Hilo: The Great Big Boom by Judd Winick (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Hilo: The Great Big Boom by Judd Winick
Library ed. ISBN 978-0-385-38621-0 $16.99
Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-385-38620-3 $13.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-385-38622-7 $9.99
Reviewed from galleys R* Gr. 4-6
When we last left the protagonists of this series about alien Earth-visitor Hilo (in the second volume, Hilo: Saving the Whole Wide World, BCCB 4/16), Hilo’s friend Gina had been sucked into a portal and Hilo and D.J., his other friend, were determined to get her back. While they’re working on that, Hilo’s trying to regain his memories, D.J. is struggling to push past his fears and become a hero, and Polly the warrior cat is still being her irascible self with a smart mouth and a quick fist (fans of Terry Pratchett’s Nac Mac Feegles will find a worthy comparison here). While they do indeed find Gina, getting her home and keeping them all together and in one piece will be a significant challenge, but when have these guys ever backed down from adversity? Winick is a master at adding new characters judiciously while also looping back to explore the established ones in greater depth. Hilo’s mysterious and troubling backstory has been slowly emerging over three graphic novels now, and readers are still only just beginning, as Hilo is, to understand his purpose and how he ended up on Earth. It would be easy to rest on the identifiable elements of the Hilo series, but there is never a sense that the author is coasting—each volume is more engaging, clever, and well developed than the last. Free and loose panel structure and liberal use of bolding letters hype up the drama as needed, and the [End Page 243] color profiles change dramatically depending on setting, allowing for the non-Earth locations to feel even more alien. New readers may be just a bit baffled, but it’s an easy sell to get them to go back and start at the beginning volume, and they’ll then join the ranks of those eager for the next outing.
