Steven Universe: Too Cool for School is a graphic novel published by KaBOOM! Studios on April 6, 2016.
Product Description
Steven Universe: Too Cool for School will give readers a closer look at the friendship between Steven and Connie and what happens when Steven tags along with Connie to school one day. (Hint: There is a reason Steven doesn't regularly attend school with humans.)[2]
The graphic novel will feature dodgeball, teachers, and food fights.
Plot
One morning, an exhausted Steven wakes up early, only to realize that a planned Gem mission was not going to be until later tonight. Amethyst is too lazy to do anything, while Pearl, and Garnet, were setting up the mission which was to catch a Pulmonate Gastropod "Mollusk."
Later, Steven takes his Cheeseburger Backpack, and goes around town on Lion completely bored. He finds Connie waiting at the bus stop. She greets him and says she was taking the bus today since her dad failed to get his car working before the first day of school. Connie lets Steven hold her books and he starts to get eager to go to school. Connie thinks he was joking as the bus comes, but realizes he was being serious. Connie takes his approval and lets Steven go to school with her, while she comes up with an excuse.
When they get to school, Connie introduces Steven as her Show and Tell project. She begins to talk to all the other students about Steven's family of the Crystal Gems, but it quickly becomes awkward, due to the fact that the Gems are hard to explain (calling them "Space Women" or defining their existence as "existing before dinosaurs" ). Steven tries to help by showing his gem to the classroom, but Mrs. Lezner, the teacher immediately tells him to put his shirt down, because of a "dress code" in her class. She tells Steven and Connie to sit down.
Some students begin to make fun of Steven's "Gem" story, which was interrupting the class. Soon it escalates and Mrs. Lezner gets furious. She threatens to send Steven to the principal's office if he doesn't stop. A student starts flinging objects at (like folded paper, and erasers) Steven, activating his bubble shield automatically, that pushes everyone's desks away. Mrs. Lezner was not pleased and he is sent to the office with Connie. Connie is embarrassed by Steven's commotion and he tries to apologize, but Connie knows that what he caused will go on her permanent record.
Later, both of them are in the office and Greg comes in, to find out his son was attending public school. The principal begins to have a talk with Greg, saying that Steven's little outburst causes him to have a benefit of a reality check of these so-called "Space Women" (The Gems), and to have Steven learn in a high education. After Greg fills in the papers to the school, he considers taking Steven home, but Steven wants to stay to make up everything he's done to Connie.
After Greg leaves, it was lunch time. Steven and Connie both manage to get some food from the school's "Taco Tuesday". Connie shows Steven the cafeteria, and the different groups of students in her school. One group that catches Steven's interest, was the Junior Safety Patrol. However, Connie mentions they get on her nerves, but she still sits with Steven. The topic of their conversation was how salty the food of Taco Tuesday. Steven suddenly has an idea and turn their tacos, making it into a salad.
When lunch time ends, Steven and Connie both head to gym class. The gym teacher comes out to explain about using teamwork (and not to flinch) because they were going to play dodgeball. He blows his whistle and the game begins. Everyone quickly gets hit and gets out. Connie almost gets hit but Steven manages to save her with his shield. The ball his shield deflected on bounces from person to person and almost hits the gym teacher. Steven apologizes, but the gym teacher mentions he doesn't mind.
After school was over, Steven returns home and talks to the gems about his day at school during their mission, but they seem to be not listening, as they were more concentrated about the mollusk. Then Steven asked about the mollusk, as Pearl explained that the mollusk (such as the one they're looking for) can outgrow its shell very quickly, so it keeps moving until it tries to find a bigger one. Suddenly the broken pillar Steven was walking on started to move, revealing it to be the mollusk with its new shell. Steven holds on to the pillar until Amethyst pulls him down with her whip. Then the Gems start attacking and poof it.
While Garnet bubbles it, Pearl begins to question why Steven needs to go to school, when they have the material to give him an education. Amethyst assumes she is jealous because she can't go with him, Garnet joins in explaining that if Steven feels the "Human Education System" is important, then they should support his decision to go. Pearl returns to Amethyst, that she can be in school, just for a "Parent teacher conference" that happens twice a year. As they walk to the warp pad, Steven finds the mollusk's small old shell, and decides to take it for extra credit in show and tell. The Gems approve of this and warp back home.
The next day at school, Steven is the first one done with his test. Mrs. Lezner asks him to double check his answers before she could pick it up, but her timer goes off anyways. Steven asks if he can show an object for show and tell since he missed out on the previous one, and once approved, he goes to pull the mollusk shell out of his cheeseburger backpack to show the class, only to discover that it is missing. The other students begin to notice other missing items as well, such as backpacks, lunches, and chairs. Mrs. Lezner tries to quiet the class down but suddenly slips in green slime. She yells at the class for getting "food and drinks" on the floor and asks who's responsible. Steven grows nervous, realizing who the culprit actually is, and looks outside of the classroom to confirm his suspicions as Mrs. Lezner yells at him to come back. Steven notices a trail of green slime with school supplies in it and says that he may be responsible. He is scolded for making a mess and Connie offers to clean up the mess with Steven in the hallway. Once a hall pass is written, they leave the classroom.
