Humpty Dumpty Jr: Hardboiled Detective
The Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost
Nate Evans, Paul Hindman, and Vince Evans
128 pp. Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. $4.99
Pub. Date: 10/1/2008
ISBN-13: 978-1402212468
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
“He smelled funky, like dirty wet socks.
He looked like a laundry bag with feet.
I tipped my hat and said, ‘Name’s Dumpty. Private Eye.’
I flashed my PI badge at him as I gave his office the once-over.” – Humpty Dumpty Jr. “The Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost”
Showing you can’t keep a good private egg-vestigator down, Humpty Dumpty Jr. Hardboiled Detective returns in his second case file “The Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost”. After an absolutely wonderful introductory tale, “The Case of the Fiendish Flapjack Flop,” author/illustrator Nate Evans and Paul Hindman along with illustrator Vince Evans once again turn out a fiercely intelligent, awe-inspiring winner in “The Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost”. Charming, fun and vastly enjoyable, “The Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost” is sure to provide plenty of ghostly chills and spectacular thrills to young readers everywhere.
As the story begins, Hardboiled PI Humpty Dumpty Jr. and his trusty, magic-wand waving partner Rat are arguing. It seems that Rat doesn’t want to go to school, but Humpty Dumpty Jr., being the upstanding role-model (role-egg?) he is, insists that Rat needs to go to class. They are interrupted by a knock on the office door. As Rat opens the door, a young girl surprisingly collapses into his arms. After tending to the young lady, Humpty and Rat discover that the girl, Princess Lily, is currently a student at the famous magical academy, Merlin’s Institute for the Knowledge of Everything.
Lilly explains that a gruesome ghost has been haunting the school. Even worse is that Merlin hasn’t done anything to curb the pugnacious poltergeist. In an act of extreme bravery, Lily’s father, Prince Balto, confronted the ghost, tragically falling ill in the process and is now unable to wake up. Fearful for her father’s health, Lily wishes to hire Humpty and Rat to investigate the ghost roaming the Institute in hopes of unraveling the mystery and thereby helping Prince Balto.
Not wanting to refuse a damsel in distress, Humpty and Rat agree to help Lilly. The first stop on their investigation is to ask the famous wizard and school headmaster Merlin some questions about the ghost. However, Merlin vehemently claims that no ghost is haunting the school, making things a bit contentious between him and Humpty. Oddly during the course of the interrogation, Merlin takes a special interest in young Rat, convinced that Humpty’s sidekick is the re-embodiment of King Arthur. This leads Merlin to ask Rat to become his special student at the Institute. Needing access to the school, our reluctant young hero agrees. But there is one more problem left—Merlin won’t let Humpty stay, so our excellent egg must find another way to stick around. A quick magical transformation later (complete with push broom mustache) and Humpty has hocus-pocused himself into the school’s new janitor. But that was the easy part. Now all Humpty and Rat have to do is track down the school’s elusive ectoplasm and crack the case before Humpty gets scrambled.
Authors Nate Evans and Paul Hindman infuse “The Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost” with all the whimsical charm and magic that was so evident in the first book. Our incredibly brave protagonists Humpty and Rat sparkle. Both overflow with an endearing sweetness that makes them absolutely loveable and their get-it-done attitude makes them suitably heroic. The spunky heroine Princess Lily is the newest addition to the team and she shines brightly. By the end of the book, Evans and Hindman have endeared her to the reader in a way that’s easily comparable to Humpty and Rat. The wariness between Rat and Princess Lily, in particular, is incredibly sweet and amusing. (Rat, like any young boy, is appropriately grossed out about the fact that Lily is a girl!) But not only are the main characters wonderfully conceived the minor ones display an incredible level of creativity by the writers and artists. In particular, Lord Feathergrimm and Merlin really stand out in the proceedings. Ultimately, there are no dull or unmemorable characters in the story and the “The Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost” benefits greatly from this.
The book’s chapters are short and relatively self-contained which keeps the pacing fast and the storyline moving. Each of the chapters adds a new twist to the plot or introduces a new character, keeping the reader engaged throughout. The noir aspects prevalent in the first book that worked so beautifully are less in evidence here. “The Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost” is, in essence, a different type of story. It resembles a Scooby-Doo-type monster mystery more than a noir detective story, but that’s not to imply that it’s not as good as its predecessor. Both books ultimately work well, hitting all the right notes just in different ways.
Vince Evans and Nate Evans once again contribute dazzling illustrations. Each of their drawings is filled with tons of humorous little details. This is instrumental in making each character absolutely memorable. So when Lord Feathergrimm is described as having a hideous wart on his face, the corresponding illustration gives readers a nasty wart they will not soon forget. Essentially, the artistic team has achieved a distinctive and recognizable look for each of the characters. Young readers should find this advantageous in identifying the players in the story as well as their imaginations being fired up from the visual presentation alone.
The team of Nate Evans, Paul Hindman and Vince Evans clearly have another gem on their hands. The book radiates a joyful charm and magic in abundance. “The Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost” likely will enthrall even the pickiest young reader. Overflowing with tons of action and a heaping handful of endearing characters, you won’t want to stop reading until you reach the egg-citing conclusion.
Final Grade: 83 out of 100
2 comments:
WOW! This review was so compelling I may buy it to satisfy the inner egg-head in me. Go figure, it sounds like actually an interesting book! I knew I had an inner child in me somewhere, just took humpty dumpty to find it :)
Embracing your inner egg-head is a good thing!
I don't think you can every be too old for some Humpty Dumpty goodness.
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