Calamity Jack

Written by Shannon & Dean Hale

Illustrated by Nathan Hale

Bloomsbury Press 2010

Approx age 9 & up

Jack has always aspired to be a criminal mastermind. Fortunately for his prospected victims, he has been cursed with bad luck and a conscience. While trying to free his mother from the servitude of a scheming, fat cat giant, his luck gets the better of him again, and he narrowly escapes with his bones unground. After a year of misadventures with cowgirl, Rapunzel, Jack returns to the city with his fiery-tress 'ed companion in tow, determined to finally free his mother, and the entire city, from the clutches of the giant, Blunderboar.

Calamity Jack is the sequel to the surprise hit graphic novel of last year, Rapunzel's Revenge. It stands alone, though, as Jack has become the main protagonist, plus there is a small recap in early part of the book.

The Hale's ability to masterfully mix together, and totally morph, these classic fairy tales into one big fractured, steampunk mess is once again on display. Jack as an urban Native "American" dandy (the land is never named) is a wonderful touch, putting him somewhere in the middle of Grimm and the Coyote trickster tales. And Rapunzel, revised as a princess-in-exile-cum-frontier heroine is an amazingly strong female protagonist. Her braids, used as lariats, are my favorite visual in this series. Nathan Hale uses them not only as compositional elements, but to compliment the image, their flaming orange hues really making the color scheme pop. His line work is reminiscent of a young Rick Geary, with a bit of P. Craig Russel thrown in for good measure. I think my only critique is placement of the title on the cover. Could have been a bit bigger and a bit punchier, but seriously, I am reaching to find a flaw in this book.

This book is a such a great example of how good it is to be a kid into comics right now. Publisher's are really pushing to make comics for children again, and the majority of them are really respecting the strides artists and writer who pushed them as respected art form. This volume is going to be such an easy sell to all the Steampunk kids out there, even if they have no idea what that means.