Zucker, Jonny, and Pete Smith. Football Killers. Clayton South, Vic.: Blake Education, 2007. Print.

“Football Killers” is a science fiction graphic novel, appropriate for the ages of about 9 to 12. It's about 2 soccer teams (“Earth team, Sector 5, and Crust City from Planet Shine 21”) competing to win the “intergalactic football league [cup]” (Jonny Zucker 4). However the human team always either die or become sick when playing against the aliens. Therefore as portrayed by Zucker, the captain of the human team tries to find out why this is happening, by travelling to "Planet Shine 21" (13). I believe this last point shows that “Football Killers” is logical within the framework established by Zucker. To be honest, I didn't enjoy the storyline of “Football Killers”, as I feel this type of plot isn't original or ingenious. Thus this kind of story has been presented before and I find it to be predictable.

The science fiction elements of “Football Killers”, are the presence of aliens and space ships, as well as the fact that a part of the story takes place on another planet (“Planet Shine 21”) (13).

I think Zucker has made “Football Killers” believable, with the presence of the characters' dialogue. In addition to this I think Pete Smith's black and white illustrations also make the story believable, as they accurately portray what's happening in the text. Furthermore I feel that both of these factors add to the consistency of the plot.

The universal truth underlying the metaphor of the science fiction genre of “Football Killers”, is that it doesn't pay to cheat.

Jonny Zucker has written other books in which the science fiction genre is evident, such as “Alien Attack” and “Safecrackers”. However I think these are more original in their content, in comparison to “Football Killers”. ( )