A zanily cluttered exploration of format and style that transcends its pages into the digital world
In this action-packed graphic offering, a nervous young boy and his fearless robot companion fight to save everyone’s favorite sandwich fixings from a nefarious fowl.
Marvin, a fretful, white 9-year-old, is always anxious about the antics of his best friend, Kung Fu Robot, a 9-foot-tall crimson automaton with good intentions that usually end in comic disaster. Kung Fu Robot is intent on making the perfect peanut butter, jelly, and kung fu sandwich, but dangers—such as chunky peanut butter, beeping ninjas, and an evil chicken—lurk around every corner. Through a series of madcap chases, karate chops, and giggleworthy adventures, the pair seeks to save the beloved sandwich items, all while not making Marvin’s mom angry. Boisterous action propels the story’s characters, and silliness reigns supreme. Bays’ art takes on an appealingly novel-feeling, retro-tinged style, utilizing a muted palette of primary colors and distinctively grouped, irregularly shaped panels. The exploits of Marvin and Kung Fu Robot burst from their panels in a dizzying array of sound effects and motion. An accompanying app is available for download, promising to offer sound effects when the book’s pages are scanned. With an animated feel and its breakneck velocity, Bays’ creation is an interesting marriage of print and digital comics and creates a multidimensional feel for young action aficionados.
A zanily cluttered exploration of format and style that transcends its pages into the digital world . (Graphic fantasy. 6-11)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4494-7963-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low.
Recasting Dog Man and his feline ward, Li’l Petey, as costumed superheroes, Pilkey looks East of Eden in this follow-up to Tale of Two Kitties (2017).
The Steinbeck novel’s Cain/Abel motif gets some play here, as Petey, “world’s evilest cat” and cloned Li’l Petey’s original, tries assiduously to tempt his angelic counterpart over to the dark side only to be met, ultimately at least, by Li’l Petey’s “Thou mayest.” (There are also occasional direct quotes from the novel.) But inner struggles between good and evil assume distinctly subordinate roles to riotous outer ones, as Petey repurposes robots built for a movie about the exploits of Dog Man—“the thinking man’s Rin Tin Tin”—while leading a general rush to the studio’s costume department for appropriate good guy/bad guy outfits in preparation for the climactic battle. During said battle and along the way Pilkey tucks in multiple Flip-O-Rama inserts as well as general gags. He lists no fewer than nine ways to ask “who cut the cheese?” and includes both punny chapter titles (“The Bark Knight Rises”) and nods to Hamiltonand Mary Poppins. The cartoon art, neatly and brightly colored by Garibaldi, is both as easy to read as the snappy dialogue and properly endowed with outsized sound effects, figures displaying a range of skin colors, and glimpses of underwear (even on robots).
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low. (drawing instructions) (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-93518-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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What a wag.
What do you get from sewing the head of a smart dog onto the body of a tough police officer? A new superhero from the incorrigible creator of Captain Underpants.
Finding a stack of old Dog Mancomics that got them in trouble back in first grade, George and Harold decide to craft a set of new(ish) adventures with (more or less) improved art and spelling. These begin with an origin tale (“A Hero Is Unleashed”), go on to a fiendish attempt to replace the chief of police with a “Robo Chief” and then a temporarily successful scheme to make everyone stupid by erasing all the words from every book (“Book ’Em, Dog Man”), and finish off with a sort of attempted alien invasion evocatively titled “Weenie Wars: The Franks Awaken.” In each, Dog Man squares off against baddies (including superinventor/archnemesis Petey the cat) and saves the day with a clever notion. With occasional pauses for Flip-O-Rama featurettes, the tales are all framed in brightly colored sequential panels with hand-lettered dialogue (“How do you feel, old friend?” “Ruff!”) and narrative. The figures are studiously diverse, with police officers of both genders on view and George, the chief, and several other members of the supporting cast colored in various shades of brown. Pilkey closes as customary with drawing exercises, plus a promise that the canine crusader will be further unleashed in a sequel.
What a wag. (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-58160-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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