LIFE AS A MINI HERO

Donning a costume doesn’t make a small, would-be hero’s life any easier.

Capes and hoods can’t, alas, prevent rainy-day boredom, occasional spells of fear of the dark, unwanted “missions” such as cleaning one’s room, or (as a bat-child discovers, finding a tutu under the holiday tree) being “a little misunderstood.” Tallec pairs his cautionary comments, originally published in French, to small, loosely sketched scenes of tiny children of multiple gender presentations sporting familiar full or partial hero wear and expressing a range of emotions: anxiety (on a diving board, in a dentist’s chair), outrage (at a pregnant mom, at another partygoer in the same costume), or mortification (a windy day, a flappy cape). Though the cast is largely white, one caped mite presents black, and children in a group scene elsewhere show at least some diversity. A final street scene with all in costume—children, grown-ups, even a dog—and the thought that sometimes “Mini Heroes wonder what would happen if everyone in the world were a Mini Hero” end this tongue-in-cheek rumination on a thoughtful note.

Required reading for any prospective dark knights or superheroes.