[ARC REVIEW] Fowl Language: The Struggle is Real by Brian Gordon (@fowlcomics)

Title:  Fowl Language: The Struggle is Real

Author:  Brian Gordon

Genre:  Humor / Parenting / Parody / Animals

Year Published: 2017

Year Read:  8/12/2017 

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC 

Series: Fowl Language #2

Source: eARC (NetGalley)

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Strong Language)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

I would like to thank NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Introduction:

A couple of years ago, I had read a graphic novel called “Tales from the Crib” which was written by Henrik Drescher and it detailed the struggles of parenting in a humorous way.  Several years later, I came across this interesting new graphic novel that I received from NetGalley called “Fowl Language: The Struggle is Real” which is by Brian Gordon and it also details the struggles of being a parent in a humorous way and I enjoyed this graphic novel as much as I enjoyed “Tales from the Crib!”

What is this story about?

This graphic novel is basically about the main character, who is a male fowl, trying to deal with his two children and the graphic novel goes into the ups and downs of being a parent such as; trying to get some peace and quiet while the kids are gone, trying to find other adults to talk to after spending so much time with your own children and trying to get your child to go to sleep.  Also, this graphic novel shows that despite all the craziness that you are put through when dealing with your children, you still love them in the end!

What I loved about this story:

Brian Gordon’s writing:  Oh my gosh!  I still cannot stop laughing after reading this graphic novel!  Brian Gordon has done a fantastic job at writing this graphic novel as I really enjoyed the harsh trials of being a parent being shown in a humorous and satirical way!  I loved seeing the scenes where the father duck is trying so hard to deal with his children, while trying to get some peace and quiet, whenever his kids are away as it does hit home for many parents who have to cope with dealing with their children’s demands. But at the same time, this graphic novel shows the struggles that parents have to go through with their children in such a hilarious way that I cannot help but laugh at the father duck’s misfortune at dealing with his kids!  Probably two of my most favorite moments in this graphic novel was one where the father duck is imagining a parody for the TV series “24” by titling it “21” and the joke here is that the father duck has to find a TV program that his kids would sit down and watch so he can have time to do the chores around the house (luckily, the program that the kids are watching is ninety minutes long, giving him even more time to do his chores). The other moment I enjoyed was the one where the father duck is trying to explain to his kids about what a record player and a CD is since the kids are only familiar with YouTube and it reminded me of the few times where I try to explain to some little kids about what a CD player is since some of them grew up listening to music on an iPhone or through YouTube.

Brian Gordon’s artwork:  Brian Gordon’s artwork is both cute and hilarious to look at as are all the ducks in this graphic novel are drawn in a cute squat style and I especially loved the images of the father duck having wide popped out eyes whenever he gets shocked or annoyed by his kids’ hijinks.  The simplistic style of the artwork also brings out the humor in the situations that the characters get into as the highlight of the artwork is seeing the ducks’ reactions to whatever hilarious situations they all get into.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like strong language, there is some usage of the “f” and “s” words respectively and some readers might be taken aback by the coarse language clashing with the cute artwork displayed in this graphic novel.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Fowl Language: The Struggle is Real” is a hilarious read for adults who are parents or are becoming parents and want to find a book that pokes fun at the tough trials of parenting!  I am definitely going to be reading the rest of this series pretty soon!

 You might also like:

• Tales from the Crib by Henrik Drescher

• Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
• Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd

[ARC REVIEW] Superman and the Miserable, Rotten, No Fun, Really Bad Day by Dave Croatto (@MADmagazine)

Title:  Superman and the Miserable, Rotten, No Fun, Really Bad Day

Author:  Dave Croatto

Artist:  Tom Richmond

Genre:  Parody / Children's / Superheroes / Humor

Year Published: 2017

Year Read:  2017

Publisher:  Mad Books

Source: eARC (Edelweiss)

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

I would like to thank Edelweiss and Mad Books for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I remembered I used to watch Mad TV when I was little and I was a bit curious about this new parody book involving Superman that Mad Books had created and I managed to request it from Edelweiss.  Since I was familiar with Mad TV, I was wondering if this was going to be a vulgar parody of Superman.  BUT, I WAS WRONG!  “Superman and the Miserable, Rotten, No Fun, Really Bad Day” which is written by Dave Croatto along with artwork by Tom Richmond is a clever and hilarious parody on the popular children’s classic “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” and it is definitely one parody that will have you rolling on the floor laughing!

