RETURN TO PLANET TAD

More tidbits from Planet Tad, compiled from a fictional blog originally published in Mad Magazine (Planet Tad, 2012).

Tad’s faux blog comes complete with emoticons and line drawings and records the events of January through December as he finishes eighth grade and begins ninth. The nearly daily entries are sometimes silly and sometimes sarcastic. He tries to learn ice skating in January, gets a cellphone (a lame one) for his birthday in March and is blackmailed into starring in the school’s production of Our Town by his teacher in April. Many entries are just vaguely humorous observations: Toothpaste should be called “mouthscrub” so it doesn’t sound like glue for teeth. No event or topic lasts for more than a few entries. His mean grandmother visits in June, the family attends her wedding in August, and Tad starts high school in September. Part of the team that won six Emmys for The Daily Show, Carvell turns out a second Tad title that, like its predecessor, lacks a central story. It reads, not surprisingly, like something written by a sketch-comedy writer trying for the Wimpy Kid audience. Final art not seen, but Holgate’s preliminary illustrations are a highlight.

A smile or two for those with severely short attention spans, not much more.