The newest addition to the Toon Book early-reader series presents brother and sister Joey and Mona, who are always fighting. The only thing they agree on is their favorite superhero, the Mighty Mojo. The kids are astonished to learn that the mailman is Mojo in disguise; retiring to Miami, he bequeaths to them the red-and-yellow costume containing his superpowers. When the squabbling siblings rip the costume, Mom sews two costumes from the halves, and now they each have one superpower: Mona’s arms can stretch and Joey has powerful magnetic boots. Called to action, they must save the star of the parade, the giant inflatable hippo, from the villainous gator-thing Saw-Jaw! Still bickering, the siblings almost botch the job until they realize that working as a team is a better way to fight crime. Lynch provides classic comic-book repartee in beginning-reader–friendly vocabulary ably matched to Haspiel’s bold images and zippy colors; this high-quality production supplies good, old-fashioned fun and a superhero lesson that packs a wallop. (Graphic early reader. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9799238-5-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: RAW Junior/TOON Books
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2008
Categories: GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What a wag.
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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 Man comics 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: June 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
Categories: GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS
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A pair of sisters and a froggy sidekick go up against a horde of fungal jungle dwellers in this frantically paced Canadian import.
When Mom transforms Dad into a cat, 10-year-old Luey, her leggy green friend, Phil, and little sister Miri chase him through a closet door and down a jungle path into a maze of tunnels. They manage to rescue their errant parent from the maroon-colored, cat-worshiping goblins that had overrun the garden. (They are not the “mythological” sort, explains Wilson, but sentient mushrooms dressed in towels.) The three put most of their pursuers to flight by rubbing Dad’s fur the wrong way to turn him into a raving, furry maniac (the rest flee at the closet door, screaming “IT’S THE MOM CREATURE! RETREAT!!”). Captured in multiple, sometimes overly small panels of garishly colored cartoon art, the action—not to mention the internal logic—is sometimes hard to follow. Still, dragging along their timorous but canny buddy, the dark-skinned, big-haired sisters dash into danger with commendable vim, and readers will cheer when they come out triumphant on the other side.
This high-wattage debut is a little rough around the edges, but there’s nary a dull moment. (afterword) (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-927668-11-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Koyama Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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