SERIES THURSDAY: Detention of Doom/Hilo #3: Waking the Monsters/ Wedgie & Gizmo/Superfail
ABOUT THE BOOK
When Lex Luthor's family company, Lexcorp(TM), invites kids from all over the country to attend an honors ceremony, Clark Kent is happy to participate. That is, until his award trophy creates a portal to another dimension and sucks him in! Lucky for Clark, his old friends Bruce and Diana along with newer friends Barry (The Flash(TM)) and Ollie (Green Arrow(TM)) are on the case! They'll have to travel to an alternate dimension to free their friend from Lex Luthor's grasp (and the worst detention ever) in this all-new adventure from Eisner Award winner Dustin Nguyen and Eisner Award nominee Derek Fridolfs.
REVIEW
Having enjoyed the first two books in this series, I was eager to pick up the third book, Detention of Doom. The book was fun as were the first two, although I found myself a bit confused in places. I guess that's not too surprising in a book where the sometimes seems unfinished. But in a superhero book with a lot of fantasy elements the strange and the confusing is to be expected. Bruce Wayne was once again the most entertaining of the group, with Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) a close second. Bruce's serious, dark personality shines through, sometimes in rather amusing ways. I enjoyed reading about how Bruce's skills helped save the day when the others lost their superpowers in the Phantom Zone. The role of Bizarro was more important than I thought it would be. A fun series for young superhero fanatics.
ABOUT THE BOOK
DJ and Gina are TOTALLY ordinary kids. But Hilo isn't! Has Hilo finally met his match? Not if D.J. and Gina can help it! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! Mega Robot Monsters are suddenly waking up all over and they're TOO BIG and TOO STRONG for Hilo to fight on his own! Luckily, he doesn't have to! He has GINA and some brand new SUPER POWERS on his side! Being heroes can be super fun-but it can also be SUPER dangerous! And the closer Hilo and Gina get to saving their world from the monsters--the closer Hilo gets to the dark secret of his past. Does he really want to know? Do WE?!
REVIEW
Another delightful entry in the HiLo series by Judd Winick. I found myself laughing a number of times throughout the book. HiLo, his sister Izzy, D.J., and Gina make a fabulous group of characters who are set on thwarting Razorwark's plan to destroy humankind. But HiLo still doesn't remember everything from his past and Izzy is worried that if he remembers everything too soon it will hurt him and be too difficult to accept. But when large animal robots start erupting from the earth, it's up to HiLo, Izzy, D.J., and Gina to stop the robots from destroying nearby cities. With an awesome set of armor (created by the amazing Izzy who can make almost anything), HiLo sets out to stop these mega robots. But it soon becomes clear that HiLo may not be able to handle it all himself (with the others as backup at the house). Gina continues to practice her magical skills in an effort to help. Unfortunately, the army's efforts to figure out the robots doesn't help matters any and before long, HiLo is left having to make a difficult choice. I love this series, the graphics are great, the characters are great, and there's lots of humor to lighten things up.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When a bouncy, barky dog and an evil genius guinea pig move into the same house, the laughs are nonstop! Wedgie is so excited, he can’t stop barking. He LOVES having new siblings and friends to protect. He LOVES guinea pigs like Gizmo! He also LOVES treats!
But Gizmo does not want to share his loyal human servant with a rump-sniffing beast! He does not want to live in a pink Barbie Playhouse. Or to be kissed and hugged by the girl human. Gizmo is an evil genius. He wants to take over the world and make all humans feel his wrath. But first he must destroy his archenemy, Wedgie, once and for all!
REVIEW
When authors share more than one character perspective in a book it can be challenging to make them sound different enough to feel real. Selfors has done an absolutely superb job with this book. Gizmo, the guinea pig trying to conquer the world, and Super Wedgie, the dog trying to save the world, have very unique, and amusing voices. The families that Gizmo and Wedgie come from have just blended and Gizmo is having a hard time with it. He has to find a new 'evil lair' and his human 'servant' Elliot isn't the one caring for him anymore. Wedgie on the other hand is thrilled with the new people and eager to bury bones, eat cereal off the floor, and avoid the vet. The book is light and funny, and the illustrations add to the fun wonderfully.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Laser vision isn't so hot when you're cross-eyed, and supersonic flight's a real downer when motion sickness keeps you grounded.
Twelve-year-old Marshall Preston is a Defective--a person with superhuman abilities that are restricted by some very human setbacks. While other kids are recruited to superhero teams, Marshall's stuck in seventh grade with a kid who can run at super speed but can't turn a corner, another with a radioactive peanut allergy that turns him into a swollen Hulk, and a telepath who reads everyone's thoughts out loud.
Defectives like Marshall aren't exactly superhero material, but when he uncovers a plot to destroy one of the greatest superhero teams of all time, Marshall and his less-than-super friends set out to prove that just because you're defective doesn't mean you can't save the day.
REVIEW
I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. I liked the concept with the so-called defective kids learning how to work around there weaknesses to still save the day. All the puking was unpleasant, however, and the stereotypical librarian made me roll my eyes. The twist at the end was interesting, although I suspect a lot of young readers might figure it out, I didn't though. The colored illustrations are bound to be appealing. I suspect that this will be popular among the Wimpy Kid loving readers. The theme here is pretty good as well, about not giving up on doing the right thing, even when no one listens to you.
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