“Typical” (as she is wont to mutter). Typically great, that is.
Babymouse is back, still in graphic format but with an expanded page count that allows her galloping imagination even freer rein.
The storyline is a familiar one, but in the Holms’ inimitable hands it takes loops and swirls that will keep readers riveted from first page to last. Led by longtime bestie Wilson (“…we just go together!” “Like comics and cupcakes!”), Babymouse’s circle of close middle school friends are always good for a spare gym shirt in place of a forgotten one or a pep talk before a pop quiz. But then, new student Kara arrives and, being ridiculously cute and friendly, quickly becomes the center of attention. Even Wilson seems besotted with her, and soon Babymouse is feeling like such an outsider that she’s hanging out with her tentacled locker and trying to edge her way into the sycophantic clique surrounding classmate Felicia to make Wilson jealous. Eventually, following various flights of fancy—ranging from a trip to Candyville, where the clouds are marshmallows but the gummi bears turn out to be surprisingly hostile, to a depressive stretch where the world drains of color and everyone disappears—plus some nudges from an omniscient narrator, Babymouse realizes that real friendship can be neither bought nor lost. And so, one air-clearing conversation with her wise, gentle bestie later, Babymouse and all her buds are marching into a comics convention proudly duded up as alien bunnies.
“Typical” (as she is wont to mutter). Typically great, that is. (Graphic fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780593430941
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Random House Graphic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low.
Recasting Dog Man and his feline ward, Li’l Petey, as costumed superheroes, Pilkey looks East of Eden in this follow-up to Tale of Two Kitties (2017).
The Steinbeck novel’s Cain/Abel motif gets some play here, as Petey, “world’s evilest cat” and cloned Li’l Petey’s original, tries assiduously to tempt his angelic counterpart over to the dark side only to be met, ultimately at least, by Li’l Petey’s “Thou mayest.” (There are also occasional direct quotes from the novel.) But inner struggles between good and evil assume distinctly subordinate roles to riotous outer ones, as Petey repurposes robots built for a movie about the exploits of Dog Man—“the thinking man’s Rin Tin Tin”—while leading a general rush to the studio’s costume department for appropriate good guy/bad guy outfits in preparation for the climactic battle. During said battle and along the way Pilkey tucks in multiple Flip-O-Rama inserts as well as general gags. He lists no fewer than nine ways to ask “who cut the cheese?” and includes both punny chapter titles (“The Bark Knight Rises”) and nods to Hamiltonand Mary Poppins. The cartoon art, neatly and brightly colored by Garibaldi, is both as easy to read as the snappy dialogue and properly endowed with outsized sound effects, figures displaying a range of skin colors, and glimpses of underwear (even on robots).
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low. (drawing instructions) (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-93518-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What a wag.
What do you get from sewing the head of a smart dog onto the body of a tough police officer? A new superhero from the incorrigible creator of Captain Underpants.
Finding a stack of old Dog Mancomics that got them in trouble back in first grade, George and Harold decide to craft a set of new(ish) adventures with (more or less) improved art and spelling. These begin with an origin tale (“A Hero Is Unleashed”), go on to a fiendish attempt to replace the chief of police with a “Robo Chief” and then a temporarily successful scheme to make everyone stupid by erasing all the words from every book (“Book ’Em, Dog Man”), and finish off with a sort of attempted alien invasion evocatively titled “Weenie Wars: The Franks Awaken.” In each, Dog Man squares off against baddies (including superinventor/archnemesis Petey the cat) and saves the day with a clever notion. With occasional pauses for Flip-O-Rama featurettes, the tales are all framed in brightly colored sequential panels with hand-lettered dialogue (“How do you feel, old friend?” “Ruff!”) and narrative. The figures are studiously diverse, with police officers of both genders on view and George, the chief, and several other members of the supporting cast colored in various shades of brown. Pilkey closes as customary with drawing exercises, plus a promise that the canine crusader will be further unleashed in a sequel.
What a wag. (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-58160-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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