School lunch bites—literally—in the third impossibly droll escapade featuring dragonling Danny Dragonbreath and his peace-loving iguana buddy, Wendell. When Wendell and other students at Herpitax-Phibbias School For Reptiles and Amphibians are nipped by a strangely colored hot dog, Danny finds himself in a race against time to find and take out the Alpha-Wurst in a package of feral were-wieners before his friend and schoolmates are transformed into mindless minions. Dishing out most of the many punchlines and wisecracks in thick-lined red-and-green cartoons, Vernon crafts a mixed-format escapade that sends Danny and Wendell on a Journey through dark storm drains (cue a Joseph Campbell joke from Wendell; "Who?" asks Danny) to enlist the aid of an escaped sentient potato salad that likewise came out of the school kitchen—because “everybody knows that potato salad and hot dogs are ancient enemies”—and on to a gory (okay, ketchup-y) climax in the lunchroom fridge. What next? Would you believe….a Bat Monster? Stay tuned. (Graphic hybrid fantasy. 8-11)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3469-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
Doughty young Sardine and her cohorts continue to vanquish hilariously dopey Supermuscleman, mad scientist Doc Krok and other villains in nine more or less independent new adventures that range from helping out a crowd of cartoon characters angrily protesting because they’re so lamely drawn (“Hey! You could at least draw me some pants!”) to rescuing acres of stolen French fries and herds of wild “Burgeegies” in the mouthwatering kingdom of Yummy. Presented in colorful, crowded cartoon panels and well-endowed with both self-referential comments (“Comics are cool but we only get 10 pages per story . . . A movie’s longer, so we’d have more time to kick Supermuscleman’s butt”) and characters with names like Emailia and Fetcher Bone, this expert mix of action, gross humor and clever side remarks will, despite the lack of a cohesive plot line, draw carloads of Captain Underpants graduates. (Graphic fantasy. 8-11)
Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 1-59643-128-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: First Second/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
Taking child spoilage to a whole new level, six-year-old King Ethelbert performs some world-class acting out in these 12 graphic-format misadventures. With no parents around to say him nay, Ethelbert takes great delight in watching all of the grownups scrambling to deliver whatever he demands, from an elephant-sized sundae to having all of the children in the kingdom replaced with robot replicas of him. Not only, though, do his notions rarely turn out quite as planned, but those grownups are smart enough to outmaneuver him at need—and even deliver a few counter-pranks of their own. Though the small pictures and truly tiny typeface will challenge all but the most acute eyes, the retro ’60s-style art perfectly conveys the slapstick action and sly tone of this import. Calvin and Hobbes fans will be particularly delighted. (Graphic fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: May 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-59643-094-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: First Second/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
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