I’m a little late to the party with my coverage of Byte-SIzed, but I hugely enjoyed the first issue and the second issue is just as much fun. Though AWA/Upshot seem to be building quite the portfolio of mature titles that are definitely not suitable for kids, Byte-Sized bucks the trend and is a sweet, gently exciting read for all ages.

It’s Christmas morning – siblings Ben and Katy are waking up to discover that something has invaded their house. One thing’s for sure, it’s not Santa: unless Santa is cute, tiny and very, very high tech.

Much like the first issue, it feels very much like a classic 80s movie in comic book form, with the little robots feeling somewhat like the critters featured in the fondly remembered, Spielberg-produced *batteries not included. It feels a little less eventful than the first issue, which covered a lot of ground – but we do get to know the family at the centre of the story a little more at least. The final panel is wonderful too, with a good look at…well, you’ll have to read it and see for yourself.

It’s a nicely inoffensive, fun little story – and if that seems a little like a backhanded compliment, I don’t mean it to. It’s simply that this is a nice throwback to simpler times that anyone can pick up and enjoy (and hey, even the dog is called Gizmo, in case the 80s-movie-set-at-Christmas feel wasn’t already obvious enough!).

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