by Derek Fridolfs ; illustrated by Dustin Nguyen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 26, 2016
Not much more than a vehicle created to spotlight middle school versions of DC Comics heroes and baddies, but fans, at...
Young students with oddly familiar names team up to investigate the nefarious agenda of their school’s administration in this batty series opener.
In fact, hardly has Bruce Wayne hung a couple of bats in his new locker at Gotham City’s exclusive Ducard Academy than glimpses of lurking ninjas, an encounter with cream-pie–bearing bully Joe Kerr, and other signs raise his suspicion that something’s not right. With plenty of help from exchange student Diana Prince and hayseed classmate Clark Kent, he does indeed expose a scheme to recruit young villains—explained in detail by principal Ra’s Al Ghul—before he escapes in the wake of a climactic ninja battle. Along the way Bruce and company try out for extracurricular activities (“Boys’ sports: All pain, some gain! To sign up, see Coach Zod”), attend classes taught by the likes of Alice in Wonderland–obsessed Jervis Tetch, and adopt distinctive Halloween costumes for the climactic dust-up. Spun out in a mix of journal entries, chat transcripts, screenshots, and panels of comic art as loose as the plotline, the tale hurtles its inconclusive way to a close that leaves Bruce looking forward to the bats, shadows, and mysteries of summer camp. Stay tuned.
Not much more than a vehicle created to spotlight middle school versions of DC Comics heroes and baddies, but fans, at least, will enjoy catching the references. (Graphic fantasy. 9-11)Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-82501-6
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
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by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein ; illustrated by Anuki López ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2019
A waggish tale with a serious (and timely) theme.
An age-old rivalry is reluctantly put aside when two young vacationers are lost in the wilderness.
Anthropomorphic—in body if definitely not behavior—Dogg Scout Oscar and pampered Molly Hissleton stray from their separate camps, meet by chance in a trackless magic forest, and almost immediately recognize that their only chance of survival, distasteful as the notion may be, lies in calling a truce. Patterson and Grabenstein really work the notion here that cooperation is better than prejudice founded on ignorance and habit, interspersing explicit exchanges on the topic while casting the squabbling pair with complementary abilities that come out as they face challenges ranging from finding food to escaping such predators as a mountain lion and a pack of vicious “weaselboars.” By the time they cross a wide river (on a raft steered by “Old Jim,” an otter whose homespun utterances are generally cribbed from Mark Twain—an uneasy reference) back to civilization, the two are BFFs. But can that friendship survive the return, with all the social and familial pressures to resume the old enmity? A climactic cage-match–style confrontation before a worked-up multispecies audience provides the answer. In the illustrations (not seen in finished form) López plops wide-eyed animal heads atop clothed, more or less human forms and adds dialogue balloons for punchlines.
A waggish tale with a serious (and timely) theme. (Fantasy. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-41156-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
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by James Patterson & Ellen Banda-Aaku with Sophia Krevoy
by Matt Phelan ; illustrated by Matt Phelan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 23, 2018
Epic—in plot, not length—and as wise and wonderful as Gerald Morris’ Arthurian exploits.
Who needs dragons when there are Terrible Lizards to be fought?
Having recklessly boasted to King Arthur and the court that he’d slain 40 dragons, Sir Erec can hardly refuse when Merlin offers him more challenging foes…and so it is that in no time (so to speak), Erec, with bookish Sir Hector, the silent and enigmatic Black Knight, and blustering Sir Bors with his thin but doughty squire, Mel, in tow, are hewing away at fearsome creatures sporting natural armor and weapons every bit as effective as knightly ones. Happily, while all the glorious mashing and bashing leads to awesome feats aplenty—who would suspect that a ravening T. Rex could be decked by a well-placed punch to the jaw?—when the dust settles neither bloodshed nor permanent injury has been dealt to either side. Better yet, not even the stunning revelation that two of the Three Stooges–style bumblers aren’t what they seem (“Anyone else here a girl?”) keeps the questers from developing into a well-knit team capable of repeatedly saving one another’s bacon. Phelan endows the all-white human cast with finely drawn, eloquently expressive faces but otherwise works in a loose, movement-filled style, pitting his clanking crew against an almost nonstop onslaught of toothy monsters in a monochrome mix of single scenes and occasional wordless sequential panels.
Epic—in plot, not length—and as wise and wonderful as Gerald Morris’ Arthurian exploits. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-268623-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
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