This ham is sweet enough for readers to want seconds.
Peter Porker is hamming it up in Hollywood.
Spider-Ham, an alternate version of Spider-Man from a universe where anthropomorphic animals are the norm, sets his sights on Hollywood when he learns that the lovely Mary Jane Waterbuffalo is starring in a movie by proclaimed director Alfred Peacock. Oddly though, Spider-Ham seems be the antagonist in this cinematic outing. Traveling to Los Angelfish and finding a way into the studio, Spider-Ham uncovers treachery in the form of the Swinester Six: Mysteriape, Raven the Hunter, Buzzard (who’s actually an Opossum), Sandmanatee, Eelectro, and Doctor Octopussy Cat. With help from Mary Jane, Porker is able to save the day and stop the Swinester Six. Along the way, readers who love the Marvel characters will giggle at the various animal-themed cameos of popular characters and Peter Porker’s general bumbling. It’s an amusing graphic novel for younger or reluctant readers and one that should have a lot of popular appeal on school or library shelves. The artwork is bright and inviting, and even readers who aren’t that familiar with all the Marvel references will still be able to enjoy the story. Adults will appreciate that Mary Jane plays a more proactive role than just “damsel in distress” and has a big role in ultimately saving Spider-Ham from the baddies.
This ham is sweet enough for readers to want seconds. (Graphic novel. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-80669-4
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
This tater is half-baked.
A young monster fighter faces off against a villainous vegetable.
In this graphic-novel sequel to series opener Catch the Munchies (2020), creature-catcher Carlton Crumple and best friend Lulu are after one hot potato determined to overtake the world with his diabolical Tot Bots. While noshing at the Spuds on Wheels food truck at the local Cactus Fest, Carlton is shocked when one of his king-size Lots o’ Tots sprouts arms and legs and bounds away. Intrepid Lulu catches the rogue tater, bringing him back to the Creature Cave for questioning. The pair teams up with the food truck’s driver, French Fry Thunderknuckle, and they learn about a spiteful spud who not only wants long-simmered vengeance on Thunderknuckle, but also the entire planet. Fremont’s sophomore effort is busy and bright and filled with more puns than fries in a supersized meal. His panels are outlined with heavy black borders that can barely contain their crowded contents and zippy, display-type onomatopoeia. While certainly high on pep, this overstuffed plot feels about as substantial as cotton candy, relying on harebrained gimmicks to move it along. Among a sea of similar titles, this offers little to help it rise above the glut, with yet another tale of a male main character supported by a female who seems more than capable without him. Carlton and Lulu are White; supporting human characters also present mostly White.
This tater is half-baked. (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64595-006-6
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Pixel+Ink
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Class-pet capers with a sassy new style.
A lovable hamster moonlights as a superhero.
Once the students depart Sunnyview Elementary, Turbo, the official pet hamster of Classroom C, leaves his palace (don’t call it a cage!) to become his evil-thwarting, sunshine-yellow-cape–clad alter ego, Super Turbo. Wandering the corridors on a snow day, Super Turbo discovers that he’s not the only powerful pet at Sunnyview; he soon befriends Great Gecko, Wonder Pig (a guinea pig), the Green Winger (a parakeet), Professor Turtle, Boss Bunny, and Fantastic Fish. The menagerie forms the Superpet Superhero League just in time to face off against Whiskerface, a megalomaniacal mouse (with delusions of rat grandeur) planning to take over the school with his rodent army, the Rat Pack. Can Super Turbo and his friends save their beloved school? Originally published in 2016 as a black-and-white graphic-novel hybrid, this new edition features an entire revamp from cover to cover, transitioning its prose sequences to comic panels, changing its illustrator, and adding a zippy full-color palette to its art. Powers (previously writing under the pseudonym Lee Kirby) has reworked his storytelling, condensing it to fit Costanza’s tidy, simply rendered panels but otherwise leaving the general plot points intact. Bank on this wisely wrought update to have a wide appeal to fans of Ben Clanton’s Narwhal and Jelly or Andy Runton’s Owly series. Sequel Super Turbo vs. the Flying Ninja Squirrels publishes simultaneously.
Class-pet capers with a sassy new style. (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-7447-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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