Hammed-up horror makes for more giggles than gasps.
A hapless hog hunts creepy creatures.
In this graphic series opener, readers meet Ham Helsing, a lovably bumbling, bubble-gum–pink pig descended from a long line of failed vampire hunters who have each blundered their way into an untimely demise. The citizens of Mud Canyon ask Ham for help dealing with a rogue vampire who has fed upon wealthy Laurence the Land Baron. Soon Ham assembles a motley crew that includes a pair of treasure-obsessed rats, ninja pig Ronin, and a young werewolf. Together, they find that the enemy they sought may not truly be the culprit. Now, with the help of a lederhosen-clad, socially anxious boar and a gassy ursine mercenary named Knuckles, they must face a sinister spider-woman and her shadowy accomplice to save Mud Canyon from total annihilation. Told through full-color panels with a high-energy animated sensibility, Moyer’s silly romp will delight fans with its abundant silliness and visual gags (complete with a pooping squirrel, a barfing fairy, and copious spider-squishing). While humor reigns supreme, fast pacing, clever character development, and a surprise ending (that both ties up one arc and leaves a tantalizing cliffhanger for subsequent adventures) add unexpected depth. Disappointingly, Ronin, the one prominent female character, is dressed in a skimpy costume that sexualizes her, in stark contrast to modestly clad Ham.
Hammed-up horror makes for more giggles than gasps. (bonus short story) (Graphic fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30891-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Lighthearted spook with a heaping side of silliness—and hair.
Fifth graders get into a hairy situation.
After an unnamed narrator’s full-page warning, readers dive right into a Wolver Hollow classroom. Mr. Noffler recounts the town legend about how, every Oct. 19, residents don fake mustaches and lock their doors. As the story goes, the late Bockius Beauregard was vaporized in an “unfortunate black powder incident,” but, somehow, his “magnificent mustache” survived to haunt the town. Once a year, the spectral ’stache searches for an exposed upper lip to rest upon. Is it real or superstition? Students Parker and Lucas—sole members of the Midnight Owl Detective Agency—decide to take the case and solve the mustache mystery. When they find that the book of legends they need for their research has been checked out from the library, they recruit the borrower: goth classmate Samantha von Oppelstein. Will the three of them be enough to take on the mustache and resolve its ghostly, unfinished business? Whether through ridiculous plot points or over-the-top descriptions, the comedy keeps coming in this first title in McGee’s new Night Frights series. A generous font and spacing make this quick-paced, 13-chapter story appealing to newly confident readers. Skaffa’s grayscale cartoon spot (and occasional full-page) illustrations help set the tone and accentuate the action. Though neither race or skin color is described in the text, images show Lucas and Samantha as light-skinned and Parker as dark-skinned.
Lighthearted spook with a heaping side of silliness—and hair. (maps) (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8089-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This kid-friendly satire ably sets claws into a certain real-life franchise.
A trip to the Love Love Angel Kitty World theme park (“The Most Super Incredibly Happy Place on Earth!”) turns out to be an exercise in lowered expectations…to say the least.
When Uncle Murray wins a pair of free passes it seems at first like a dream come true—at least for Kitty, whose collection of Love Love Kitty merch ranges from branded underwear to a pink chainsaw. But the whole trip turns into a series of crises beginning with the (as it turns out) insuperable challenge of getting a cat onto an airplane, followed by the twin discoveries that the hotel room doesn’t come with a litter box and that the park doesn’t allow cats. Even kindhearted Uncle Murray finds his patience, not to say sanity, tested by extreme sticker shock in the park’s gift shop and repeated exposures to Kitty World’s literally nauseating theme song (notation included). He is not happy. Fortunately, the whole cloying enterprise being a fiendish plot to make people so sick of cats that they’ll pick poultry as favorite pets instead, the revelation of Kitty’s feline identity puts the all-chicken staff to flight and leaves the financial coffers plucked. Uncle Murray’s White, dumpy, middle-aged figure is virtually the only human one among an otherwise all-animal cast in Bruel’s big, rapidly sequenced, and properly comical cartoon panels.
This kid-friendly satire ably sets claws into a certain real-life franchise. (Graphic satire. 8-11)Pub Date: Dec. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-20808-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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