Like an out-of-this-world pizza: cheesy, saucy, and delicious.
A scrappy intergalactic team runs a traveling pizza restaurant in a food-based universe.
With narration provided by Cosmic Pizza Party’s android intern AL-N (pronounced “Allen”), each chapter serves as a stand-alone short story in this graphic novel. A helpful tip on the best cheese in the universe ends up being a trap; an advertising gimmick (a quantum-reality machine video game) goes rogue at a Calzonia royal birthday party; a bad review prompts them to fix a pizza crisis for a planet full of Plegans (who eat plastic and are sickened by organic materials); the hostile weather of a planet in the Marinaris System leads to destructively pyrrhic delivery attempts (this is the weakest chapter by far); and finally the team goes head-to-head against rival Papa Roni on the reality game show The Slice Is Right. The silliness of the concept—pizza ingredients as natural resources—is echoed in the shape of the ship (a food truck with wings, illustrated in a curvy retro-futuristic aesthetic), the punny humor, and wild character designs. Delivery pilot Meg, an anthropomorphic sloth, and pizza chef Suzie, a mecha-slug, both use female pronouns; robot AL-N and money-minded Mohs, a rocklike being, both use male pronouns. Despite the wackiness, the characters take their pizza business seriously, and they invite readers to as well—lengthy backmatter features additional art, profiles, quizzes, and pizza recipes.
Like an out-of-this-world pizza: cheesy, saucy, and delicious. (Graphic science fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5248-6807-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
A whimsical rumination on friendship and being present in the moment.
In this quiet graphic novel, two beetle buddies share gentle adventures.
Rhino-B is a bold rhinoceros beetle who lives with his BFF, a stag beetle named Stag-B, in their charming mushroom home in Bug Village. In a series of vignettes, the duo experience their world by visiting the Insects’ Library, maintained by their friend Dome Spider; helping a neighboring beehive to obtain a lost crown from treacherous termites; and exploring the Deep Dirt Cave with Dome Spider and finding themselves in a bizarrely psychedelic moment. The beetles’ exploits may be unusual, but their friendship and its dynamics are familiar. While episodic, their adventures are low-key, with a meditative feel and an emphasis on staying focused in the present; one night, as the bugs gaze into the night sky, reflecting on anxieties around growing up, Stag-B sagely asserts, “The Earth is big and life is long. Just appreciate where you are now.” Readers looking for fast pacing or plot-driven works may be put off by the insistent introspection, but it will hit the spot for quieter readers. Knetzger’s background as a storyboard artist for the cartoon Adventure Timeis highly visible, sharing its playfully absurdist feel throughout and even its dreamy pastel-hued aesthetic (supplied by Lynde). Rhino-B and Stag-B both identify as male.
A whimsical rumination on friendship and being present in the moment. (beetle facts) (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9676-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Unapologetic goofiness galore, perhaps best consumed in small doses.
More manic monkey and bunny mischief.
In the latest installment in this high-energy, over-the-top-silly graphic novel series, Bunny, Monkey, and their cadre of woodland compatriots share more zany forest adventures. The book is split into four parts, each named for a season and then broken down into smaller vignettes, most comprising only a few pages. As before, Bunny, Monkey, Pig, Skunky, and Le Fox embark upon all types of gonzo escapades, including encounters with myriad robots, lasers, explosions, and, of course, prolific poop and fart jokes. In one tale, “Fishyplops,” Monkey makes a giant metal fish to distract Bunny while he writes the word poo all over Bunny’s humble home. In “So Many Monkeys,” egotistical Monkey faces a seemingly existential crisis when he clones himself, but things take a comical turn. The threat of human developers looking to pave a road through the animals’ beloved woodland home forms a narrative arc that loosely ties the episodes together, but even so, linear reading is not required. The unrelenting sugar-rush, off-the-wall tempo and aggressively colorful and busy illustrations can become tiresome to the point of tedium. (Really, how many versions of the same gag can the audience endure?) Still, thankfully, the episodic nature lends this work well to casual reading, making it a fun choice for readers who are between Dav Pilkey titles.
Unapologetic goofiness galore, perhaps best consumed in small doses. (character drawing instructions) (Graphic animal fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781454950356
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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