A lively turn for a lesser-known comic-book hero.
The magical DC hero makes her middle-grade graphic-novel debut.
Zatanna and her magician father, a widower, live quiet lives. The white preteen balances friendships and homework like any other typical middle schooler while missing her departed mother. But one night Zatanna sneaks out to a dance and returns to find a pair of blue-skinned strangers standing in her own home, a home that has transformed into the House of Secrets. After one of the home invaders identifies herself as the Witch Queen and disappears with Zatanna’s father, Zatanna searches for him and discovers the true nature of her family’s past. Mystery and magic fill the graphic novel’s frames as Zatanna’s large, expressive eyes soak in the bizarre and fantastic flourishes. Readers with minimal knowledge of Zatanna’s role in DC Comics lore will have no trouble here: The story is easily appreciated by newbies and familiars alike. The bold, unoutlined artwork uses a purple, orange, and blue palette that helps the pictures stand apart from the four-color comic palette used by similar middle-grade DC Comics titles. The plot moves forward at an almost alarming speed, twisting and turning and enticing readers with a page-turning emotional mystery.
A lively turn for a lesser-known comic-book hero. (Graphic fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4012-9070-2
Page Count: 152
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
An interestingly unconventional amalgamation of tropes and genre.
In this trilogy closer, two superhero brothers and their magical friends face their nefarious foe for the ultimate battle.
Jumping right in where middle volume In the Trenches (2017) concluded, brothers Tucker and Hudson—also known as the magically enhanced superheroes Stretch and Brella—are breathing a bit easier after defeating their evil teacher Mr. Motstander. Unfortunately, their small island home does not stay quiet for long, and the brothers soon discover that their adversary has persisted. Motstander seeks to destroy the brothers’ reputations, exploiting the fickleness of public favor in the age of social media. With the help of their friends who possess their own magically imbued objects, the motley crew gears up for what can only be a battle to the death. Genre constraints are thoroughly smashed as this nontraditional superhero tale weaves a quirky pastiche of time travel, light romance, and fantasy. Brothers Tuck and Hudson are white, while secondary characters offer some diversity both racially and in terms of disability; shallow development among these characters is particularly frustrating. Hansen’s bold line-and-wash illustrations easily transition from world to world, whether he is evincing the boys’ small island community, prehistoric scenes of rampaging dinosaurs, or a fantastic, medieval-ish landscape populated by dragons. Though this volume declares itself the conclusion, the end hints at more adventures to come.
An interestingly unconventional amalgamation of tropes and genre. (Graphic adventure. 9-12)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4096-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Captivated kids will be happy to see that Book 3 is on its way.
Neanderthal siblings return for a blustery infoventure in the Ice Age.
Lucy and Andy meet and welcome into their cave an extended, racially diverse family of humans. Andy is less than enthusiastic about the arrangement, but Lucy is glad to have Sasha, a little black girl, and the others to pal around with. Between hunts for food, the adults search for a nearby cave for the humans to move into. The kids play in the snow, do chores, visit a glacier, and visit the Neanderthal family’s summer cave at the beach. Can the families outsmart cave bear Big Bob and appropriate his cave for the humans, or will they live together forever? Modern-day fictional commentators Pam (a white woman) and Eric (a black man) return as well to explain (usually with jokes) and expand on the actual science and discoveries behind the events in Lucy and Andy’s comic-strip adventures. Science-y tidbits dot the narrative panels (usually followed by sarcastic one-liners), and the whole is followed by a museum list, a Q-and-A, and myth-busters about cavemen, all conveyed in a light tone. No further reading or works cited make this problematic as an informational source, but for the paleontologically inclined, it’s a fast, funny read with likable kid characters.
Captivated kids will be happy to see that Book 3 is on its way. (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-38838-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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