Connie asks Steven what he did and he replies that it may or may not actually be his fault. A crowd of students behind them asks to borrow their hall pass and the school coach runs by saying that the Junior Safety Patrol has "it" cornered in the gym. The entire class goes to the window of the gym and sees another mollusk inside of it. Connie asks Steven what his show and tell was and he replies that it was meant to be much smaller. He attempts to call his dad on his phone for help, but a Junior Safety Patrol member takes it from him and scolds him for having one out during school hours. Steven protests under the reasoning that it is an emergency and asks Connie to back him up, but she is missing as she has gone into the gymnasium to confront the mollusk.
Connie yells at the mollusk for breaking school property and disrupting class and pelts it with dodgeballs. While the class watches in awe, Steven takes the opportunity to snatch his phone back and runs to call his dad as the other students run into the gym to assist Connie. She instructs them to focus on its shell since that is its armor and they begin a coordinated strike.
Meanwhile, Steven attempts to reach his dad on the phone but no one picks up since Greg is asleep. He calls the Big Donut instead and Lars and Sadie answer. Steven begs them to tell the Crystal Gems that he needs their help since a giant snail is attacking the school. Lars goes to inform them (but not before briefly teasing Steven) only to find out that they already know about the situation. Steven's phone call with Sadie is interrupted as the mollusk bursts through the gym wall and into the cafeteria.
Realizing that her plan is not working, Connie begins to panic. She throws a lunch tray at the mollusk and notices that it is beginning to shrink because of the salt from yesterday's lunch. All of the students throw lunch at the mollusk and it gradually shrinks and is buried under its now too large shell. However, it begins to launch pencils and other sharp objects from the shell which causes the students to take cover and wait out the assault.
Suddenly, the Crystal Gems arrive. They coordinate with one another, with Pearl summoning tonfas to deflect the objects while Garnet throws a table on the mollusk's shell to force it into the air, allowing Amethyst to lasso it. It manages to slip away due to its size and the Crystal Gems struggle to poof it since it is small and slippery. Garnet eventually manages to grab it with her gauntlets and finally poof and bubble it. Subsequently, the school caves in from the battle damage and everyone is forced to retreat outside. Steven and Connie are sent to the principals office as punishment.
Outside of the principals office (which is now just one wall because of the school's collapse), Steven tries to apologize to Connie for getting her in trouble again. She tells him not to worry about it since her permanent record was probably destroyed in the battle anyways, and the two are called in to the office. Principal Sandoval tells them that she knows who was responsible for the entire incident and states that disciplinary action of a large scale will need to take place. Greg pulls up in his van and, realizing the state of the school, asks what had happened. He is told to sit down as the principal continues her lecture. She says that Connie will need to be the one punished since its her fault the whole fiasco happened due to her leading the students in the attack against the mollusk. Despite the Gems intervening and saying it was the mollusk's and Steven's fault, Connie is still punished and suspended from school. She would need to take summer courses in order to make up for it and pass.
Mrs. Lezner interrupts to tell the principal that Steven scored perfectly on his exam. She protests, saying such a thing is impossible since he only attended school for one day. Pearl explains that Steven does not need to attend public school since he has already learned plenty while under their care. Mrs. Lezner is surprised at the appearance of the Gems, realizing that the "space women" Steven talked about earlier are real. She fawns over them while Steven tells Principal Sandoval to punish him instead since Connie has been a member of the school longer. She asks Mrs. Lezner what Connie scored on her exam and is told that she scored 104%, beating Steven by a little due to Steven missing one extra credit question. Principal Sandoval decides to spare Connie from suspension under the condition that Steven never returns to the school. They agree to the conditions and Mrs. Lezner begins asking the Crystal Gems about their alien ships. The principal yells at them to leave immediately.
Summer vacation has begun and, at the beach, Connie shows Steven snails called "The Marsh Periwinkle". He asks if that can be his new nickname and Connie teasingly asks him why he thinks that would suit him. The Junior Safety Patrol show up behind them and they commend Connie on her leadership skills against the mollusk. Humbly, she says she learned from watching the Crystal Gems. They offer her a spot on the Junior Safety Patrol anyways and she gladly accepts.
On the first day of school, Steven walks Connie to the bus-stop and makes sure she has everything. They exchange goodbyes as the bus pulls up and Steven secretly follows the bus on Lion.
Once Connie arrives at school, she notices everyone is talking to her more than usually and they are all wearing her glasses. She is confused by this and Mrs. Lezner explains that, to celebrate Connie saving the school, it is "Connie Day".
Outside of the school, Steven tells Lion that he is not being paranoid by following the bus and only wanted to be sure Connie arrived safely. Principal Sandoval sees Steven and, thinking he is about to be scolded, says he is leaving. The principal tells him it is alright and shows him his new permanent record, stating that he is now an honorary student of hers.
