Cheap Trick and The Flash have many things in common. If you ask 10 people to name a great rock band then Cheap Trick would be in many of their lists. They might not be their favorite, but their list will have some Cheap Trick in there. For our money, check out Cheap Trick Steve Albini rerecording. Albini had the band do their sophomore LP, In Color but amped up the power pop. It’s brilliant. The point is that most people like Cheap Trick and most comic book fans like The Flash in much the same way. The Flash 100 Greatest Moments Highlights From the History of the Scarlet Speedster is out and will reinforce your admiration of the yellow lightning cap hero or introduce you to the hero whose action you might have only seen on television.
This is not a pejorative to other graphic novels, but Nico Bravo and the Cellar Dwellers is a very smart graphic novel. It’s not that the book is trying to flout its intelligence. Cellar Dwellers is the second book in the Nico Bravo series and I just didn’t get the first one. Granted, part of my opinion could’ve been shaped by the fact that our then ten-year-old said he “didn’t get the book” when he read it. Note to self: be sure to double-check the book recommendations from your son before you bake them into your opinion.
Maybe it’s because I’m a year older or possibly because I read the book before our son, that I realized that this series is awesome. Nico Bravo and the Cellar Dwellers does have a lot of characters. There are three main protagonists and a couple of dozen second-tier or other minor characters. The drawing style is very clean and sharp by Mike Cavallaro. It’s the fact that the illustrations are all so individualistic and detailed that help readers define the mythical world that’s been created.
Ghoulia is back in her third entry from Barbara Cantini. You Tim Burton-inspired, middle-school, well-crafted, graphic novel loving people know what I’m talking about. Ghoulia and the Ghost With No Name may sound like a person who’s got the lyrics to that song by America wrong. We do things like that all the time when we’re in the car by ourselves. This series is the incredibly detailed world of Ghoulia, a spooky little girls whose family is even spookier. Think a more gothic Addams Family, but with much more charm and drawn to minute observations put into every page.
Our 9-year-old son is an emerging reader. Sometimes he’s a reluctant reader, but that all depends on his mood. Recently we wrote about the Big Foot and Little Foot book series that is great for those emerging, reluctant readers. That series is great for those first through fourth graders that are comfortable reading chapter books with lots more words than pictures. If your reader is on the younger end of that scale we discovered a new series that’s more graphic novel oriented, but still has chapter elements for those pre-k through second graders. It’s Kitty and Dragon and is great for those readers who want lots of pictures, but need to learn the skill of following the story by reading it too.
Our 11-year-old read came into the bedroom with The Mutant Mushroom Takeover under his arm. He tossed the book on the bed. “How was it?”, I asked. “It was too scary, so I couldn’t finish it”, he said as he got another book from our nightstand. If books were meat he’d be a Tyrannosaurus Rex, so I was curious about this one. About half of the way through the book I understood what he meant, but wanted to add a caveat. It’s not that scary. It’s more of a slow-building, realistic fiction book that’s perfect for middle school students.
My Pencil and Me by Sara Varon joins an elite club of books that is currently held by How This Book Was Made and Attack of the Stuff. All three of those releases are absurdly happy books that kids will enjoy, perhaps scratch their heads at, but certainly come back for more. Sara Varon’s My Pencil and Me is the softest and youngest skewing book on that list. If you have a child four-years-old and up who likes dogs, doodling, playful monsters, and having fun, then My Pencil and Me is one that you need to dig into ASAP.
This week in all age comic books the keywords are Catwad, Lumberjanes, Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales Donner Dinner Party, and Mr. Wolf’s Class Field Trip. Those four titles will entertain readers in elementary school all the way through high school. The youngest readers say in elementary school who are between six and nine will enjoy Mr. Wolf’s Class: Field Trip. This series of graphic novels is just perfect for that age. It has situations they’ll understand, sight words they’ll know, and be the kind of book they can read themselves, or with a little help.
Those elementary through middle school readers will love, and probably already to love Catwad. This is a surly cat whose antics are funny and presented in nuggets that those ages who haven’t discovered comic strips yet, will enjoy. Catwad Four Me? is the fourth book by Jim Benton and will delight ages seven and up. Middle school readers who want some comic book science-fiction/friendship based fun check out Lumberjanes. This monthly comic book is coming to an end soon and is one of the best out there. The characters will still adventures coming out on television, specifically to HBO Max and a movie that’ll be out sometime. This comic book is awesome, check it out if you’re looking for something great.
Those upper elementary school readers and older will love Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Donner Dinner Party. This series of graphic novels from Abrams Books presents non-fiction with a cheeky sense of humor. The jokes aren’t in your face and present history in a way that’s eye-opening, fun to read, and makes those who want to learn more about said character or event go further down the rabbit hole. Donner Dinner Party is about the explorers who left Illinois in 1846 for California. Someone decided to take an off-road short cut which led to disaster. Expect lots of puns, a little black humor and more education and fun than you thought was possible from a graphic novel.
To check out the entire list of the new all-age comic books this week just click on through to the other side.
Our now 11-year-old son loved the Trapped in a Video Game book series by Dustin Brady. He read all of them and was quite bummed out when that series ended. Thus, when Escape from a Video Game: The Secret of Phantom Island arrived he was very excited. That excitement didn’t last long and I was curious as to why he gave up on the book less than 10 minutes after starting it. The answer will make some readers agree with him, might re-categorize the book for others, or have those puzzle kids jumping through book hoops to do the book.
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