Endearing pals enliven this kinetic, first-rate SF tale.
Humanity’s only chance against an invading force of colossal aliens is a spunky terrier’s piloting skills in this middle-grade graphic novel.
When a meteor crashes to Earth, creatures called Bio-Titans wreak havoc. Young Sam Dawson of Proxima City loses his parents in these catastrophic attacks, but among the rubble, he finds a terrier he names Holly. Seven years later, Sam, who’s now about 20 years old, joins the Planetary Elite Protectorate to combat the Bio-Titans—with the ever-present Holly at his side. Sam’s job, he quickly discovers, is to figure out how to power up the Mechacolossus Armor, which has been dormant since landing on Earth at the same time as the meteor. Quite unexpectedly, Holly, after hopping into the pilot’s seat, is able to turn on and operate the tech. She goes on to battle and takes down Bio-Titans called Irradigator, Javelinsect, and Thunderkraken. However, she’s still an ordinary dog in other ways, and if Sam can’t convince her to listen to him (mostly to prevent her fights’ destructive aftermaths), then he may have to look for a new job. Meanwhile, the Bio-Titan’s attacks are increasing in frequency and seem focused on bigger cities. Writer Pepose grounds this delightful, action-packed narrative with well-rounded characters, most noticeably Sam and Holly, who remain fiercely loyal to each another. The winsome, irresistible terrier eases tension by playing with a squeaky toy and steals scenes even while sleeping. However, the supporting cast shines, too, including Sam’s boss, Gen. Sterling Armstrong, and his co-worker and romantic interest, Penny, who’s Armstrong’s daughter. The Bio-Titans have wonderful names (including Omnivortex and Howlitzer), and are a constant, convincing threat; as they go head-to-head against the Mechacolossus Armor, they use a few dirty tricks. The story keeps popping with surprising turns that raise the stakes for everyone involved. Greco’s crisp, full-color illustrations sublimely depict a slew of giant monsters, and a healthy batch of lively action sequences. The best element of the work, however, is Holly, whose emotions resonate without dialogue via angry barks and growls, puppy-eyed sadness, and head-tilts of confusion.
Endearing pals enliven this kinetic, first-rate SF tale.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781545820469
Page Count: 168
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios/Papercutz
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
An entertaining take on family values, Wimpy Kid style.
A summer vacation turns out to be anything but relaxing for Greg and a teeming horde of Heffleys.
Gramma declines the offer of a grand birthday celebration, saying that “what would make her REALLY happy is if everyone else went to Ruttyneck Island”—though she prepares individual packs of her legendary meatballs. (“You knew exactly how much Gramma likes you by how many meatballs you got.”) A gaggle of Heffley relatives and a dog stuff themselves into a small beach house, where overcrowding, personality conflicts, and simmering resentments become just some of the ingredients in a rolling boil of sitcom-style catastrophes, not to mention questionable decisions ranging from leaving the kids to make dinner unsupervised to labeling a cooler “HUMAN ORGANS” to keep random passersby from helping themselves. As usual, Greg supplies the setups in poker-faced journal entries interspersed with black-and-white drawings of slouched figures bearing frowny expressions of dismay or annoyance to cue the laffs. Gramma, it eventually turns out, not only (unsurprisingly) has plans of her own, but is also keeping a shocking secret about those meatballs. To go with the knee-slapping set pieces, Kinney slips in a tasty bit of family lore about how Greg’s parents met, plus droll takes on such low-hanging comedy fruit as restaurant manners, viciously competitive board games, and social media influencers (Greg being one, albeit with zero followers, and his Aunt Veronica’s little dog being another, with 3.8 million).
An entertaining take on family values, Wimpy Kid style. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2024
ISBN: 9781419766954
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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