Book Review: Comic Squad

I’m always a sucker for graphic story/comic collections. One of my touchstone collections is the Flight series of graphic stories that just blow me away every time I crack the cover, and I love it when my students stumble upon the Flight books in my classroom. There’s that “what’s this?” moment that many have, and then they are lugging the book from class to class, coming in the next morning with the question, “Got any more of these?”

We bought Comic Squad: Recess for my son because he is a huge Lunch Lady fan, and of author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka, who is one of the co-editors and contributors to the collection of comic shorts here. My son read the collection in about, oh, ten minutes, and then I had a look. The mood and ambience in the collection is light and funny, with jokes planted on the pages between stories and a positive vibe all the way through. Love the remix/mashup page!

I liked the stories well enough, although I think they lacked real narrative depth that I like to see in this kind of book. Comics can and should push the envelope, even for young readers. It’s a wonderfully creative genre that has so many possibilities. I felt as if the stories here didn’t quite reach for the stars, and am hopeful the next collection (promised on the last page) takes a step forward. But that’s also me, being a bit too critical, perhaps. I understand this book is designed for younger readers (prob even younger than my son) and it will certainly get kids reading and maybe looking for further reading, which is part of the point of a collection like this (from a teacher’s standpoint).

And the hat nod to Nerdy Book Club in the opening dedication page? Nicely done.

Peace (in the comic),
Kevin

 

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