to us are money hungry, shallow and incapable of thinking for themselves. However, in the communal based society of Rust City the characters are strong willed, individualistic and genuinely down to earth. The reader is promptly encouraged to identify with Rust City as Upper City is deemed the enemy.

One of the joys of reading Moped Army is witnessing the evolution of Simone from the beginning to the end of the story. We watch as she grows and breaks free from the confines of her old life as she forges a life that is all her own. We are offered an intimate glimpse into this difficult process, we learn of Simone’s fears, her doubts and her hopes. Simone makes the ultimate sacrifice: she throws away her easy carefree lifestyle for one of uncertainty but for one of freedom. How many of us, given the same situation, would be able to do the same?

Moped Army has a strong anime influence and those familiar with Paul Sizer’s work will not be surprised. Each character has a distinct look and style with no two looking the same, and there is quite a large cast of characters. Bolt Harbor is fully fleshed out from the plush penthouses of Upper City to the abandoned warehouses of Rust City and everything in between. Bolt Harbor plays an integral role in the plot and it can be considered a character in and of itself. At the end of the book Paul Sizer has included a series of sketches, page layouts and notes that highlight his development process. It is interesting to note the evolution of some of the main characters and then read the reasons behind the changes. As with Little White Mouse, Paul Sizer offers the reader plenty of extras once the story is finished and offers him/her an intimate look into his creative process.

This book is recommended for a mature audience of those over 16 years old. I was surprised at some of the content in this book. There is profanity, sex, drugs, violence and one unexpected girl-on-girl kiss. Paul Sizer made no attempts to censor his story, at times it is dark and gritty but it is always real.

Sizer has crafted a dark glimpse of the future where class status is clearly marked, the rich literally live on top of the poor, but within this dystopian nightmare shines a glimmer a hope. Deep in the bowels of Rust City, a group of forgotten souls band together around ancient motorized bikes (mopeds) finding meaning in their lives as they manage to survive in the worst of situations. Sizer’ poignant social commentary is draped over a blanket of optimism that encourages us to think about the condition of our collective reality and the path that it is following. This book is not to be missed.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: MOPED ARMY
There’s something of a tradition of engine love in my family. My Dad is a self-taught mechanical genius, or so he claims before cheerfully breaking cars with gay abandon and a spanner. My eldest brother drives his cars like he rode his motorbikes: with a terrifying blind disregard for his own mortality. And my younger-older brother used to serve his country by fixing the engines of impossibly huge aeroplanes, in order that they might transport machines of war, much-needed food aid, or on one notable occasion, a drunk medical student from Manchester to the Falkland Isles.

I don’t share my family’s fascination, but I can’t say that I’m completely immune to the combustion engine’s charms: there’s a Chrysler dealership in Bishop’s Stortford with an indelible, Turinesque mark on the window, where I spent many a day staring at the 1996 Dodge Viper and weeping into my empty wallet.

Man’s love for all things greasy extends into the realm of comics in a number of different ways, from the fast and furious world of INITIAL D to the suspiciously transparent joys of the TRANSFORMERS (car with boobies, that’s all I’m saying). And beyond that, there’s a sub-genre of ‘Motor Comics’ that deals with the communities that spring up around the vehicles as readily as any other obsession.

Paul Sizer’s MOPED ARMY (Café Digital Studios) deals with just such a community, a real-life organization of Vespaphiles and scootaholics that’s more Honda Addicts than Hell’s Angels. The book projects the gang two hundred years into tomorrow, into a world of sharp suits and sharper class divides. It’s a cyberpunky backdrop familiar to fans of Marvel’s long-forgotten 2099 imprint and Katsuhiro Otomo’s AKIRA.

Judging by the extensive previews here (in PDF) and here (non-PDF), MOPED ARMY will have much the same spirit of Youth Solidarity as AKIRA or Dave Gibbons’ THE ORIGINALS. However, the cast (and their vehicles) have a kitbashed look that distinguishes them from the slick future-Mod aesthetic of Gibbons’ earlier work.

The preview pages also remind me of Brian Wood’s counter-cultural comics POUNDED and THE COURIERS, but with a purer moral dichotomy, reminiscent of a hundred high school dramas. The Moped Army are The Nerds, picked on (and off) by the unexpectedly vicious Rich Kids. Browbeaten central character Simone is caught between both worlds. But for how long?

Sizer’s graphic novel boasts appealing character art and a solid (future) worldview. I’m sure that MOPED ARMY will transcend the familiarity of the core premise, doing both creator and community proud.

"From the SPX stack: MOPED ARMY"
Given how much I’ve complained about the recent trend of ethical failure in mainstream super-hero comics, it seems weird that I’d find fault with an excess of moral clarity in a graphic novel, especially one as fine as Paul Sizer’s Moped Army (Café Digital Comics). It nags, though, because it limits the story’s suspense and impact.
Moped Army tells the story of Simone, a privileged young woman who lives in Upper Bolt Harbor. She lives in comfort and security, mingling with other rich teens in a rarefied environment. Upper Bolt Harbor is literally named, as it looms high and aloof over Lower Bolt Harbor, crumbling home of the lower class.
As the story begins, Simone is uncomfortable with certain elements of her life and society. She rebels in small ways, refusing to indulge in the kind of body modification and obsession with appearance that’s standard with her peers. She’s also having doubts about her boyfriend, wealthy, obnoxious Chéz, who belittles her for seemingly trivial shortcomings (Simone’s glasses, her apparent indifference to status).

Her doubts crystallize when Chéz and a group of his lackeys take their aircars down to the lower city for cheap thrills. They encounter a group of moped-riding kids and make sport of trying to knock them off the road. Things spiral out of control, and one of the moped riders is killed. Chéz and company flee back to their penthouses, ordering Simone to keep her mouth shut.

