Gastronauts

'Gastronauts' is a reprint of James Foley’s 2018 story, one of many installments in the S. Tinker Inc. graphic novel series. It features the colourisation of the original story, and a 2021 short with the same characters, 'Get Kraken'.

Gastronauts focuses on pre-teen inventor Sally, and her best friend Charli, trying to reverse the effects of Sally’s greatest invention yet - the “smartCHIP” – on her flatulent baby brother Joe. The one-shot narrative is a quick read, enhanced with detailed scientific diagrams and colourful pictures to assist reluctant readers in their understanding of the narrative.

The characters, while feeling at times like generalised stock characters (e.g. the arrogant and intelligent, but often incompetent, girl genius), are endearing, and the quick paced interactions between secondary characters like the Nan and the best friend, make for an enjoyable read. This farcical work is reminiscent of the kind of toilet humour that made Dav Pikey’s Captain Underpants and Andy Griffiths’ Just series popular with pre-teen boys – lots of fart jokes and self-deprecating humour.

The story focuses on themes about family, friendship, trust, perseverance, learning from mistakes, and dangers of technology are covered in the main story and the bonus story touches on social media risks and animal welfare. It is lovely to see a book that showcases female leads as scientists, inventors and activists, and highlights such important messages in an accessible way for younger readers.