Hilda and the Bird Parade by Luke Pearson (Book Review)

Hilda and the Bird Parade
By Luke Pearson
Published by Flying Eye Books, 2016
Print: $10.99

Hilda and her mom have left the alpine beauty of their mountain home and moved to the big and busy city of Trolberg. Hilda is not really enjoying herself. She misses all the magical creatures and discoveries she made on a daily basis roaming around the mountains and hills. And her mom is pretty scared to let her venture out on her own because the city is a lot more dangerous than their old home. Her mom finally relents when some of Hilda's classmates show up at their door asking if Hilda can come out to play. One of the activities the kids get involved in is throwing stones at birds. Yeah, not very nice. Hilda doesn't engage in it, but when one of the kids knocks out a raven, Hilda finds out that there is some magic in the city too because the bird can TALK. Unfortunately for the bird, the stone hitting him has caused him to forget how to fly! Hilda has her own memory problems because she can't remember how to get home! So the two set off on a quest to find her house and maybe regain the raven's memories in the process.

This is the second Hilda book I've read and I loved it as much as the first one! The art is cartoony, but it has a lot of elegance and majesty to it. Luke Pearson doesn't use a lot of bright colors in the art but his limited palette gives a very earthy feel to the pictures. What I love is that Pearson can make the characters somewhat realistic in such a whimsical world and hit on themes that makes it easy for an adult to enjoy reading it just as much as a kid. I also love Hilda's character because she's precocious without being annoying, adventurous without being rebellious. I think the book would entertain any kid ages 5-100. Loved it.

My Grade: A+

Graphic Novel Review: Bad Island by Doug Tennapel

Bad Island by Doug Tennapel
Published by Scholastic Graphix, 2011
List Price: $10.99

Bad Island opens a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away as an alien race is celebrating the 100 year anniversary of their freedom from slavery. They didn't free themselves. They were liberated by huge Godzilla size sentient mech-like behemoths. The mechs are so huge that the freed aliens build entire cities on their backs. The aliens can also activate weapon systems and battle armor on the them and then pilot them into battle. The opening scenes of the book close with the return of the slavers, who have their own biological mechs, and a battle ensues.

Skip to present day Earth as a family is preparing to go on a weekend boat trip. Reese is the typical teenager who would rather stay home and party instead of going on a stupid vacation with his family. His little sis, Janie, is ok with at as long as she gets to take her pet snake, Pickles. It's Reese's dad that is really pushing the whole thing because he wants his family to get some downtime away from the hustle and bustle of modern life.

Of course, just like Gilligan's Island, the family runs into a big storm and ends up shipwrecked on a deserted tropical island. They soon find out it's not as deserted as they first thought. Rocks start coming to life, trees try to eat them, and instead of birds, they notice 6 eyed pterodactyl looking creatures flying around! Even the plant life seems totally alien. And who is the shadowy figure haunting their camp when they're all asleep?

Of course, the first thing you notice about a graphic novel is the art. The art is not very good, especially when he draws aliens, or battle scenes like the opening pages. His main problem, though, is transition panels. At the end of the intial battle, we see a huge panel of one of the giant mechs blowing away one of the slaver creatures with a huge arm cannon. You turn the next page and it just says "...present day" with Reese throwing a football. It just makes no sense and is really jarring. Why not have a blank page, or show Earth from a distance and slowly move to close up, THEN move to the football throwing. Tennapel shows his ineptitude again soon after the family boards their boat. There's a panel of the dad getting on the boat and saying "I don't get what's so bad about spending a little time with your family", then you turn to the next page and it's BAM!, it's like a hurricane with lightning, rain and huge waves. You're left wondering where the storm came from. Tennapel should have done some panels showing the boat moving out of port, and then maybe some conversation scenes, THEN one of the characters notices some approaching storm clouds or something.

Bad Island is entertaining in its own mediocre way, but reading it is not going to inspire you to seek out any of Tennapel's other work. Maybe his writing and layouts will get better but I seriously doubt it.

My Grade: C-

Graphic Novel Review: Koko Be Good by Jen Wang

Koko Be Good by Jen Wang
Published by First Second
Price: $18.99

My Review:

College grad Jon Wilgur is at a crossroads in his life. He's getting ready to move to Peru with his girlfriend, Emily, in a couple of weeks but he doesn't really seem too enthused about it. Emily is going to be teaching school at an orphanage near mom's hometown. Jon has decided to move there with her, but doesn't know exactly what he's gonna do when he arrives there. He loves Emily, (or does he?), but Jon seems adrift, like he's waiting to be woken up. That's when Koko comes into his life. She's in the same boat as he is, but she is also sorta homeless, sorta jobless, and basically clueless. She too, is searching for meaning and she develops a fast friendship with Jon. Things don't get romantic because there isn't that kind of attraction between the two. Instead, each recognizes that the other is a guide meant to put them on the right path. That right path becomes apparent by the dead ends Jon and Koko run into in the course of the book.

Koko Be Good comes off as a more mature slacker faces life graphic novel than the Scott Pilgrim series. There aren't any videogame references, or crazy manga/anime inspired fight scenes in Koko. But the theme is still the same. Namely, how do you go about finding out what you're supposed to do in this life? And are there people that can point you in the right direction. When you come down it, I guess it's about kids becoming adults, even when they don't want to.

The art in Koko is great, drawn in black and white and then highlighted with brown shaded watercolors. The problem with the book is the writing. We've already seen this story many times, starting with that old movie, Slackers. Unless you inject something unique or outrageous into it like Scott Pilgrim, the story of misfit semi-bums gets to be cliched. The characters aren't very interesting either. They don't seem like real people, but just ends to tell an uneventful story. The book is worth reading, but this tale has just been told so many times with better writing and better characters.

My Grade: B-

You can view a 13-page preview of Koko Be Good at this link: http://firstsecondbooks.com/koko/koko.html