More legendarious feats and fun.
Learning to be a Sneaker (not that kind but “one who sneaks”) helps a young archer save her town from a dazzling trickster and to let a broken friendship go in this video game–based spinoff following the 2023 series opener.
Red-haired, green-eyed archer Jane is crushed when her once-tight friend, Angie, takes up with new BFF Janice. But she’s even more upset when the two girls join new arrivals Kellen the Magically Handsome Archer and his flashy Ultra-Cucumbers to push her and her loyal Cucumbers teammates right out of Jazzypickleton. As it turns out, Kellen is actually in the pay of a rival kingdom, and it’s all part of an evil scheme to steal all of Jazzypickleton’s elixir and Royale trophies. Fortunately, Jane enters a secret cave, where she meets the mystic Order of Sneakers—and though she can’t get them to change their name to something less dorky (like Sneakists or even Sneaketeers), they do teach her the art of becoming invisible by mystically letting unnecessary attachments go. Jane returns just in time to save the town and send Kellen the Magically et cetera packing. Even non-gamers will find the typecast characters—ranging from green goblins and brown-skinned Hog Riders to blond armored warriors with “big metal balls”—amusing and easily identifiable, and if the melees tend to be massively violent, no one is ever actually hurt.
More legendarious feats and fun. (Graphic fantasy. 10-15)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781250816283
Page Count: 144
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Briskly paced, expertly crafted, and stocked with surprising twists and nuanced characters.
A young warrior battles inner ghosts and a rival to the throne in this series kickoff.
Switching to a graphic format, Myklusch returns to the elusive island of Imagine Nation, the setting of his Jack Blank novel series, where belief is the ruling principle. Dreaming of measuring up to his dead parents, Skerren takes center stage in a battle for the crown of Varagog, where it’s always 1404. He faces Zorn, the son of a displaced ruler who fled years ago following the cybernetic Rüstov’s invasion attempt. Orlando’s art effectively showcases Imagine Nation’s racially and culturally distinctive residents and settings as the high-action plot shifts scenes beyond Varagog to Faerie and futuristic Hightown—until an evil alliance in the Night Lands that threatens everyone on the island is revealed. In combat scenes, the artist also substitutes sprays of black Night Lander goop for red blood, rendering swordfights somewhat less gory. To the pleasure of returning fans (and comics readers in general), Jack and his fantastically rubbery-blue friend Allegra step in to help, and in a Marvel Universe–style twist, a conflicted older retainer nursing a devastating secret later plays a crucial role. Happily, for those readers who aren’t fans of never-ending plotlines, this volume offers enough of a resolution to work as a stand-alone.
Briskly paced, expertly crafted, and stocked with surprising twists and nuanced characters. (Graphic fantasy. 10-13)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781665928182
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
A pride-filled treatise and a charming riff on fairy tales.
After her parents’ sudden death, brown-haired, pale-skinned Jane is threatened with eviction from her family home.
Despite her low self-image, based on years of shallow, fatphobic taunts from her parents, Jane suggests a deal to discontented fisherman Peter, who’s thin and has blond hair and blue eyes (as well as being vapid and arrogant). They’ll marry, and then she can inherit her fortune, and he can enjoy the luxurious lifestyle he craves. It seems like a great plan, until Peter is taken captive and imprisoned underwater by a mermaid. The determined Jane seeks magical assistance and heads to the mermaid village at the bottom of the sea to retrieve Peter. Brosgol’s illustrations provide much of Jane’s characterization through her delightfully expressive face, which shines with pleasure and grimaces in disgust; her round eyes are alert to all the charms of the sea. Fortunately, she’s rescued by an acerbic, grumpily appealing seal, who educates her about the sea’s perils. This story is an explicit response to society’s valuing of beauty and contempt for its absence, especially when it comes to girls and women. Pitted against a slender, cruelly vain mermaid who weaponizes her looks, Jane emerges as a thoughtful, tenacious hero who’s learning to appreciate her own value. Brosgol redeems the occasional preachiness with her portrayal of Jane as an individual—funny, flawed, and triumphant.
A pride-filled treatise and a charming riff on fairy tales. (author’s note, beat boards, coloring process) (Graphic fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781250314864
Page Count: 368
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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