Friendship and innovative thinking win the day in this dynamic tale.
A young werewolf and her pals find themselves on yet another adventure—heading back in time to ancient Egypt.
Olivia and her friends, who reside in Monstrocity, a city populated by both humans and paranormal creatures, are excited for their school’s science fair. Mario the mummy shows up late and looking ill. After he faints, he’s brought to Dr. Jekyll, the school physician, who diagnoses him with Nile fever. No cure exists in modern times; he’ll have to travel back to the days of the pharaohs and gaze into the magical eye of a statue of the sun god Ra. Luckily, Vane, a brown-skinned “mad scientist,” has fashioned a time machine out of a tube slide for her science fair entry. So the friends journey back to ancient Egypt. The companions’ other science projects come in handy—literally. In one scene, Greta (a green-skinned Bride of Frankenstein–esque creature) uses a contraption comprised of several hands, designed to help with speed-reading, to plug the Sphinx’s ears. Translated from Spanish, this latest installment in the graphic novel series features illustrations with saturated colors and lots of action that keep the energy level high. Readers interested in ancient Egypt will appreciate a brief glimpse of Mario’s pyramid home back in Monstrocity as well as the dramatic antics of the ancient gods the kids meet on their trip back in time.
Friendship and innovative thinking win the day in this dynamic tale. (Graphic fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9788410406131
Page Count: 80
Publisher: NubeOcho
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Taking a seat in first class aboard the graphic-novels-for-preteens train, this import features a carrot-topped lass who travels the starways with her piratical uncle Yellow Shoulders, foiling the plots of Supermuscleman, nefarious Chief Executive Dictator of the Universe. Presented in small sequential panels of brightly hued cartoon art and spacious dialogue balloons, Sardine’s adventures take her from the space prison Azkatraz to Planet Discoball (for a dance contest presided over by Empress Laser Diskette and her offspring, Prince Beejeez), from encounters with deadly, as well as thoroughly nerve-wracking, Honkfish to a deliciously violent round of “No-Child-Left-Behind-School II,” a virtual game. With nonstop action, humor geared to multiple levels of cultural awareness and the promise of more episodes to come, even readers stubbornly resisting the trendy format’s lure will find that, as Supermuscleman sneers shortly before gorily blasting his own foot, “Resistance is futile.” (Graphic novel. 7-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-59643-126-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: First Second/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2006
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