The story starts off with Superman having trouble getting up in the morning as he accidentally stepped on his glasses and also realized at that moment that he may have sleep walked during the night.  It was then that Superman found out that he was going to have a very bad day and man was he right!  When Superman was on his way to work, he had to fight Doomsday, but in doing so, he ended up coming to work late and his boss Perry ended up yelling at him in front of everyone.  Then, when Superman went to the Justice League, he was forced to do monitor duty, which was a job he really hated doing.  Superman then thinks about moving to the Fortress of Solitude.

Will Superman’s day get even worse from here?

Read this book to find out!

Wow!  This…was…so…amazing!!!  I have always loved parodies of my favorite franchises (provided that they are done right) and this was one parody that I felt was done right!  Dave Croatto has done a fantastic job at writing this book as it not only greatly parodies “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” but it also sticks closely to the Superman mythos such as mentioning characters like Lois Lane, Jimmy and Perry White, the Fortress of Solitude and Superman’s time in the Justice League.  I also loved the way that Dave Croatto weaved these two worlds together and manages to create a unique and hilarious take on the everyday life of Superman.  Probably, some of my favorite parts in this book was the part where Superman busted up his shampoo bottle when he let loose his heat vision by accident and the part where Superman did not get the chance to ride in Wonder Woman’s invisible jet!  Tom Richmond’s artwork was truly creative and greatly captures the feel of the artwork in “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.”  I especially loved the fact that Superman is the only character in color while all the other characters are in black and white as it shows that Superman is the main focus of this story and it shows how he views each bad situation he gets into.

Overall, “Superman and the Miserable, Rotten, No Fun, Really Bad Day” is a truly fantastic read for children who enjoyed reading “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” and who enjoyed reading “Superman” comics!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

  You might also like:

• The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

• Battle Bunny (Birthday Bunny) by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett
• Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems

[BOOK REVIEW] The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Title:  The Adventures of Captain Underpants

Author:  Dav Pilkey

Genre:  Superheroes / Humor / School 

Year Published: 1997

Year Read:  2010

Publisher:  The Blue Sky Press

Series: Captain Underpants #1    

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Crude Humor)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Here comes that valiant hero, CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS!  “The Adventures of Captain Underpants” is a popular children’s book from the creative mind of Dav Pilkey and it is about the hilarious adventures of George and Harold as they try to trick their strict principal Mr. Krupp, but their trick ends up backfiring on them!  “The Adventures of Captain Underpants” is absolutely one of the funniest books ever created!!!

“Tra-la-laaa!”

Man, I am going to be saying that throughout this review!  Dav Pilkey has done a great job with both the illustrations and writing this book as they make this book full of pure hilarity and adventure!  I love the way that Dav Pilkey writes this book in a sarcastic and humorous way as George and Harold are shown to be the greatest practical jokers in the history of all practical jokers as they are constantly pulling pranks on the school and somehow succeeding in their jokes.  I really enjoyed the sarcastic humor in this book as it is smart and witty and it strongly reminded me of the humor in “The Stinky Cheeseman” as it plays a satire on the world of superheroes, except this time there is a superhero that runs around the city in his underwear!  One of the most impressive characters in this book is Captain Underpants himself as he saves the world but saves it in his underwear!  Captain Underpants sort of remind me of Quailman from the Nickelodeon show “Doug” as both characters saves the word in their underwear.

Dav Pilkey’s illustrations are truly hilarious and childish in this book as George and Harold always have mischievous looks on their faces. George is drawn as a child with a tie and a black flat top hair and Harold is drawn to have puffy hair, which makes the two characters look hilarious to children.  The illustration that stood out the most for me was the illustration of Captain Underpants himself as he has a bald head and is shown wearing a red cape and is mostly shown in his underwear!  Also, I like to point out that the illustrations are in black and white; however Dav Pilkey’s illustrations are so hilarious and childish that many children will overlook the black and white coloring.