Back inside the school, Connie is still experiencing special treatment. At lunch, everyone asks her to sit with them and she sees a giant banner adorned with "Welcome back Connie!" Overwhelmed by the attention, she quietly slips away and the librarian tells her that her usual spot in the library is open. The comic ends with her enjoying her lunch alone in the library.
"Yard Sale"
The story starts with Steven and the Crystal Gems walking to Vidalia's for a yard sale. Amethyst is confused on why humans would want to get rid of their stuff. Pearl explains that they do so to make space for more important items and Steven excitedly tells them that he has the money to purchase from working at It's a Wash. Amethyst starts to dig through the items on sale, boredly stating that she has them until she comes across a purple guitar with two necks. She instantly becomes excited and asks Steven, who is fawning over an original Supergame console, if she can have it. Vidalia says that she knew Amethyst would be interested in it and offers a half-price discount just for her. Appreciating the bargain, Steven gives her the money to buy it and continues to look at the console and how it even has a double controller.
Suddenly, Pearl notices a sword she has never seen before and asks Steven if she can have it to research its technique. He complies since Amethyst had just gotten something after all. Garnet puts on a "Mom Squad" jacket and he buys that too. He asks them to wait just a second before leaving so he can buy the supergame console, but realizes that he no longer has any money to buy it. The Gems reluctantly tell him they will part with their purchases so he can buy the console he wants, but Steven tells them not to worry since he can just get more money by working at the car wash again.
Once Steven has left, the Gems begin to bargain with Vidalia for the console. Amethyst takes her to her room and offers to trade one of her objects for it, but Vidalia says she has known Amethyst long enough to not want anything from her room. Pearl offers to fix her car, but since it is not broken, she refuses. Garnet offers to break the car and Vidalia asks why she would want Garnet to do that. Vidalia says that if Steven wants the console so badly, there is one thing they can do.
Later, Steven arrives at the temple and sees Onion. He asks why he is there and the Gems explain that, in exchange for the console, they (by which they mean Steven since they have Gem things to do) agreed to babysit Onion anytime necessary for an entire year. The comic ends with a distraught Steven shouting that nothing is worth this.
Features
Characters
- Steven
- Connie Maheswaran
- Garnet
- Amethyst
- Pearl
- Lion
- Mollusk (debut)
- Mrs. Lezner (debut)
- Students (debut)
- Greg Universe
- Principal Sandoval (debut)
- School coach
- Lars
- Sadie Miller
- Sour Cream
- Jenny Pizza
- Buck Dewey
- School Librarian (debut)
- Vidalia
- Onion
Objects
- Cheeseburger Backpack
- Dodgeballs
- Mollusk shell
- Warp Pad
- Steven's Phone
- Junior Safety Patrol whistle
- Purple guitar
- Original Supergame console
- Sword
- Mom squad jacket
- Cookie Cat wallet
Locations
- Beach City
- Connie's school (debut)
- It's a Wash (mentioned)
- Amethyst's Room
Trivia
- Leigh Luna and Asia Kendrick-Horton took on the project after Coleman Engle dropped off of it causing the release date to be pushed back.
- Rachel Dukes was added to the artist team to aid Kendrick-Horton on the last 50 pages.
- Shannon Watters stated that Jeremy Sorese and Coleman Engle have "worked closely with Rebecca Sugar and Ian Jones-Quartey on the plot of the graphic novel "so that it aligns properly with the show".[3]
- This graphic novel takes place some time after "Reformed" and before "Catch and Release", as evidenced by the three Crystal Gems being in their post-regeneration outfits and the absence of Peridot in their custody.
- It also takes place before "Nightmare Hospital" due to the fact that Connie still wears her glasses despite no longer needing them.
- The Temple has no landline telephones, as Steven had to call Greg and the Big Donut to contact the Crystal Gems while he was at school.
- Pearl is able to summon her weapon(s) in the form of tonfas.
- Pearl does not understand the concept of assigning an object with a gender.
Cultural References
- The sword Pearl picks out and purchases at Vidalia's yard sale is the Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII.
- A student that resembles the character Frisk from the video game Undertale appears in the wreckage of the Mollusk after it has been defeated.
Errors
- Steven's shirt is missing its star on one page.
- Garnet is in her pre-regeneration form when warping back to the Temple.
- Amethyst is in her pre-regeneration form when Mrs. Lezner and Pearl are talking about motherships.
- Pearl's spear is missing its spiral when landing the final blow on the mollusk creature.
- However, this may be a transformation instead of an error.
- The principal has a different colored jacket on when she asks Greg to sit down.
References
- ↑ https://mobile.twitter.com/boomstudios/status/717786506593591296/photo/1
- ↑ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-steven-universe-original-graphic-novel-cover-20150625-story.html
- ↑ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-steven-universe-original-graphic-novel-cover-20150625-story.html