Attack of the Alien Horde (Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape #1) by Robert Venditti, Dusty Higgins (Illustrations)

This superhero book has a strong character arc, layered themes, and hero's journey to create a humorous and entertaining read that mixes comic illustrations with narrative text. The technique strengthens the story and will help readers because every time Miles turns into a superhero the text becomes a comic strip with speech bubbles. It works particularly well with the story and is funnier because of the visual of a small middle school boy turning into a six foot five, muscular caped crusader. Seventh grade was the ultimate in awkward periods for me and I would have loved this book with its alter-ego protagonist who deals with middle school peer pressure and identity that is grounded in strong morals.

Miles Taylor is the new kid in school and he is bullied by the star football player and his flunkeys. If it isn't coke dumped on him, it's food getting stolen, or verbal abuse. He takes it as best he can and even tries to fight it but always ends up on the losing side. Worse, Josie sees it all - the girl he has a crush on at school. Top that off his parents have gotten divorced as his mom ran off with another man. She calls once a week and Miles feels angry and frustrated. The divorce has meant his dad, an electrician, has had to move into a small apartment and they don't have enough money to pay the bills. The reader never learns the mom's career or even if she had one, but I assume so since Miles and his dad are so short on cash.

The strong character arc and definition of what makes a hero is what kept me engrossed in the story. Miles is pretty clueless and downright stupid at times which makes him the antithesis of the conventional superhero. When he goes with his dad on a job and ends up with a magical cape in his hands from the previous superhero, it is obvious that its going to be hard to save the world when you have to be in school all day long. Miles hooks up with genius and superhero aficionado, Henry Matte, who helps him discover and manipulate the powers of the cape (and use his brain power more efficiently).

The two figure out that in order to use the cape, thoughts must be on others and not oneself or the promotion of oneself. The cape will not work if the user has any thoughts on pride, domination, or using it for personal gain. Miles learns to deal with power humbly. He also learns that to be a hero he must be willing to die even though the odds are so against him. He must act because to do nothing is unacceptable. At the climax Miles realizes that he might not be the smartest, or best looking, or athletic, or exceptional, but he is good and he can use that to better the world. When he fights the Gaarls and the odds look bad, it is an outside force that rescues him. This is like the hero's journey in the "Lord of the Rings." It involves a character dealing with the corruption of power and going on quest or journey that will most like fail and being rescued by others.

The play on words and cartoonish villains are a hoot. The Unnd's not only stand for the prefix "un", or not, their name is used in all the words such as unhappy- they are un(nd)happy, un(nd)friendly, un(nd)inviting, un(nd)amusing. It reminds me of "ikke" in Norwegian which means "not" - an influence on Midwesterners use of the phrase, "ick!"when Scandinavian immigrants moved there. And while the villain, Commander Lord Calamity, is a tyrant that kills a servant that displeases him in a cruel way, he bows to his mother who calls him "Oggie" and makes his favorite rancid soup. Calamity is evil incarnate and quite silly. When he sees Earth for the first time he feels moved by its beauty but he has no inkling what the concept means. One of his soldiers has to explain it to him. The Commander might have a thing or two to learn from the earthlings and suggests that he is not beyond redemption and the ending shows that evil exists on Earth too as well as with the aliens. The General (from Earth) sees his rescuers as aliens with too much power (reminds me of the Transformers movie plot). The end definitely implies a sequel. Nothing too serious here, folks, and one that young readers will find fun and funny.

4 Smileys

The Astounding Broccoli Boy by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Don your cape and soar into this smart, well-written book that parodies and deconstructs the superhero trope. While some will think it a blast to read, others will want it Gamma Bombed. It's silly, cartoonish, and a bit like watching the "Laurel and Hardy" TV show - two people acting stupid over and over and over again - only these two are fifth graders, Rory Rooney and his nemesis, Grim (aka Tommy-Lee). But beneath the humor are layers of deeper themes as Rory learns to deal with bullying, friendship, and self-confidence while being surrounded by inept adults. Plenty of archetypes and wackiness. Rocket launch your realistic side to Mars and have fun with this one.

Rory is being bullied by Grim and his minions at school. After he is pushed into a river on a field trip he emerges from it with skin the color of broccoli. He finds himself as a medical subject study along with another "green boy" who happens to be Grim (aka Tommy-Lee). Rory decides he and Grim have superpowers because of the abundance of green superheroes in comics: Hulk, The Swamp Thing, The Green Hornet, Green Goblin -who isn't a hero but villain, but hey, this plot is not only about heroes but villains too. Going from powerless to "super" he thinks that he can slightly teleport and his brain operates at 200% while Grim can break any security code while sleepwalking. Rory feels empowered by his physical change and convinces Grim that they can work for Good. He stops calling him Grim in his first step toward a bully-free life.