Parents should know that this book was banned in many schools because it was considered insensitive and encourages children to disobey authority (I did not really understand the insensitivity part, but I did understand the part about disobeying authority).  The main thing that parents should be concerned about is the crude humor in this book such as Harold and George using a fake doggy doo-doo to trick a villain and the cheerleaders being described as having mucus running down their noses after they were exposed to the pepper in their pom-poms and parents who do not approve of crude humor might want to wait until their children get older to enjoy this book.  As for the banning, I honestly do not believe in banning books and I thought that this was an enjoyable book for children of all ages, but it was not meant to be an educational book. I think that if the content in this book is really offensive for educational classes, then teachers could use this book as a special treat for children to read if children did some good deeds or did their schoolwork, sort of like a reward for their efforts.

“The Adventures of Captain Underpants” is truly a book that children of all ages can enjoy as it has great humor and spectacular characters and I think this book will be wonderful for children who love reading about superheroes and great humor!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the crude humor might be a bit too inappropriate for smaller children.

“Tra-la-laa! Captain Underpants away!”

* 2000 Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award for Grades K-3

You might also like:

• Dog Breath: The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis by Dav Pilkey

• The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka

• The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka

 REASON FOR BEING BANNED: For having offensive language and being unsuited for the age group.

[BOOK REVIEW] Jughead Volume 1 by Chip Zdarsky

Title:  Jughead Volume 1


Author:  Chip Zdarsky


Artist:  Erica Henderson

Genre:  Comedy / School / Adventure / Spin Off

Year Published:  2016

Year Read: 12/18/2016

Series: Jughead #1

Publisher: Archie Comics


Source:  Library


Content Rating:  Ages 14+ (Some Suggestive Themes)

Introduction:

After I had finished reading “Archie Volume One: The New Riverdale,” I figured that Archie Comics was going to do a reboot on one of their most beloved characters “Jughead!” So of course, I was on board with picking up the reboot of everyone’s favorite crazy and food obsessed weirdo in Chip Zdarsky’s take on “Jughead Volume One!”

What is this story about?

It is an ordinary day in Riverdale until Mr. Weatherbee, the principal of Riverdale High, is suddenly being replaced by a new principal named Mr. Stanger without any warning.  At first, Jughead is not bothered by this new development, but when his favorite meal lasagna is being replaced by a nasty nutritious meal, Jughead (of course, being Jughead) panics and starts trying to find ways to bend the new strict rules so he could still do whatever he wants without getting in trouble.  Later on however, Jughead soon realizes that the new principal Mr. Stanger has a hidden agenda under his sleeves that might involve brainwashing the student body into becoming the perfect school for spies. 

Can Jughead stop this new principal from going through with his plans or is all this speculation about the new principal all just a part of Jughead’s overactive imagination?

Read this book to find out!

What I loved about this story:

Chip Zdarsky’s writing:  I must admit that when I first heard about Jughead getting his own book for the Archie reboot, I was bit hesitant in trying this graphic novel out since Jughead is my most favorite character from the Archie Comics and I was afraid that this graphic novel would have messed up his character.  Luckily, it turns out that Chip Zdarsky has written the character’s eccentric nature extremely well as this graphic novel is much wackier and more humorous than Mark Waid’s run on the main “Archie” series.  I loved the way that Chip Zdarsky wrote Jughead’s overactive imaginations as helping Jughead solve his problems in real life as it made Jughead into such a comical and unique character in this new “Archie” universe.  Also, Jughead’s constant reliance on his imaginations to solve his real life problems reminds me a bit of Nickelodeon/Disney’s “Doug” (although a much wackier version of “Doug”). I also like the fact that Chip Zdarsky made Jughead into a more determined character in this story as Jughead is shown as not being afraid to speak his mind about what he likes or dislikes about the new school system and tries to make things better for himself and his friends.

