Crash Landing

November 28, 2016
Kelvin Klosmo, the son of two brilliant scientists and the unwitting hero of this fun but disjointed extraterrestrial adventure, has a huge reputation to live up to. As the principal at his new school, Sciriustrati Fibronoculareus Junior High (aka Sci-Fi Junior High), reminds him on his first day: “I can’t even imagine what a genius you must be! We’re expecting incredible things from you, young man.” Kelvin thinks that his biggest problem will be maintaining the guise of being the “smartest kid in the galaxy,” until his community is threatened by an evil scientist. Kelvin scrambles to prove himself and save his friends and family, but weak characterizations and a jumbled narrative can make the story hard to follow as it bounces across the galaxy. Punchy black-and-white spot illustrations and comics sequences appear throughout, playing up the slapstick humor of this collaboration from the duo behind the Vordak the Incomprehensible series. For better or worse, sentences like “What? Zot? Play glormball against Dorn?” will indeed leave readers feeling like they’ve entered an unfamiliar alien landscape. Ages 8–12. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House.