That Stinking Feeling

February 12, 2007
The creator of Nickelodeon's CatDog
sets his Super Goofballs series into super silly, sophomoric motion, starring characters with names that tell readers all they need to know. Amazing Techno Dude, whose TV helmet gives him "certain mysterious audio-visual-techno super powers," and Granny the Bodacious Backwards Woman, who speaks and moves backwards, must outwit Queen Smellina the Shrieking Stinkbug of Stench. Soon after this flying super villain lands in jail, calamity strikes the unlikely superheroes' house. To help finance the repairs, the backwards Granny says, "Roommate a get will we." They end up with not one but eight would-be superhero roommates, including a pair of underpants named Mighty Tighty Whitey, a caped block of granite called Wonder Boulder and the disaster-prone Blunder Mutt. When Queen Smellina's sidekick, Fabian the Fabulous Flatulent Fiend ("one fart smellow"), swipes the main course from an all-you-can-eat bean restaurant and threatens to "bomb the area with a series of gigantic you-know-whats coming from his you-know-where"—and Queen Smellina reappears—the roomies step in to help save the day. Hannan's copious cartoons chronicle these zany antics, which will appeal most to kids with a fondness for potty humor and broad puns. This wacky cast returns in Goofballs in Paradise
($15.99 ISBN 978-0-06-085214-6; $4.99 paper 978-0-06-085213-9), due out the same month. Ages 7-11.

June 1, 2007
Gr 2-4 -Fighting supervillains is a demanding and eventful lifestyle, but as Amazing Techno Dude and his grandmother discover, it doesn't pay the bills. So, Bodacious Backwards Woman decides to advertise for some super-roommates. Unfortunately, 1313 Thirteenth Street isn't exactly the Batcave, and the ad attracts a flock of decidedly subpar heroesamong them Mighty Tighty Whitey (a walking pair of jockey shortssize extra small), Wonder Boulder (a flying rock in a cape), the Impossibly Tough Two-Headed Infant, Super Vacation Man, and mixed-up canine Blunder Mutt. At first, the housemates are hopeless in the hero department, but gradually they slowly begin to blend their wacky talents to defeat evildoers. Their first adventure pits them against two odoriferous foesinsane stinkbug Queen Smellina and her smelly sidekick Fabian the Flatulent Fiendwho plan to take over the world with super-stench. The second episode takes the Goofballs to a tropical beach resort where the world's crabbiest crook, Mondo Grumpo, is plotting to transform the population into zombie Numbness Nincompoops by eliminating laughter and fun. These stories have less gross-out and body-function humor than the "Captain Underpants" books (Scholastic), but they can't match the controlled absurdity of Dav Pilkey's iconic scatterbrained superhero. Hannan's wild-eyed, exaggerated black-and-white cartoons are reminiscent of his animated Nickelodeon seriesCatdog . There is some amusing dialogue, especially Granny's bodacious backwards talk, but the total package is more silly than super.Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL

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