MONSTERS BEWARE!

Fiery as ever both of hair and temperament, young swashbuckler Claudette tackles a giant sea monster and its progeny in this third exploit.

Though supremely disgusted to discover that the Warrior Games being hosted by the town of Mont Petit Pierre feature competitions in butter churning and like nonwarlike events, Claudette nonetheless enters, enlisting best friend Marie and accomplished chef and little brother Gaston as teammates. Maddeningly, they lose time after time to the three children of the duchess of the sea kingdom while other competing teams mysteriously vanish one by one. Claudette’s mood improves dramatically when the sea folk, shedding at last their human disguises, turn into huge crablike creatures given to hoovering up human prey and, it seems, scheming to free evil wizard Grombach from the spell that had frozen him in Dragons Beware! (2015). Now, here’s a proper knightly challenge! Rosado and colorist Novak give Aguirre’s funny, dashing tale full measures of drama and gusto as, in the cinematically sequenced panels, the easy-to-follow action revs up to a glorious climactic melee. In the end the monsters are vanquished (with significant assistance from Gaston’s spell for instant Aztec chocolate mousse gelato), and in a joyful surprise, all their victims come back to life—including Claudette and Gaston’s long-lost warrior mom. With the exception of one black family friend, the principals are all white; Claudette and Gaston’s father uses a wheelchair.

Pint-sized heroes triumph again.