Batman and Robin and Howard (Family Comic Friday)

Being born and raised as a member of the League of Assassins has been a real setback to Damian Wayne when it comes to crime-fighting. He lacks the human element needed to distinguish a car burglar from a family who accidentally locked their keys inside their car. Damian is also just too competitive; not just with others but himself as well. Thanks to his mother Talia and grandpa R'as Al Ghul, 2nd place is considered 1st loser.

To get a better grasp on social graces, Bruce Wayne benches Damian and enrolls his son into a new school, Metro Gotham Academy. The BMOC at Metro is Howard. He's the smartest kid in class. The best player on the school soccer team. And he's beloved by students and teachers alike. But with the appearance of Damian Wayne on campus, Howard's favored student status is in serious jeopardy.

Meanwhile, Batman has gone missing. The soccer teams of all the local schools, except for Damian's old school and Metro, have been vandalized. On the trail of seemingly the Joker, Riddler or even Poison Ivy, Batman finds himself stuck in his most unbreakable prison ever- the utility closet of a middle school gymnasium! 

With Batman lost, Damian is anxious to find his dad. But he can't do it alone. And Alfred is refusing to let Damian go out patrolling in costume alone. Can Damian reveal to his arch-rival Howard in hopes of finding Batman and ending a soccer themed crime wave? 

This was another DC Kids graphic novel that I've been looking forward to for quite some time. And thanks to my local library, I was able to finally get my hands on it. Written and illustrated by Family Comic Family Jeffrey Brown (Star Wars: Jedi Academy), this was a fun read. I thought Damian was portrayed spot-on as he's been in the comics. Only maybe a little less arrogantly. This is a kids book, ya know.

I liked the new character of Howard and his school. I liked how one of the students are portrayed as disabled and yet the book does make a big, patronizing deal about it. It just was. Like how those with disabilities want to be treated: as a part of the group.

What I wasn't a fan of was how Brown portrays Batman. If you haven't figured things out, this Batman is kinda a buffoon. Having the Caped Crusader be aloof, like an out of touch dad is fine for its comedic effect. But having Batman be so dumb he can't break out of a middle school locker room just isn't Batman.

A great read that was goofy. Just some parts were better than others. And be sure to read through very end of the book for a special double-page secret scene!

I'd be okay with a sequel or two, regardless of how goofy the Dark Knight was in this book!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Comics Squad #2: Lunch! (Family Comics Friday)

   From the editing team that brought you 'Comics Squad: Recess" comes an all-new treasury of comics devoted to the second most popular class at school- LUNCH! Fan favs such as Babymouse, Lunch Lady, and the Peanuts gang return from book one to in this very fun collection.

   Of the eight stories contained in this anthology, seven were really good. My favorite was, of course, the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales adventure. I just am in love with that series.

   Here, captured spy Nathan Hale recounts a short story set during the second world war. When an American naval ship runs afoul of a giant Japanese destroyer, they set out to sink the Imperial monster or be sunk themselves. As the battle rages in the Pacific, the American ship runs out of ammo, that is until someone gets the idea to start shooting bombs made of potatoes and other items from the galley. It's an all-true account of a food fight that helped save the free world!!!

  Other really great stories in this collection involves the secret origin of Lunch Lady when she was a bullied child and Sara Varon's 'Worst Day Ever' about two rivals becoming friends thanks to lunchtime science experiments. Another great tale is titled Cave Soup. This yarn by Jedi Academy creator Jeffrey Brown involves two pairs of Neanderthal children. The older pair keep pushing off their chores on the younger while they goof around. But the younger cave-kids are one step ahead of their older siblings and are determined to make sure the big brother and big sister have to clean up.

    The Case of the Missing Science Project by Meanwhile's Jason Shiga was my least favorite story. This choose-your-own-adventure type story should've been one of the best stories in this book but the idea just didn't translate very well in the graphic novel medium. Originally, a CYOA story has you given a series of options to choose from and then you flip to the corresponding page number. While a few page numbers are given in Shiga's story, most of your choices require you to follow a snaking series of arrows that often get a little confusing to follow. I did enjoy many of the bizarre ways that the hero of the Missing Science Project met his fate. Those crazy ending were part of what made those CYOA books so fun to read.

   Despite this one disappointing story- this was a fun read that any school aged child 13 and under should enjoy.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Jedi Academy: The Phantom Bully (Jedi Academy #3) (Family Comic Friday)

  Padawan Roan Sanchez is about to begin his final year of schooling at the Jedi Academy Middle School. Before the year is out, he will have to complete the obstacle course, labyrinth, and one-on-one training with everybody's favorite Jedi Master, Mr. Garfield- OR he'll have to repeat the entire grade over! It's going to be hard with Roan being targeted by a mysterious foe who's sabotaging him at every turn.

   The Phantom Bully marks the conclusion to the Sanchez Trilogy but not the end to the Jedi Academy series. A new class, along with a new writer, is set to hit bookshelves in July. I'm looking forward to it but I really don't want Roan's story to end. Maybe the Jedi-in-training will return to encourage the new students of Jedi Academy. 

   But, one thing strikes me a little eerie about this series- does it bother any of you that most of the students attending Jedi Academy will either die at the hands of the clone troopers, following the Emperor's command of Order 66, or be betrayed by Anakin Skywalker, when he becomes Darth Vader? So maybe it is a good thing Roan and friends have moved on...

    Jeffrey Brown is such a talent in the Star Wars universe. His Darth Vader and Friends books are hysterical and he does a great job in making Jedi Academy both fanciful and relatable for kids. No matter what happens to the characters of the Jedi Academy series, I hope this volume isn't the end of Brown's time in a galaxy far, far away...

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.