Visually appealing but uneven.
Three sisters investigate a mysterious tree stump in their newest graphic adventure.
In this follow-up to May’s Wild Walk (2017), the Whiskers sisters—Mia, a yellow-eyed, teal-blue cat; pink-haired, antlered Maya; and orange-haired, pink-eyed baby May—find their quiet night with their forest-guardian grandfather interrupted when a talking forest creature comes seeking his help. After Grandpa leaves, a fox then shows up also imploring Grandpa’s assistance, as her kit has fallen into a hole. With Grandpa gone, the girls set out to help. Will the girls be able to find the baby fox and solve the mystery of both the hole and the enigmatic stump? Adorable whimsy flows sweetly throughout this volume; fans of all things pink and cute will enjoy this niche read with its pleasing, candy-colored palette and occasional, luscious two-page spreads. However, a hasty-feeling plot with an overly tidy resolution makes the worldbuilding feel rushed and disjointed. The real connection to be made here is through the illustrations, as readers are kept at arm’s length from any real character development: the sisters are merely stylized objects with little personality. Although it is the second in a series, this volume holds up well as a stand-alone adventure, and for those who can get lost in the sugary-sweet art, it makes for a fine jumping-in point.
Visually appealing but uneven. (Graphic fantasy. 6-10)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5124-2528-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Silly and inventive fast-paced fun
A zippy graphic-novel series opener featuring two comically bumbling reptile detectives.
As agents of SUIT (Special Undercover Investigation Team) with customized VESTs (Very Exciting Spy Technology) boasting the latest gadgetry, the bright green InvestiGators Mango and Brash receive their newest assignment. The reptilian duo must go undercover at the Batter Down bakery to find missing mustachioed Chef Gustavo and his secret recipes. Before long, the pair find themselves embroiled in a strange and busy plot with a scientist chicken, a rabid were-helicopter, an escape-artist dinosaur, and radioactive cracker dough. Despite the great number of disparate threads, Green manages to tie up most neatly, leaving just enough intrigue for subsequent adventures. Nearly every panel has a joke, including puns (“gator done!”), poop jokes, and pop-culture references (eagle-eyed older readers will certainly pick up on the 1980s song references), promising to make even the most stone-faced readers dissolve into giggles. Green’s art is as vibrant as an overturned box of crayons and as highly spirited as a Saturday-morning cartoon. Fast pacing and imaginative plotting (smattered with an explosion here, a dance number there) propel the action through a whimsical world in which a diverse cast of humans live alongside anthropomorphized reptiles and dinosaurs. With its rampant good-natured goofiness and its unrelenting fizz and pep, this feels like a sugar rush manifested as a graphic novel.
Silly and inventive fast-paced fun . (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21995-4
Page Count: 208
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...
The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.
Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)Pub Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-59643-750-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
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