amazing! crash! boom! This graphic novel about crime-fighting super pets is probably the closest your child will get to getting the full superhero experience without actually going to the theater or turning on the screen.
This unfairly suggests that the book is trying to be like a movie (which of course first appeared in the comics). From The Incredibles to Into the Spider-Verse starring Miles Morales, these films have origin stories rooted in the same comic book tradition that American cartoonist Dan Santat has so much fun with here. There is.
Captain Amazing passed it by. After years of defending Metro City, tension is starting to show in his gills, and his latest encounter with a local supervillain ends in him colliding with a peanut vendor on live TV. Dejected, he returns home to his beloved pets Roscoe the dog, Fluffy the hamster, and Shifty the chameleon. (It’s fun to see him go from a caped crime detective to a jaded suburban guy on his days off.)
Dan Santat, American writer and cartoonist
He decides to audition for a sidekick, not knowing that his pet, who has developed his own superpowers, is already perfect for the job. Dr. Havok is no different, as he has just been released from prison, claims to have learned the error of his ways, and promises to “do everything in his power to preserve peace in our fair city.” Should I believe him? Of course not!
The artwork is great and the storyboards feel very slick and cinematic. There are thrilling chases, breathtaking battles with villains, and smart, quiet moments. One (almost) wordless sequence reminds us that Captain Amazing hasn’t lost his powers yet, as he sneezes while tending his garden. The force blows away trees and the roofs of houses.
Santat was working as a video game concept artist before being offered a dream job by Google to work on the Google Doodle. The tough decision he made to focus on his career was proven right when he won the Caldecott Medal in 2015 for his picture book, Vehicle Adventures.
• My kids don’t read: Tips for raising voracious readers.
The first in the series, Sidekicks, is now available in the UK, as is another refreshing American graphic novel aimed at primary school children. In Leon: Worst Friends Forever by Jamar Nicholas, the main evil faced by Leon, the self-proclaimed savior of his school, is the danger of believing his own hype. Superhero moms get bonus points because they have a secret underground lair that they have to enter through the local laundromat’s washing machine.
If the real enemy is the screen trying to take away all children’s downtime, the superheroes in these two books will fight the good fight.
Sidekicks: Graphic Novel by Dan Santat (Graphics £9.94 pp224)
