TROUBLE IN PIZZA PARADISE

This graphic novel tries very hard not to be a superhero story.

There are at least nine flavors of Sea Cow–brand diet shakes, including B.L.T. and Cottage Cheese. They are terrible, and they may cause “sweating, nightmares, or restless leg syndrome.” But Sea Cow, a supervillain who dresses in an animal costume, has a zombification weapon and plans to force people to buy her drinks. This makes her more ambitious than her opponent, Captain Dugong, who would rather watch cable golf than fight crime. Even the most heroic character, his daughter, Dolphin Girl, never bothers to change out of her superhero outfit. Every element of the story is hilariously mundane. The town motto of Deerburbia, USA, is “a place to live,” and the cartoon sound effects are often absurdly on the nose: “scary music” and “dolphin call.” The drawing style is so simple and stylized that, from a distance, some of the pictures might be confused for diagrams of single-celled organisms. Many of the main characters are white, but Deerburbia as a whole is more diverse, and Dolphin Girl’s sidekick and co-worker, Otter Boy/Keith, is black. The stakes are rarely higher than the fate of the titular pizza place. These superheroes are never epic. If the plot sometimes feels unfocused, that’s kind of the point.

Both underachievers and overachievers will be pleasantly bemused and amused in equal measure by this low-key adventure.