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 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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Funny but ultimately ineffective as either a joke book or a story.
In this romp through the multiverse, Angleberger asks readers to imagine a universe where they are a two-headed chicken.
It sounds like the start of a silly joke. One head—the reader’s—is generally very stupid; the other—belonging to the reader’s sister—is generally very smart. The alleged plot hops universes with every chapter as the eponymous plucky cluck attempts to escape an “enraged moose named KERNEL ANTLERS” whose mission in life is to fry and eat the chicken. Various bizarre creatures and historical figures offer obfuscating commentary on the chicken’s shenanigans or guidance, and finally, a hypothetical reader, fed up with their aimless escapades and thwarted jokes, threatens to abandon the book and erase the chicken from existence in every multiverse if they don’t buck up and face the moose. Will our intrepid hero prevail? Readers may never know—at least, not in their universe. Scattered self-deprecation may not have been unwarranted, as there’s very little within the book to capture readers’ attention (aside from reading on to learn whether a plot will ever coalesce). Myriad potentially exciting worlds and plotlines are touched on but never explored, and the characters are too flat to allow readers to become invested in their plights. The bold, expressive art, almost reminiscent of margin doodles, does the lion’s share of the storytelling. A few interactive pages offer amusing diversions but feel rather out of place.
Funny but ultimately ineffective as either a joke book or a story. (author’s note) (Graphic novel. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2321-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Walker US/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
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