But she’s badly shaken by the experience and travels to Lower Bolt Harbor to find out more about the people her friends have callously harmed. She meets the Moped Army, a resourceful group of free spirits who have formed a loyal, surrogate family based on their shared passion for the old-fashioned means of transportation. The kids in the Moped Army are the polar opposites of Simone’s Upper crowd. The Lower kids scrabble by with limited resources, keeping their antique rides going through toil and creativity. While the Uppers seem bound by greed and intimidation, the Moped Army is a family of choice, protective of each other and appreciative of individual contributions.

Moped Army follows Simone’s shifting loyalties, but the distinctions between her two choices are so clear and so extreme that there isn’t very much suspense. The Upper crowd is uniformly loathsome – greedy, craven, abusive, and driven by self-interest. Even Simone’s parents have been corrupted by the culture. The Moped Army has all the spirit and decency, even as they bend and break laws to pursue their passion. (Gasoline is illegal in the futuristic setting, and it’s more than a little strange to be rooting for the group that actively wants to use fossil fuels.) Except for comfort and security, Simone’s status quo has no intrinsic attractions, and her new world is evidently more honorable and rewarding.

Despite the simplicity of the driving narrative, though, Moped Army has a number of strengths. Sizer has created a very dramatic future society, even if it lacks shadings. The have-and-have-not distinctions are depressingly credible. He does nice work with the Army, too, defining its shared passion and the individual personalities of its members. (They’re all decent and plucky, but they’re decent and plucky in distinct, personal ways.)

His illustrations are wonderfully detailed, and he gives Lower Bolt City a gritty, almost archeological allure. Character designs are appealing and stylish, and Sizer is adept at portraying the charged emotions his cast experiences. Action sequences rely on a very smart juxtaposition of words and images, supplying useful (but not expository) information to support visual clarity and impact. It’s a great-looking book.

I just wish there had been a few more grey areas between Simone’s old life and her potential new one. I’d love to see a sequel where Simone tries to reconcile Upper and Lower cultures, as there’s not really room for that here. She’s got all of the foundations to fulfill that kind of role, and she’s positioned well to be an ambassador of sorts. I think it would make for a great follow-up to a very good graphic novel.

On the plotting level, this graphic novel feels a bit cliche — the rich "townies" are pure evil, the street-dwelling moped-riders are saints, and their battle plays out like every "snobs vs. slobs" story you’ve ever seen. What makes the book work, though, is the lead character Simone and her personal arc. She starts out as a child of privilege, who’s parents (pretty much literally) pimp her out to an abusive but well-connected asshole. She mopes and whines about it, but isn’t willing to take any action. Finally, things get bad enough that she starts to examine herself and figure out what’s actually important to her and what kind of life she wants. That’s the real story that transcends the pulpy sci-fi trappings and resonates with the reader (and I really appreciate that Sizer avoided the easy trap of having Simone simply swap out a "bad" boyfriend for a "good" one — the Moped Army might be knights in shining armor, but ultimately she "rescues" herself).

"She’s got it so good and she’s gonna blow a free ride."
In a futuristic city where the haves live in the affluent, high-tech upper half and the have-nots live below on street level, a young rich girl gets caught up in the life of a gang of moped riders after a fatal mishap involving one of their number. In the process, she questions the values her life is built on. Paul Sizer was inspired by the present day, real life Moped Army in crafting this tale, though it actually made me think of a similar association. Critical Mass is a group of bike riders who get together once a month around the world to take to the streets and ride. Here in New York, they – and bike riders in general, in fact – have come under attack in the past year by the mayor, and one could argue that it’s as much a class struggle as the situation presented in this story (though local law enforcement doesn’t play a factor in it). This is especially the case given the point where the harassment of New York bikers began: last year’s Republican National Convention, where Critical Mass riders were arrested in droves even though their riding was not meant to be a form of political protest, of which there was plenty to begin with.

I tend to think of Sizer more as an artist because I’m constantly dazzled by his technological and architectural renderings, but he has written an excellent coming-of-age story that continues some of the themes he explores in his series Little White Mouse and takes them in different directions. I was especially surprised by his open and frank dealing with sexuality, which pops up in a big and unexpected way late in the story in a scene involving Simone and one of the other characters. He handles Simone with a great deal of sensitivity and care. Her parents and her boyfriend have their sympathetic sides, even though they wind up at cross-purposes with her. I was particularly surprised to see vulnerability in her boyfriend when it would’ve been easy to write him off as completely selfish and self-absorbed. By propping up his self-esteem, Simone justifies staying in an unsatisfying relationship, even though she knows she could do better for herself – and does, once she encounters the Moped Army.

Oh yeah, the Moped Army. They’re presented as a diverse bunch, representing as they do the lower, forgotten half of the city that has managed to carve out a life for themselves. Simone’s observations about this life coming from an outsider’s perspective again address the distinctions of class and how easy it can be to write people off and shove them out of sight once it’s clear they’re not as “well off” as you. We do it every day. But people have a resiliency to them that makes them capable of adapting to practically any situation, and in this case, building and maintaining mopeds is more than a hobby – it’s a way of life. This is a point Sizer gets across clearly, and well.

The art, as I’ve said, is beautiful. Naturally, Sizer had to nail the look of the mopeds, and he does, but he also works wonderswith the design of the skycars and the architecture of the city, from the bright and shiny upper half to the rusty and crumbling lower half. When I first read Little White Mouse, I was a little bit ambivalent about the look of the people, but I’ve come to accept Sizer’s more cartoonish style. He’s got a confident ink line and his layouts are strong and direct.

I knew Moped Army would be good, but it has exceeded all my expectations and has become one of my favorite books of the year. I eagerly await more stories with these characters.
GRADE: A