Erica Henderson’s artwork:  Erica Henderson’s artwork is extremely humorous and fits the tone of this series nicely as the scenes of Jughead’s imaginations are drawn in exaggerated and creative fashion. I especially loved the scenes where Jughead imagines himself to be a superhero or a time traveler as those scenes are drawn somewhat more dramatically as it portrays Jughead trying to save the day from evil.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The reason why I took off half a star from the rating was because even though I do think that Erica Henderson’s artwork is humorous, I felt that the artwork made the characters too goofy looking and it was hard for me to really take the characters seriously at times.  I actually kind of wish that the artists from Mark Waid’s “Archie” series actually took over for this graphic novel as we would have still gotten the humorous edge for this series with the artwork from the main “Archie” series.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Jughead Volume One” is a truly entertaining read if you like reading fun loving and wacky comics and if you are a huge fan of Jughead Jones!  I recommend this book for anyone who wants to read a wackier series spun off from Mark Waid’s “Archie” series!

[BOOK REVIEW] Battle Bunny (Birthday Bunny) by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett

Title:  Battle Bunny (Birthday Bunny)

Authors:  Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett

Artist: Matthew Myers

Genre:  Animals / Violence / Alternative Narrative / Cute

Year Published: 2013

Year Read:  2015

Publisher:   Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Fight Scenes)

       

After reading Jon Scieszka’s famous children’s books “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” and “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs,” I was really excited to check out some of Jon Scieszka’s latest works!  Lo and behold, I happened to stumble upon one of Jon Scieszka’s most recent children’s book “Battle Bunny (or Birthday Bunny),” co-written by Mac Barnett along with illustrations by Matthew Myers (along with some help from Alex) and this was a pretty interesting read!

 

Story 1: Birthday Bunny

Today is a special day for Bunny as he realizes that today is his birthday and spends most of the story going to his friends Crow, Badger, Squirrel, Turtle and Bear and telling them that today is a special day indeed! Unfortunately, all of Birthday Bunny’s friends do not seem to realize that today is his birthday and Bunny is upset over this.

Will Bunny’s friends remember his birthday?

Story 2: Battle Bunny

Today is a special day for Battle Bunny as he starts plotting to take over the world by cutting down all of the trees in the forest!  Battle Bunny meets up his enemies Crow, El Tejon the Badger Wrestler, Sergeant Squirrel of the Robot Police Force, Shaolin Bear and Ninja Turtle and he ends up beating up all of them.  It seems that no one will be able to defeat Battle Bunny and his plans of world domination until a small boy named Alex steps up to take down Battle Bunny!

Will Alex save the day?

Read this book to find out what happens in both of these stories!

 

I have actually heard about this book through one of my book friends’ reviews and as I was reading their review on this book, I was immediately interested and I went right away to my library to pick up this book!  This was probably one of the most creative picture books I had ever read as the format is quite unique from what I usually read from picture books.  I loved the way that both Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett wrote this story as you have the story about Birthday Bunny being the actual story going on here while the story about Battle Bunny is the one that is being written over the “Birthday Bunny” story (with childlike drawings and multiple crossing out of words being shown in loving detail).  I must admit that I enjoyed the “Battle Bunny” story a bit more than the “Birthday Bunny” story because well, the “Birthday Bunny” story is your typical “main character is celebrating their birthday with their friends” plot, while the “Battle Bunny” story is full of awesome moments of Battle Bunny battling his enemies while that was the story that was being written over the “Birthday Bunny” story with childlike drawings being drawn all over the pages!  Matthew Myers’ artwork is truly creative and cute at some parts as the drawings of Birthday Bunny are drawn in a cute and realistic way while the artwork for Battle Bunny are drawn in stick figures and has militaristic accessories being drawn on the birthday bunny characters to make them all look tougher than how they are really drawn.

 

The reason why I gave this book a four star rating was because there were times where it was difficult to read through this book due to having to read two different stories going on at the same time.  Now, this is a pretty creative way to write a story, but this might be pretty hard for some children to read through, especially if they are not used to reading two different stories going on at the same time.

 

Overall, “Battle Bunny (Birthday Bunny)” is a truly creative story for both children and adults to read as it is full of comedy and action that will last for years!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the writing style might confuse some children.