“That’s what I call a fun field trip!” exclaims Fizz in the final panel. Series fans will agree.
In their latest exploit, the fourth-grade sleuths have a hot time countering the schemes of a clever dragon and saving their classmates from becoming spider snacks.
It’s a rollicking romp that’s not much for internal logic but provides opportunities aplenty for hair’s-breadth escapes plus encounters with creepy creatures such as giant spiders and lava sharks. When their school bus is hijacked, aptly named Tank, a troll with the soul of an engineer, and her goblin partner, narrator Fizz Marlow, find themselves in a race against time to recover a stolen crown before the outsized spider queen Azelia devours their captive class. Worse yet, the whole subterranean realm of Rockfall Mountain is in danger of being sucked into the hungry Abyss that lies below its lava lake. The crisis turns out to be the work of Firebane Drakeclaw, a shape-changing dragon whose tangled scheme (as he explains at length) involves creating an army of downtrodden swamp-dwellers in a bid for ultimate power. With help from allies both eight-legged and otherwise, the daring detectives derail his dastardly designs, reclaim the crown, and save their classmates (even kobold bully Rizzo Rawlins) from being slurped dry. Breaking frequently into single and sequential graphic panels done in an orange-and-gray color scheme, the caper features a cast that is devoid of humans but otherwise rich in diverse species and distinct characters.
“That’s what I call a fun field trip!” exclaims Fizz in the final panel. Series fans will agree. (Graphic mystery/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1261-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Monty Python meets Captain Underpants in a prose/cartoon hybrid from Down Under featuring Sir Glame, a puffed-up, borderline psychopath in armor, and his sarcastic equine sidekick Bill. The plot, insofar as there is one, involves a hunt for the author of Saucy McRascal’s Book of Fun!, a collection of smarmy verse (quoted at length) deemed entirely unsuitable for young readers. In a mix of cartoon panels and paragraphs liberally strewn with line drawings, the questing duo encounter a host of adversaries along the way, from motherly rival Hero Mrs. Honeychurch and her feathered sidekick Sir Quacksalot, to a space-alien cooking-show host, a literally downsized giant, and an Evil Giant Killer Robot From Hell. By the end, the pernicious poet is unmasked, but the bickering between Sir Glame and Bill escalates into an all-out battle that leaves the town of Sausagopolis in ruins. Wright blithely brings dead characters back to life, frequently veers off into irrelevant side episodes, and ratchets up the sarcasm along with the violence: so what’s not to like/offend—particularly for young readers who consider the Captain’s outings so third grade? (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-86508-785-8
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2004
Taking child spoilage to a whole new level, six-year-old King Ethelbert performs some world-class acting out in these 12 graphic-format misadventures. With no parents around to say him nay, Ethelbert takes great delight in watching all of the grownups scrambling to deliver whatever he demands, from an elephant-sized sundae to having all of the children in the kingdom replaced with robot replicas of him. Not only, though, do his notions rarely turn out quite as planned, but those grownups are smart enough to outmaneuver him at need—and even deliver a few counter-pranks of their own. Though the small pictures and truly tiny typeface will challenge all but the most acute eyes, the retro ’60s-style art perfectly conveys the slapstick action and sly tone of this import. Calvin and Hobbes fans will be particularly delighted. (Graphic fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: May 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-59643-094-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: First Second/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
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