A rush of energy and charm.
Teen girl superheroes tangle with a blackout.
The Super Hero Girls are a formidable team of teen heroes: Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Zatanna, Green Lantern, Supergirl, and Bumblebee fight crime by night and go to high school by day, all the while doing their best in both spheres. But after the city’s power grid fails and the cloud-computing technology gets knocked out, the band of heroes must face a startling new foe: a complete lack of technology. No smartphones! No gadgets! A cafeteria that only takes cash! The breezy graphic novel captures the tone of the popular TV series perfectly. Fans will be delighted, but newcomers will find plenty to adore here as well. The bright colors and sharply composed panels present the humor and action the brand is known for perfectly. The characterization of each supergirl isn’t particularly strong (all the girls speak in the same bubbly tone), but the diversity of skin tone is a welcome change from other DC teams that are almost exclusively white. (Batgirl, Supergirl, and Zatanna are white, Green Lantern is Latina, Bumblebee is black, and Wonder Woman has olive skin.) With mangalike stylings—in particular, enormous eyes—that give these teens a distinctly juvenile look, this is a comic ideal for younger readers, particularly those keen on the DC heroes but not ready for the more mature YA fare. It may not be great literature, but it’s great fun.
A rush of energy and charm. (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4012-9361-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
Unapologetic goofiness galore, perhaps best consumed in small doses.
More manic monkey and bunny mischief.
In the latest installment in this high-energy, over-the-top-silly graphic novel series, Bunny, Monkey, and their cadre of woodland compatriots share more zany forest adventures. The book is split into four parts, each named for a season and then broken down into smaller vignettes, most comprising only a few pages. As before, Bunny, Monkey, Pig, Skunky, and Le Fox embark upon all types of gonzo escapades, including encounters with myriad robots, lasers, explosions, and, of course, prolific poop and fart jokes. In one tale, “Fishyplops,” Monkey makes a giant metal fish to distract Bunny while he writes the word poo all over Bunny’s humble home. In “So Many Monkeys,” egotistical Monkey faces a seemingly existential crisis when he clones himself, but things take a comical turn. The threat of human developers looking to pave a road through the animals’ beloved woodland home forms a narrative arc that loosely ties the episodes together, but even so, linear reading is not required. The unrelenting sugar-rush, off-the-wall tempo and aggressively colorful and busy illustrations can become tiresome to the point of tedium. (Really, how many versions of the same gag can the audience endure?) Still, thankfully, the episodic nature lends this work well to casual reading, making it a fun choice for readers who are between Dav Pilkey titles.
Unapologetic goofiness galore, perhaps best consumed in small doses. (character drawing instructions) (Graphic animal fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781454950356
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Funny, gross, and clever but definitely not recommended for mealtime reading.
Five muco-centric graphic tales in the classic tradition of the Slimeballs and Barf-O-Rama series.
Periodically pausing to reset the mood by chewing up classic books and covering a staring storytime audience with projectile vomit, an outsized rubbery mouth spews out a set of original tales—beginning with one about a child who saves the world from being covered in green slime by loogie monsters in exchange for being appointed school principal. Later entries follow a weak-stomached Romanian vampire who immigrates to America (“Where all are created equal, and some are treated that way!”), lay out a steep cultural learning curve when young Stella’s “bio mom” is replaced by a wrapped stepmummy, show what happens when internet trolls meet real ones, and pit a pair of frustrated ghost hunters against a mob of spectral pranksters. In all of these, DeGrand shows a real talent for lavishing copious quantities of puke, snot, blood, slobber, slime, and goo into his garishly hued cartoon scenes along with endowing the popeyed nonhuman and undead cast members with warty or glutinous skin in a range of noxious shades. Humans present a diverse (and healthier looking) mix of skin colors.
Funny, gross, and clever but definitely not recommended for mealtime reading. (Graphic short stories. 7-10)Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781250780805
Page Count: 224
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
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