FART BOY AND REEKY DOG

A superhero by any other name would still be as pungent.

The Great Overlords of Planet U-Reeka have entrusted Professor Groovypants and his assistant Egor with an important mission: to plunder Earth by creating a source of renewable energy. Within a month, Groovypants’ Phartmaker 5000 is churning out massive farts, fueled by sacks of beans, culminating in the creation of an unusual infant named Phartolomew. But Phartolomew’s flatulence proves too potent, and with a giant, propulsive fart, he’s flung into the air and separated from his creators. Eventually, he’s adopted by bean farmers Nancy and Newt Normal and enjoys an average—if much gassier than usual—childhood. But one fateful day at school, Phartolomew, now a fourth grader, eats a bean taco, releases an explosive fart that sends him flying once more, and realizes that he has flatulence-based superpowers. Dubbing himself Fart Boy, he must take on the villainous Groovypants, who heard the explosion and, believing that the students are responsible for the farts, plans to infiltrate the school and harness the “bean-powered renewable energy.” Playing ably with superhero tropes, Holub tells an utterly goofy tale. The cartooning is solid, from Phartolomew’s smelly upbringing to the dramatic buildup before his first bean taco. While readers with a low threshold for gross-out humor may wish to clear the air before the finale, kids who find breaking wind to be the epitome of humor will laugh themselves silly. Most characters present white.

A real gas.