Pepper Page Saves the Universe!

January 4, 2021
Fifteen-year-old Pepper Page, an orphan, specializes in all things Supernova: despite living in a technological future populated by robots and holograms, she knows the classic comic hero’s originals and reboots, and even collects vintage print comics. To avoid mean teachers, bullies, and sometimes even friends, Pepper escapes into Supernova’s comics, which are studded with genre mainstays, including a commitment to “truth, integrity, and the rights of all.” When Pepper intervenes in a teacher’s experiment, saving its feline subject, a door to the realm beyond the physical opens, revealing that her favorite stories may be more than fiction. With strong line work, lanky characters, and luminescent colors, artist Jones cuts between the present and Supernova’s golden age–inspired comics in pages that reflect both screen tones and newspaper print. Though Walker’s overly reverent handling of classic tropes and fandom—especially male comics creators such as Peter David and Jack Kirby—sometimes detract from Pepper’s journey, she brings to life many fans’ dreams of living out their heroic fantasies. Ages 8–12.

December 15, 2020
Evoking a golden-age sensibility, this pulpy origin story is short on dialogue, rife with onomatopoeic sound effects, and rendered in Technicolor hues. Within, 15-year-old orphan Pepper Page is a 25th-century fangirl: introverted, out of place, and obsessed with superheroine Supernova. Pepper's only power--an encyclopedic recall of vintage comics--proves of little value in school. Though she dreams of fighting for what's right, best friends Zola and Tally always handle her bullies. Everything changes when Pepper stumbles on an experiment conducted by Professor Killian, a renegade physicist masquerading as a history teacher. After falling through space-time alongside a cat she seeks to rescue, Pepper finds herself staring down the Overlords of Order within the Supersymmetry of Suns--from her favorite comic. According to these omnipotent, omniscient, oversized disembodied babies' heads with a proclivity for end rhyme, Pepper's precious comics were actually training manuals: She is Supernova, and the time has come to beat back the forces of chaos in the 21st century. Aided by Mister McKittens (the energies that transformed Pepper into Supernova also affected the cat), Pepper must prevent the pretentious, power-hungry Killian from assuming unimaginable power. There's just one problem: Mired in trepidation, unsure of herself, and too familiar with Supernova's arc, Pepper has no interest in saving the universe. Walker and Jones lean in to their metafictive adventure, deftly admixing superhero tropes into Pepper's down-to-earth emotional journey. Pepper, Zola, and Killian present White; Tally has brown skin. A fast-paced, feel-good romp. (gallery) (Graphic science fiction. 11-16)

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