Not a slick kickoff, but the premise should stick with (if not to) readers well enough to water interest in sequels.
Repeated dunks in contaminated mud confer temporary superpowers on a middle schooler in this spotty series opener.
Curiosity understandably sparked by the discovery that he can disappear entirely into the thinnest mud puddle and also remain invisible until he washes off, Max sneaks away with nerdy inventor buddy Patrick to the local swamp for some experiments. What he discovers rocks his world: The muck there endows him with superstrength farts and other more useful abilities when slathered on and, well, eaten—but it also turns out to be an increasingly clingy goo with a mind of its own. Moreover, Max isn’t the first person to fall into its clutches. The stage is set for a high-pressure double rescue, in which a Ghostbusters-style “demudifier” contrived by Patrick plays a central role. A third schoolmate, Irie, is introduced but, in this episode, not given anything significant to do except spy on the boys, though she does figure on the cover. Lawrence’s clean-lined figures portray character and action in easy-to-read ways, but as his panels don’t vary much in size, the page design has a mechanical look. Also, judging by the sample pages, the colors are muddy (not in a good way) and too pale to give the waves and splotches of creeping goop any real definition.
Not a slick kickoff, but the premise should stick with (if not to) readers well enough to water interest in sequels. (activities) (Graphic fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4494-3561-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
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Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride.
Zipping back and forth in time atop outsized robo–bell bottoms, mad inventor Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) legs his way to center stage in this slightly less-labored continuation of episode 9.
The action commences after a rambling recap and a warning not to laugh or smile on pain of being forced to read Sarah Plain and Tall. Pilkey first sends his peevish protagonist back a short while to save the Earth (destroyed in the previous episode), then on to various prehistoric eras in pursuit of George, Harold and the Captain. It’s all pretty much an excuse for many butt jokes, dashes of off-color humor (“Tippy pressed the button on his Freezy-Beam 4000, causing it to rise from the depths of his Robo-Pants”), a lengthy wordless comic and two tussles in “Flip-o-rama.” Still, the chase kicks off an ice age, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Big Bang (here the Big “Ka-Bloosh!”). It ends with a harrowing glimpse of what George and Harold would become if they decided to go straight. The author also chucks in a poopy-doo-doo song with musical notation (credited to Albert P. Einstein) and plenty of ink-and-wash cartoon illustrations to crank up the ongoing frenzy.
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-17536-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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