Publisher's Weekly Review
While children may enjoy this graphic novel for its gorgeous art-especially the cute characters-its story line will more likely be appreciated by older readers. The almost wordless story isn't meant to be read on a literal level but instead on more a mystical and dreamlike level. Characters include aliens and deities, and a mysterious being referred to as the Guardian-Shepherd. The Guardian-Shepherd is a tentacled alien who controls "Blossoms" that copy what they see. Rex is a fox who gets taken off to another planet and has a Blossom turn into a female, purple fox to mirror his own image. Though they clearly love each other, they are not always together. Rex soon dies after that, in a bloody image that might distress some readers, and returns later like a fox unicorn with a single horn on his forehead. Sometimes a single picture will take up a whole page, and other times pages are blocked into boxes. Gagne has done creative work for such animated films as The Iron Giant and Ratatouille; here he offers a sensitive and intriguing graphic novel for people who like a little enigma in what they read. Ages 9-12. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Originally serialized in Kazu Kibuishi's Flight anthologies, the story of the intergalactically adorable fox named Rex is collected here. The tale dispenses with words entirely after the first of six chapters, which convolutedly sets up the premise: Rex gets plucked from his home planet to enter a cosmic ritual in which alien shape-shifters and their chosen companions (e.g., Rex) undergo a series of trials on a constantly morphing world. Why? Those secrets have been lost in the catacombs of time. But it doesn't really matter, as the story pretty quickly takes on an epic scope, and Rex pluckily pounces his way into adventures soaring through the air on a flying stingray-creature; plowing into a jarringly violent encounter with a giant, pincer-jawed serpent; and finally proving his mettle beyond a doubt by shooting his newfound crystal-horn laser into space to obliterate a doomsday comet. The free-floating, heroic whimsy of the story arrives at a sweet ending, but the real experience is in swooping through Gagne's deliriously gorgeous, silent panels and breathtaking planetary vistas.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2010 Booklist
