Writing: While I have to admit that I don't remember 6th grade being so full of eventful drama, A Moment of Clarity did a pretty good job encapsulating that whole "being a kid" thing. It was light without being too unrealistic and sugary and it had drama without taking itself too seriously. That, to me, was the whole "kid" thing and John Bintz got it down pretty good here.
Artwork: I was pretty impressed that, for what might superficially be taken for a light read, there was a lot of expressiveness in the characters.
Overall: 4 stars. Don't expect this to be as light as its cover might have you expect it to be. That said, don't expect it to get too heavy either. If the happy medium is where you want to be, this is a worthwhile title to pick up.
Alex Haas
Writing: This book was a lighthearted look at school, bullies, and love in the 6th grade. I think it did a nice job exploring the bullying issue without straying too far into either the dark extreme or the sappy "lemons into lemonade" extreme.. Johnny is a believable and likeable character, without being too perfect.
Overall: 4 stars. This book was an entertaining diversion.
Robert Weiman
Writing: This is a real good all ages book, which if you read our reviews often, you know that I tend to enjoy. I thnk this series might read a bit better as individual issues than as a trade as sometimes it seemed like the beginning of one issue seemed to be a bit of a leap from the previous one, but that aside, it still holds pretty good as a trade.
The storylines and characters were pretty universal without being cliche. All the main characters seemed to have enough going on that you didn't feel like you've seen it all before. This is quite a feat since you have the main character and a bully that's picking on him, you have the girl that he is in love with who happens to be from out of town. You know...some storylines that have certainly been done before. Fortunately for us, the author pulls it off pretty well.
Artwork: Standard comicbook artwork. The artist did very well with the expressions on the faces. I thought you got a good feel for what the characters where thinking and how there were reacting to their environment.
Overall: 4 stars. Good solid entry in the all ages area. If you are a fan of Emelia Rules, you may want to check this out. Its doesn't have the same sort of weighty subject matter, but it is still a good read.
Ron Miller