Separate pursuits of family and a science-fiction MacGuffin both lead to hilarity.
The continuing adventures of a would-be space conqueror and his down-to-earth prehistoric friends.
Extraterrestrial invader-turned-friend Jeff searches for the missing warp drive to his spacecraft. Helping him in this endeavor are the returning party, consisting of Carl, Trevor, Hungry, Spike, and Dragon. While sharing family stories, the group learns that dinosaur Hungry has never met their parents: “I hatched out of an egg, and I was…alone.” A side plot about Jeff’s abandoned pet, Charles, sees the crustacean growing into a rampaging beast—and eventually colliding with the main storyline. The group also contends with King Quazzy, who wants the warp drive for his own villainous reasons. Communication is frequently the key to progress, such as when a falling coconut breaks Jeff’s translator device, and he then speaks in (subtitled) German for roughly a third of the book. A priceless running punchline about profound parental advice is simultaneously elegant and absurd. Elsewhere, the cast members find solutions by asking for help and turning weaknesses into strengths. Visual humor is ever present and just as delightfully anachronistic as the verbal gags. Lepp uses King Quazzy’s enormity in interesting ways to show differences in scale, as in a panel in which Jeff is held up to Quazzy’s eyeball. New fans and returning series readers alike will enjoy this clever and humorous outing.
Separate pursuits of family and a science-fiction MacGuffin both lead to hilarity. (recipe, drawing instructions, Jeff’s alien alphabet) (Graphic fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: May 28, 2024
ISBN: 9780593565421
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Random House Graphic
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A sweetly encouraging look at the way friendship can mend heart and soul.
Reggie’s summer job as housesitter for a family away on travels turns out to be unexpectedly happy.
At a time that would normally be filled with exciting pursuits, Reggie is instead spending a quiet, solitary summer near the ocean. Reggie’s slightly unhappy and fearful vibe hints that all has not been going well in the monster’s life. There’s a pile of unanswered correspondence to deal with and an unsettling dream on the first night in the big house. Reggie is befriended by purple-spotted Emily, one of five sisters in a family of multihued, rabbitlike creatures. Emily is affable and talkative, ready to help Reggie overcome loneliness. Emily has her own misery at being dismissed by one sister who is scornful of her more whimsical sensibilities. Reggie and Emily find support in each other during a slightly scary adventure in a sea serpent’s lair. Reggie, who looks like an unprepossessing one-eyed, small blob with pointed ears, can, as demonstrated in the opening pages, stretch like rubber to reach a high shelf—and has other, even more impressive, abilities that make appearances later. Vandorn’s sunny, not-quite-pastel palette transforms the shadows that accompany Reggie’s arrival into a landscape of green fields, colorful gardens, and warm blue sea. Her rounded monster/animal characters are creatively varied and intriguing, and her storytelling simple but nuanced.
A sweetly encouraging look at the way friendship can mend heart and soul. (Graphic fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 22, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984896-82-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Random House Graphic
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Funny but ultimately ineffective as either a joke book or a story.
In this romp through the multiverse, Angleberger asks readers to imagine a universe where they are a two-headed chicken.
It sounds like the start of a silly joke. One head—the reader’s—is generally very stupid; the other—belonging to the reader’s sister—is generally very smart. The alleged plot hops universes with every chapter as the eponymous plucky cluck attempts to escape an “enraged moose named KERNEL ANTLERS” whose mission in life is to fry and eat the chicken. Various bizarre creatures and historical figures offer obfuscating commentary on the chicken’s shenanigans or guidance, and finally, a hypothetical reader, fed up with their aimless escapades and thwarted jokes, threatens to abandon the book and erase the chicken from existence in every multiverse if they don’t buck up and face the moose. Will our intrepid hero prevail? Readers may never know—at least, not in their universe. Scattered self-deprecation may not have been unwarranted, as there’s very little within the book to capture readers’ attention (aside from reading on to learn whether a plot will ever coalesce). Myriad potentially exciting worlds and plotlines are touched on but never explored, and the characters are too flat to allow readers to become invested in their plights. The bold, expressive art, almost reminiscent of margin doodles, does the lion’s share of the storytelling. A few interactive pages offer amusing diversions but feel rather out of place.
Funny but ultimately ineffective as either a joke book or a story. (author’s note) (Graphic novel. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2321-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Walker US/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
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