The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future (review)

Ook and Gluk have it pretty good as cavemen—sure, life is harsh and short and dinosaurs and evil chiefs are bummers, but they are best friends who eagerly welcome adventure. When an eons-distant relative of the chief pops back in time to steal resources (in 2222, where he's from, there is nothing but pollution and buildings left), Ook and Gluk have two slightly oafish but rather dangerous bad guys with which to contend, and they transport into the future to get proper training about how to free their enslaved cave peers, and stop the evil Goppernoppers. There is, of course, plenty of potty humor and dumb puns, but there's also a bit of romance and some philosophical debate as Ook and Gluk mature over the course of several years of training. Like the Captain Underpants tales, this narrative is ostensibly authored by schoolboys Harold and George, complete with kid misspellings; as with that series, this title offers bonus features throughout, including flip-o-rama sections, humorous asides, and a section on how to turn boring English into awesome caveman speech. The casual, messy illustrations and oversize, clear font will be familiar elements to Pilkey fans, and the new characters, even with caveman details, are very much the same two (mostly harmless) bad boys as Harold and George. With the next graphic novel adventure promising caveman space exploration, it is clear that Pilkey has another series in mind, and he continues to offer the exact goofy, quirky details that his kind of reader will find perfect.