School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-In this series entry, Bruce Wayne is celebrating a museum exhibit of Egyptian artifacts that he helped to fund, when a flock of birds tears through the building, signaling that Mr. Cobblepot (better known as the Penguin) is robbing the museum. Wayne goes into full Batman mode, skipping a date and ignoring advice from his butler in order to connect the Penguin's most recent string of robberies and to try to prevent any further crimes. He discovers that the site of the Penguin's next attack is Wayne Industries, and he arrives at the scene just in time to see an enormous mechanical penguin burst out of the street with Cobblepot at the controls. This slim volume is full of excitement from start to finish, and the brightly colored illustrations move the story forward and keeps readers engaged. Although some backstory on Bruce Wayne would be helpful, it is not necessary to enjoy this action-packed story. A glossary and a set of "visual questions and prompts" make this book different from typical superhero graphic novels, providing an opportunity to expand kids' enjoyment of the comic into a more educational experience.-Sarah Reid, Broome County Public Library, Binghamton, NY (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Batman takes action when the Penguin breaks into Gotham's Museum of Natural History to steal priceless artifacts. The situation becomes more urgent when his arch-nemesis gets too close to Wayne Industries, which potentially threatens Batman's true identity. The deep, cool colors of the comic-panel illustrations reflect the dark tone that permeates this brief, by-the-numbers superhero story. "Visual questions and prompts" are appended. Glos. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