While Rory declares the two will use their superpowers for Good, he's not sure Tommy-Lee knows the definition of good. His fears are realized as their powers plunge the city into chaos as they sneak out at night from the hospital where they are imprisoned test subjects and pull pranks. As Rory has a hey-ho time with his escapades, he starts to waffle toward thinking of the duo as villains. Tommy-Lee thinks they are doing good so he wants to rob a bank. Yes, his definition is a bit messed but he's so dumb he thinks a night club is a bank and their robbery is quite creative. The author ka-pows! with plot twists. Next adventure has Tommy-Lee sleepwalking and the two getting into some shenanigans at the London Zoo. Last adventure they meet a green girl who changes the dynamic of their relationship.  One adventure after another leads to green pickled messes that make for a terrific and unpredictable plot.

The author pays tribute to comic book superheroes while poking fun at it too. ""But there's more than one kind of hero. There are heroes with shocking great muscles who can stop a speeding train with their bare hands... But there are also skinny little heroes who destroy big bullies using only their superior intelligence and cunning." This is where Frank Cottrell Boyce deconstructs the superhero trope. Comics have suffered historically as being male-dominated with stereotyped women and men of muscle. Here the hero comes in the form of the puniest kid in the grade, a bully that hides his fears, and a girl that wants to run the world. The shifting between the characters between being good and bad makes them more real and interesting as the story progresses.

The character development focuses mainly on Rory and Tommy-Lee, but the archetypes are funny as well. The nurse watching over them eats different kinds of chocolate every night as she watches them in what Rory calls, "The Fish Tank." They are locked in a glass room with Nurse Rock (as they call her) just outside. "What kind of person can't settle on a favorite type of chocolate? A 100 percent untrustworthy kind of person, that's what." After the two break out at night and explore London, the nurse can smell chocolate on Rory that they'd been eating. Rory calls her a bloodhound.

Tommy-Lee has anger management issues. His parents don't visit him. Nor do Rory's. Or so it seems.  Another pretzel in the plot for you to eat up. The trio use a window washing cage instead of the elevator because "superheroes do not use the lift." Again, the poking fun at superhero tropes makes this fun. The three green children decide that if everyone in the world was green there would be no people fighting over who thinks they are better than others. Yep, I'm for team green.

Rory's character arc shows him learning what a real hero means and that it is the same as being a good friend that knows when to do the right thing. When Tommy-Lee gets in a tight spot, Rory has to decide whether or not he will help him or walk away. All three have weaknesses and strengths that they face throughout the plot and it gives them more depth of character.

Everyone reacts in the wrong way to Rory from students to adults. It is so absurd that I couldn't help laughing. It was constant and reminded me of the book, The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. Although that one is nonstop gags on fairy tales not superheroes. From the nurse checking in Rory at the hospital, to his hypochondriac mother and odd family, to the boys coming up with superhero names, be ready to laugh. This book pokes fun at nurses, doctors, parents, politicians, etc. The nurse grabs Rory's hand and says she needs blood. "This won't hurt," She said, grabbing my thumb and jabbing it with a needle. She squeezed blood out into a test tube. It really, really hurt. "I lie" - she smiled - "a lot. But always for your own good." How often have you heard that at the doctor's office? Everyone is convinced, including Rory's parents that he turned green on purpose. When he is bullied, it is his fault. He's blamed for everything and anything to such an extreme it adds to the absurd comedy.

Humor is not easy to pull off. When it falls flat, it splats. The author mixes comedy and realism with great word choices that kept me flipping the pages. He describes Tommy-Lee's sleepwalking, "Then he gave a snore that sounded like a tiger gargling treacle. Then he rolled over. Plonked his feet on the floor. Stood up and started to do the Spooky Playmobil. I followed him..." Did I mention that the city is under high alert from a Killer Kittens virus plague? Silliness blasts off from the get-go.

When Rory and Tommy-Lee meet Koko Kwok, things get interesting. When I was growing up comics were male-dominated with dippy women in them. Now there is more diversity and women can be their own superheroes. Once Koko enters the plot it shows that she's the brains of the "Laurel & Hardy" show and Tommy-Lee does whatever she asks and never bullies her. She develops a catchphrase for them, "Green is for Go!" The trio even picks-up a couple of penguins on their adventures in a nod to Batman comics. Enjoy this one. Super astounding.

5 Smileys

Hilo Book 1: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick

I grew up in a family of five like the protagonist, D.J.'s, with constant chaos in the kitchen as everyone hovered around the fridge trying to snarf down whatever morsels were available. We ate so much that my mom stored 16 boxes of cereal in the stove one day because they couldn't fit in the cupboard. I preheated the oven for my pan of brownies and lighted a boo-scary bonfire. Smores were more in order than brownies. Judd Winick captures not only big-family life, but the difficulty of trying to find yourself when you have no outstanding qualities in a household of talented siblings. D.J. doesn't know it, but he has plenty of character - good character - and this is oftentimes more important than talents. Not until Gina moves back and the superhero alien, Hilo, crash lands into D.J.'s life does he start to accept who he is inside.

