The Glorkian Warrior Eats Adventure Pie

January 15, 2015
Silliness reigns supreme as the Glorkian Warrior finds himself on another goofy illustrated adventure that revolves around food and fart jokes. After successfully delivering a pizza to himself in The Glorkian Warrior Delivers a Pizza (2014), the Glorkian Warrior and his trusty, sunshine-hued companion, Super Backpack, are back, battling a pie-factory-destroying, candy-colored space snake only to be beaten to the kill by a rival warrior, the daffily nefarious Buster Glark, who has a freeze-ray-shooting backpack. The Glorkian Warrior returns home to lick his wounds, rearrange his furniture and recharge Backpack. There, they are greeted by Gonk, a salmon-colored minidoppelganger of the Glorkian Warrior, and the lime-green Baby Alien. When the group finally realizes that the Baby Alien has been sucking out the Warrior's brains (readers will be way ahead of them, thanks to the "suck suck" sound effects), they must help revive him with energy crackers-which are promptly stolen by Buster Glark. Madcap whimsy runs rampant, and jokes about nothing, everything and flatulence abound against a vibrantly colored backdrop that would make even Willy Wonka's eyes hurt. Kochalka's intensely zippy and quirky humor never misses a beat and rolls fluidly from one wisecrack to another; maybe this isn't everyone's brand of comedy, but for those readers who enjoy silly for silly's sake, this will surely delight. Kooky, bubble-gum fun. (Graphic science fiction/humor. 5-10)

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March 1, 2015

Gr 3-7-In this sequel to The Glorkian Warrior (First Second, 2014), the title character and his trusty backpack deal with a space snake, a nemesis by the name of Buster, an alien baby eating the Glorkian's brain, and a lack of energy crackers. In other words, a normal day in the life of the Glorkian Warrior. After having his brain sucked out, the protagonist explains, "Who cares if my brain is stupid? If I ever needed to think of an idea, I'd just ask my elbow." Add a good dose of rivalry and some excellent potty humor, and readers have a great sequel with a side of adventure pie. The bright colors and huge panels make this an ideal read for beginners to graphic novels. The simple drawings lend themselves well to the action depicted, and though it looks as if there may be too much going on in every panel, it flows quite nicely. VERDICT This second adventure of the Glorkian Warrior deserves a spot in most graphic novel collections, as long as kids can handle a tooting backpack.-Mariela Siegert, Westfield Middle School, Bloomingdale, IL

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