This ham is sweet enough for readers to want seconds.
Peter Porker is hamming it up in Hollywood.
Spider-Ham, an alternate version of Spider-Man from a universe where anthropomorphic animals are the norm, sets his sights on Hollywood when he learns that the lovely Mary Jane Waterbuffalo is starring in a movie by proclaimed director Alfred Peacock. Oddly though, Spider-Ham seems be the antagonist in this cinematic outing. Traveling to Los Angelfish and finding a way into the studio, Spider-Ham uncovers treachery in the form of the Swinester Six: Mysteriape, Raven the Hunter, Buzzard (who’s actually an Opossum), Sandmanatee, Eelectro, and Doctor Octopussy Cat. With help from Mary Jane, Porker is able to save the day and stop the Swinester Six. Along the way, readers who love the Marvel characters will giggle at the various animal-themed cameos of popular characters and Peter Porker’s general bumbling. It’s an amusing graphic novel for younger or reluctant readers and one that should have a lot of popular appeal on school or library shelves. The artwork is bright and inviting, and even readers who aren’t that familiar with all the Marvel references will still be able to enjoy the story. Adults will appreciate that Mary Jane plays a more proactive role than just “damsel in distress” and has a big role in ultimately saving Spider-Ham from the baddies.
This ham is sweet enough for readers to want seconds. (Graphic novel. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-80669-4
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
A winner.
When a young girl’s imagination and creativity are co-opted by a mysterious new friend, she must find a way to regain what is rightfully hers.
Sandy is a brown-skinned, dark-haired girl with big black eyes and a vivid imagination. At night, as she goes to sleep, she catches the lights bobbing about in her room and turns them into anything she imagines. The next day is spent drawing the fantastical creatures from her dreams, much to the detriment of her schoolwork. When a tall, pale-skinned girl with purple hair befriends her, Sandy is excited, though there is something eerie and unsettling about her new companion. Her excitement soon turns to anger as Morfie enters her imaginative nighttime world and tries to take it over. Readers will cheer at the clever way in which Sandy regains control. Using a lovely palette that includes a liberal amount of rich, dark purple, Colombian-born Alvarez has drawn a world that harks back to her native Bogotá and days in Catholic school, evoking it in wonderful detail and atmosphere. Her pages are not crowded yet are filled with details that will engage readers. The beings that inhabit Sandy’s nighttime world are simply delightful. The album size, cloth spine binding, and spot gloss on the cover are the icing on the cake of this beautiful graphic novel.
A winner. (Graphic fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910620-13-7
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Nobrow Ltd.
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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
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