As D.J.'s family is grabbing food in the kitchen, they become suspicious of his new friend, Hilo, especially when Hilo starts eating a napkin. The quick-thinking D.J. distracts everyone by revealing his older brother has a girlfriend. Yes! It is always fun to draw parental attention to the older sibling as they are usually the one getting the more unsophisticated younger sibling in trouble. Can you tell I was low on the totem pole like D.J.? Don't read this book while scooping spoonfuls of cereal into your mouth. Superhero Hilo will have you snort-laughing milk through your nose.

Like I said before, ten-year-old D.J. believes he is not good at anything in his family of five siblings where everyone else is spectacular at something. He was good at being a friend to Gina but she moved away. Hilo (pronounced high-low) missiles from the sky to earth making a crater where he is discovered by D.J. in only a pair of silver underwear. D.J. befriends Hilo whose "memory is like a busted book" and takes him home to give him some clothes. Hilo is pretty clueless about how to dress and greet people, but has a golly-gee attitude that makes him never become negative whether he is facing robot insects destroying Earth or being smashed into the ground like a cartoon character in Looney Tunes.

Running gags and great pacing add to the nonstop humor. While this story is different in plot and characterization, it reminds me a bit of "Timmy Failure" and "Monster on the Hill" although Timmy is a complete dork and Monster on the Hill has a boy trying to help a monster find his scary side so the town will be proud of him. Timmy is a dumb cluck, the monster story is full of irony, and this one brims with a spunky superhero that is endearingly weird. What they all have in common is they will make you laugh, laugh, laugh and the illustrations are terrific. Judd Winick, who is well known for his successful superhero adult comics, says that he read Jeff Smith's Bone series with his son and decided to create a comic for the younger fare. As Hilo would say, "Outstanding!"

When D.J. first meets Hilo he screams, "Aaah!" to which Hilo says, "Is that a greeting? I like it! Aaah!" Everytime he meets anyone Hilo yells, "Aaah!" Hilo keeps scaring D.J. in different situations but thinks his "Aaah's" are hellos making me laugh every time. When he meets Gina who has returned after three years Hilo greets her with a, "Aaah!" When he meets D.J.'s classmates he says "Aaah!" followed by his gee-shucks, "I love that greeting," to the annoyed teacher's face who wonders who this smart-aleck is in front of the class. Meanwhile D.J. is sitting at his desk covering his face in embarrassment. When Hilo burps for the first time he thinks it is the coolest thing. When he burps a second time he and D.J. laugh hysterically like typical kids. D.J. says, "Repeat business," to which they laugh so hard they are holding their stomachs and stomping their feet. The burping continues periodically in the story to which Gina at one point comments, "Why do boys always laugh at burping?"

Hilo thinks everything is "outstanding" and Gina, D.J. and Hilo like the word, "Holy Mackerel!" When Hilo sees a robot monster he says, "Octoped! So wanted to use that word in a sentence today and Boom! Octoped!" Later he is shoving a giant foot in a club house where he cheerfully says, "This is great! And not just because it perfectly fits a giant metal foot and smells like squirrel poop. It's cause it's overrun with a ton of spiders." D.J. knows immediately what Hilo means and turns to Gina, "Octopeds." With a fist pump in the air, Hilo exuberantly shouts:"Octopeds! Hello, my eight-legged brothers!" Repeating words can sometimes get annoying but the author handles the comedic elements with aplomb.

The humor is balanced with D.J. learning that he is not a boring person but a brave and loyal friend. Even when Gina moves back to town he feels inferior to her as she's been in many sports and is good in science. He doesn't see his worth or value until Gina points out how he didn't hesitate tossing a robot off a cliff, jumping into a deep hole after Hilo, and fighting a Robo-bug with a stick. He doesn't seem to get it that having a superhero for a best friend is the exact opposite of boring. Although Gina makes it clear that she didn't think he was boring before Hilo. And D.J. isn't the only one sorting out issues. Hilo ran away from his problems and realizes that he has to face them.

The illustrations remind me of Calvin and Hobbes, particularly the facial expressions. While Winick's characters have more details and color than Calvin and Hobbes, Winick's faces look a lot like Calvin's when things go wrong and the characters' eyes engulf their head and pupils instead of showing up in a normally pupil-less face. D.J.'s stand-up hair looks like a bolt of lightning went through him as he watches Hilo do crazy things such as drop a raccoon in the school office. It adds to his facial expressions and creates energy with the angles. The adults are panicked with bug-eyes and big mouths in their shock of having a furry animal show up out of nowhere. The man with the pail on his head, broom in hand and leg up in the air looks like he's trying to dance out of the way of the raccoon. The staffer crouched behind the counter looks like she's trying to hide behind a paper clutched in her hands and a grimace on her face while a bald man is running in the opposite direction with a screaming mouth. Winick packs a punch in each frame and they are a delight to study. This cliffhanger ending will have you buzzing for book two. Don't miss it.

5 Smileys