Knights errant who cut their teeth battling dinosaurs in the previous episode take on magical mist monsters.
Fresh from the exploits chronicled in Knights Vs. Dinosaurs (2018) and on the lookout for a “proper adventure,” Sirs Erec, Bors, and Hector, the fearsome Black Knight Magdalena, and former squire in disguise Melancholy “Mel” Postlethwaite fetch up in the bleak Orkney Isles, where sorcerous Queen Morgause plans to do them in as part of a larger scheme to dethrone King Arthur. Along with several of her raffish offspring—including creepy young Mordred, who temporarily turns Sir Hector into a two-headed “bi-clops”—the doughty Band of the Terrible Lizards faces burgeoning hordes of monsters summoned out of the fog by the evil queen. Though chock-full of briskly paced action and glints of humor, this is a darker tale than its predecessor, colored more by its harsh setting and undercurrents of treachery than all the knightly feats and values on display. Phelan’s many panels and full-page drawings have an ashy, smudged look that adds to the gloomy atmosphere, and as someone who plainly has a few heavy secrets in her past, Magdalena projects a cold, austere remoteness that dims the rest of the company’s (rarer than previously) comical banter and bumbling. Still, a pleaser for fans of Gerald Morris’ Arthurian delights.
Young heroes both male and female rout many excellent monsters—what’s not to like? (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-268626-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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Who needs dragons when there are Terrible Lizards to be fought?
Having recklessly boasted to King Arthur and the court that he’d slain 40 dragons, Sir Erec can hardly refuse when Merlin offers him more challenging foes…and so it is that in no time (so to speak), Erec, with bookish Sir Hector, the silent and enigmatic Black Knight, and blustering Sir Bors with his thin but doughty squire, Mel, in tow, are hewing away at fearsome creatures sporting natural armor and weapons every bit as effective as knightly ones. Happily, while all the glorious mashing and bashing leads to awesome feats aplenty—who would suspect that a ravening T. Rex could be decked by a well-placed punch to the jaw?—when the dust settles neither bloodshed nor permanent injury has been dealt to either side. Better yet, not even the stunning revelation that two of the Three Stooges–style bumblers aren’t what they seem (“Anyone else here a girl?”) keeps the questers from developing into a well-knit team capable of repeatedly saving one another’s bacon. Phelan endows the all-white human cast with finely drawn, eloquently expressive faces but otherwise works in a loose, movement-filled style, pitting his clanking crew against an almost nonstop onslaught of toothy monsters in a monochrome mix of single scenes and occasional wordless sequential panels.
Epic—in plot, not length—and as wise and wonderful as Gerald Morris’ Arthurian exploits. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-268623-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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PROFILES
Antics both instructive and embarrassing ensue after a mysterious package left on their doorstep brings a Founding Father into the lives of two modern children.
Summoned somehow by what looks for all the world like an old-time crystal radio set, Ben Franklin turns out to be an amiable sort. He is immediately taken in hand by 7-year-old Olive for a tour of modern wonders—early versions of which many, from electrical appliances in the kitchen to the Illinois town’s public library and fire department, he justly lays claim to inventing. Meanwhile big brother Nolan, 10, tags along, frantic to return him to his own era before either their divorced mom or snoopy classmate Tommy Tuttle sees him. Fleming, author of Ben Franklin’s Almanac (2003) (and also, not uncoincidentally considering the final scene of this outing, Our Eleanor, 2005), mixes history with humor as the great man dispenses aphorisms and reminiscences through diverse misadventures, all of which end well, before vanishing at last. Following a closing, sequel-cueing kicker (see above) she then separates facts from fancies in closing notes, with print and online leads to more of the former. To go with spot illustrations of the evidently all-white cast throughout the narrative, Fearing incorporates change-of-pace sets of sequential panels for Franklin’s biographical and scientific anecdotes. Final illustrations not seen.
It’s not the first time old Ben has paid our times a call, but it’s funny and free-spirited, with an informational load that adds flavor without weight. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-93406-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
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