Big Hero 6: The Series, Vol. 1

This is a spoiler free review.

Big Hero 6: The Series, Vol. 1 is an entertaining tie in to the animated Big Hero 6 show.  This anime graphic novel features three short stories with Hiro, Baymax, and all their superhero friends as they fight to protect the streets of San Fransokyo.  The order of the short stories is not in chronological order, so start with the last one if you are a fan of chronological order like me!  The last story takes place right after the Big Hero 6 movie.  These comic stories are fun, full of humor, and also feature some tough emotional moments as well.

The short stories are great.  They feature great themes for children about fitting in and doing the right thing.  The artwork is also awesome.  The illustrations are in black and white and are perfect adaptions of the artwork from the Big Hero 6 cartoon series.  The anime style of art fits in perfectly in the world of Big Hero 6 and enriches these tales even more.  I think children will really like this graphic novel.  The art and dialogue are perfectly geared to kids and big kids to enjoy.

If you like The Big Hero 6 movie or the cartoon series, you should read this volume and volume 2.  Hiro, Baymax, Aunt Cass, and all their friends sound and act like they do in the film and television series.

These books did an excellent job adapting the Big Hero 6 universe to print without losing the voices and heart of the characters and most importantly what makes these story so enjoyable to the audience.

Stay Awesome and keep reading!

Big Hero 6: The Series, Vol. 1 

Creative Team:

Written and Illustrated by Hong Gyun An

Marvel’s Secret Reverse

This is a spoiler free review.

Marvel’s Secret Reverse was an interesting comic book / anime / Yu-Gi-Oh amalgamation.  Thank you Viz Media, Marvel Comics, and NetGalley for a digital ARC copy to review.

I love Spider-man comics and Yu-Gi-Oh cartoons but I had a hard time with this book.  The story was awesome and I was engaged to see what would happen next.  Also, the usage of a card game giving people power as the crux of the story was awesome.  I really enjoyed the similarities to Yu-Gi-Oh.  The character designs and their powers reminded me of anime cartoons and Yu-Gi-Oh.

The artwork was where I had issues.  I found it hard to follow what was going on.  There was so much going on in every panel that it was hard to follow.  I think I would have enjoyed the story more had the illustrations been in full color in the ARC I was reading.  The artwork would have been easier to understand in full color rather than in black and white.

After I finished reading Marvel’s Secret Reverse Kazuki Takashi passed away.  That sad news was an awful way to finish reading his last book.  I was hoping Kazuki Takashi would try this again with more Marvel characters and see if a second try at this mash up would be better.

RIP Kazuki Takashi.  I’m glad I got to read your Spider-man / Yu-Gi-Oh comic book.

If you like Yu-Gi-Oh anime cartoons then you should give Marvel’s Secret Reverse a try.  You’ll enjoy the story and maybe like the artwork more than I did.

Stay awesome and keep reading.

Marvel’s Secret Reverse

Creative team:

Written and Illustrated Kazuki Takashi

My review of Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin

This is a spoiler free review.

Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin is a great new original graphic novel by Graphix and Marvel.  The main audience for this book is children ages 8 to 12.  I think kids will really enjoy this graphic novel.  The story is engaging, funny, entertaining, and even has a few thrills, and a great mystery to solve.

At the beginning of this book Kamala Khan receives an anonymous gift, which is the start of our mystery story.  Ms. Marvel also has to battle wits with an old Iron Man nemesis from the comics.  You might recognize this robotic fend from the cover art.  This baddie tries to infiltrate both the Avengers tower and Ms. Marvel’s home life.  In both cases we get to see some great battles and awesome team work as Ms. Marvels works with her friends to save the day.  We also get to see Ms. Marvel work with her superhero friends: Squirrel Girl and Miles Morales the Ultimate Spider-man.
 

If you or your children or students are fans of Ms. Marvel comics and Kamala Khan you’ll really appreciate this graphic novel.  All of Kamala’s usual supporting cast are in Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin.  Nakia and Bruno have some great conversations with Kamala as they try to solve a mystery.  Nakia is such a great character and I like how she helps Kamala along the way.  Nakia helps keep Kamala grounded as she tries to navigate through a lot of conflicts in her life starting with problems with her powers, trying to find time to train with the Avengers, problems with her parents, trying to keep her super hero life separate from her personal life, and remembering to pick up her nephew from daycare on time!  Similar to Peter Parker/Spider-man, Kamala deals with so many real life problems, which is one of the main reasons I find her to be such a likable character.  They both have really complex lives filled with so many relatable daily problems that you can’t help but root for her.

We also get to see Kamala Khan try to keep her superhero life and personal life separate.  At the beginning of the story we see Ms. Marvel training with Squirrel Girl and Miles Morales.  They are all such close friends who work so well together in the heat of battle.  We also see how chummy Kamala is to Nakia and Bruno, her friends from school.  Over the course of the story we slowly see what happens if Kamala’s two lives blend over into each other.

Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin also does a great job showing children how you don’t have to fight every battle alone.  Sometimes even heroes lean on their friends and loved ones when they need help.  You see the importance of family and how important Kamala’s friends are to her.

The artwork in Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin is beautiful.  The artwork is very bright and soft looking.  It reminds me of pastels or watercolor.  I think children will be really drawn to the illustrations.    The colors and the artwork has a lot of motion to it that I think children will enjoy.

I highly recommend Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin.  It’s an entertaining graphic novel that all ages will enjoy reading.

Stay awesome and keep reading!

Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin

Creative team: 

Written by Nadia Shammas

Illustrated by Nabi H. Ali