Antony Johnston is not the first guy I think of when I think "children's book." What with his two comics so far being a dark conspiracy/horror novel and a romantic comedy, Rosemary's Backpack is another strong argument for Johnston's versatility being as strong as his talent. Rosemary's Backpack is actually Johnston's first work, and some of the flaws show, whether in the overly cutesy names or the not-quite-fully developed history of the main character, but he creates a likable cast, a thoroughly likable protagonist and a fun action/humor story, backed up nicely by Drew Gilbert's artwork.
Actually, the story reminds me of what technogeek teen empowerment flicks like Wargames and Hackers might be if they were made by Studio Ghibli... and were any good. The outcast teen with smarts and tech savvy who gets handed a piece of high technology isn't a cliche, but it's certainly been done, and so there's a certain reliable formula that Johnston is working for, which takes a lot of the work out of deciphering the plot. Instead, plenty of time can be spent on the characters, and Johnston's character work is fantastic.
By far, the selling point of Rosemary's Backpack is Rosemary and Pablo (her backpack). Rather than go with the obvious cliche of having Pablo unfamiliar with the world or strictly logical, Johnston makes him a wise-cracking and likable character. He seems like one of the few equals for Rosemary in the book, as Rosemary is herself smart, funny and quick to adapt. It's easy to see why popular guy C-Moss would fall for Rosemary instead of the vapid and vicious Kylie, and Rosemary proves herself a capable hero, bringing not only coping skills but technological prowess to go with it.
If anything, Rosemary at times comes off as too smart and well-adjusted. She's not exactly the popular girl in school, but her rival never seems to pose a threat to her, and her difficulties with C-Moss are mostly internal and surface. However, while this means that Rosemary doesn't really go through any deep personal struggles throughout the course of the story, it also means that the focus of the story is on her relationships with her new backpack and with C-Moss, and the dangers of the plot can be the troubles she has to contend with, rather than extra complications like a secret identity or trouble fitting in. There's not a big lesson learned here, just an important relationship for Rosemary that pushes her into a relationship she had been avoiding.
Johnston clearly writes the story for a young audience, and that means it is at times a bit goofy. A character named C-Moss who knows nothing about computers seems a weird nickname unless its the author being cute, and the villains are very much over-the-top. Of course, the latter was something I rreally liked. In particular, the rogue general with bizarre cybernetics and a bent for robotic destruction that puts him into super-villain territory was a fun "love to hate" character.
Drew Gilbert's work on the book is, as he notes in his afterword, "painfully suited" to the story. He has the same "animated" look that creators like Mike Hawthorne and J. Bone have, and the same strength and clarity of storytelling as well. Which is, after all, not so terribly surprising, considering that his day job is as an animator. His designs for the characters are not quite as exciting as I would like, but they do set each character apart, and even work for some fairly subtle bits, such as the familial relation between two characters that serves as a nice gag.
