Ubby’s Underdogs: Return of the Dragons (III)
Illustrator: Brenton E. McKenna
Publisher: Magabala Books
Published: September 2019
Genre: Children's, Graphic Novel, Young Adult
The Ubby’s Underdogs graphic novel trilogy is unlike anything else you’ll find in comics. Set in Broome in the late 1940s, our titular teenage heroine, Ubby, is the leader of a group of ruffians called the Underdogs. In the first two books, Ubby and her gang are drawn into a conflict steeped in mythology, mystery, magic and monsters. The third in the series – Ubby’s Underdogs: Return of the Dragons – is action-packed and the best volume yet. It’s essentially the climactic battle to the series, so it’s worth reading books 1 and 2 first to get you up to speed. The books are noteworthy not just because they established author/artist Brenton McKenna as Australia’s first published Aboriginal graphic novelist, but for their massive multicultural cast, their iconic WA location and their mix of Aboriginal Dreaming and Chinese folklore influences. It’s wonderful to see artists get better and better with each book, and exciting to hear that McKenna has more Ubby graphic novels planned. Perfect for teenagers.