Zawa + The Belly of the Beast

by Michael Dialynas

Overview

The elusive guardian spirit Zawa is eternally trapped inside her mountain, a folk legend with only industrial sludge to eat, and nothing to nourish her. The result is nothing but bitterness, paranoia, and an existence that no one would envy. But when two siblings from a nearby village, Bandit and Thatcher, help her escape, they’ll quickly learn that the way to calm Zawa’s heart is through a good meal shared with friends! But with a corrupt mayor and his private army enraged at the prospect of Zawa being free, it will take more getting involved to truly set things right… From GLAAD Award-winning and Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Michael Dialynas (Wynd, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), this macabre yet charming eco-fable about the freedom in friendship and nature overcoming greed will charm the hearts of readers of all ages. Collects Zawa + The Belly of the Beast #1-5.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781637969458
Publisher:	BOOM! Box
Publication date:	10/23/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144

Editorial Reviews

07/29/2024

To fashion tasty and nutritious meals for the patrons of their family’s bakery, siblings Thatcher and Bandit Blackbird regularly pilfer fresh ingredients from the despotic mayor’s mega-factory, the source of all processed, prepackaged food available in the island city of Mesa’s Boon. On their most recent food run, Bandit accidentally liberates Zawa, a mythologized humanoid guardian of the island’s mountain who was imprisoned within the factory, and whom Thatcher recruits to a resistance group intent on taking down the mayor. Unbeknownst to them, Zawa is beholden to her fellow Zawa, the many protectors of the land birthed from the island’s mountain itself, who vow vengeance against Mesa’s Boon for its continued oppression of the Zawa and the environment. Dialynas (the Wynd series) matches conspicuous critique of capitalistic overconsumption with distinctive character design and detailed, expressive worldbuilding, all of which is conveyed via compelling composition and coloring. Sitting somewhere between Moana and Princess Mononoke, this environmentalist tale offers hope of a more sustainable and harmonious relationship between the predominantly white humans, the Zawa, and the land that shelters them all. Ages 14–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly