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Reviewed by:
  • Mighty Jack and the Goblin King by Ben Hatke
  • Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor
Hatke, Ben Mighty Jack and the Goblin King; written and illus. by Ben Hatke; color by Alex Campbell and Hilary Sycamore. First Second, 2017 208p (Mighty Jack)
Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-62672-267-5 $22.99
Paper ed. ISBN 978-1-62672-266-8 $14.99 R Gr. 4-7

This graphic novel sequel picks up right where Mighty Jack (BCCB 9/16) left off, with Jack and his friend Lilly chasing Jack’s sister, Maddy, as she’s carried off to another world by the monster created in Jack’s magical garden. Jack and Lilly become separated, and Jack soon finds himself climbing up a castle wall to slay giants and prevent them from using Maddy as some sort of world-destroying weapon. Meanwhile, Lilly is fighting off the goblin king’s attempt to marry her, utilizing both her cleverness and mad fighting skills (thank you, LARPing), and she eventually takes up the (now dead) goblin king’s mantle, rallying a force of the little green dudes to come to Jack’s rescue. This has more speed and action than the first installment, and readers will zip right through the pages along with Jack and Lilly. The visual style resembles Hatke’s Zita the Space Girl (BCCB 1/11), but more mature design elements appear here, with jagged, split panels giving a sense of disorientation and action, and with plays on perspective effectively portraying the giant scope of this other world. The ending is an awesome surprise for Hatke fans, bringing much of his work together in one final scene, and it will ensure they will excitedly wait to follow Jack and co. on their next adventure. [End Page 21]

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