Low-budget thrills for the Goosebumps set.
Creepy animatronic critters and troubled families link three graphic tales adapted from print tie-ins to a series of video games in this third series entry.
Furnished with slender storylines, the trio of stories—two featuring evil bunnies and the third, a maimed animatronic pirate fox who accurately predicts gruesome injuries for a hapless teen gamer—follow the contents of earlier volumes in reducing prose tales to sparely narrated graphic remakes that alternate bland scenarios with lurid dream sequences and climaxes. For all the supposed bloodshed, the gory bits, rendered as minor dribbles and smears, barely register visually even though one character is dismembered at the end by doctors who are harvesting his organs and another winds up impaled on some jagged stage scenery. Those two entries bookend a more benign story, “Bunny Call,” in which a restive dad rediscovers family values after spending a night protecting his kids from a summer camp prank that starts out merely tasteless—and then goes really wrong. The cast reads white with minor exceptions. Some cast members—human or otherwise—will be familiar to players of the titular game series. The straightforward art panels feature clean backgrounds and are rendered in muted, atmospheric shades.
Low-budget thrills for the Goosebumps set. (Graphic horror. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781338860467
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Action-packed but fecklessly flat.
A young boy is flung into a steam-powered world as he searches for a way to save his lost father and an entire planet in Ford, Leslie, and de la Cruz’s debut collaboration.
Neglected and abused since his father Henry’s disappearance, young Arlo finds a strange machine and is thrown into an alternate world called Pother. New friends explain that Henry has been kidnapped and Arlo is also in serious danger. Two feuding factions—one worships a machine, the other an unseen deity—and spectral planet natives that inhabit the dead would be enough, but there’s also the malevolent corporate force from Earth called the Prerogative that is draining Pother’s natural resources and killing the planet. Worst of all? Arlo’s father is responsible for bringing it to Pother in the first place. Now Arlo must seek out the planet’s natives to save both his father and Pother. Despite lively art and a decent stab at steampunk worldbuilding, this graphic novel falls short thanks to an already overdone premise. Plot serves action rather than vice versa and sprints toward a sequel-desperate conclusion, leaving readers with underdeveloped characterization and a confused tangle of plot detail fragments. And even with the benefit of two planets to populate, the novel features a single, extremely peripheral, character of color.
Action-packed but fecklessly flat. (Graphic novel. 12-14)Pub Date: June 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-50671-726-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Dark House
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
An interesting premise brought to life with engaging art.
Two sisters battle for their homeland, which was founded by people who rejected the rule of a dishonest monarch.
Elena, the 18-year-old general of Esterpike, is renowned for her military achievements. Elena’s sister, Per, on the other hand, is mischievous; she forges Elena’s signature to request some of the best fireworks from one of the neighboring lands. When the fireworks arrive, Per ensures that Elena is indisposed for the evening so that she might enjoy the festivities disguised as her sister, whom she strongly resembles. Unfortunately for Per, Esterpike is attacked during the fireworks display. After the real Elena is killed in battle, Per, aided by Elena’s second-in-command, Amelia, pretends to be her sister and approaches the leaders of the neighboring lands in hopes that they might provide some aid for Esterpike. Instead, she uncovers a larger plot aimed at overthrowing Unity. Chua and Chikiamco’s stand-alone graphic fantasy, set in a quasi-medieval world, has strong female characters, the intrigue of subterfuge, and vibrant illustrations. The full-color art in bright jewel tones has a manga feel. However, the presence of doubles and sudden flashbacks can make the plot confusing; readers will undoubtedly benefit from reviewing certain sections. Most primary characters read white; there is diversity in skin tone in the supporting cast.
An interesting premise brought to life with engaging art. (Graphic fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68415-476-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2020
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