Thursday, May 14, 2009

Top Shelf Productions: JOHNNY BOO


A James Kochalka comic is not a story. It is five random minutes inside Kochalka's brain.

In JOHNNY BOO: THE BEST LITTLE GHOST IN THE WORLD we find Johnny Boo, a decidely happy little ghost, playing tag with his little ghost buddy Squiggle and now they're fighting over whether or not Johnny cheated by using his Boo Power to win and then they make each other laugh and then- AIEEE- it's a one eyed Ice Cream Monster and when they run away the monster thinks they're playing tag and then Johnny scares the Ice Cream Monster but they get along after that and they dig up some melted ice cream from the ground and the monster accidentally eats Boo and Johnny tells his friend to use Squiggle Power and Boo makes the monster burp him up and some green stuff comes out too and he can't stop burping until Johnny yells "Boo" to make it stop and they all become best friends.

The End.

This is a great book to read aloud with toddlers. It's nothing but a happy romp with three fun characters.

The second book in the series is called JOHNNY BOO: TWINKLE POWER. This one is about Johnny, Squiggle and The Ice Cream Monster running around and playing at night. This is quite a departure.

But all snark aside, TWINKLE POWER does have just a little bit more of a plot. This time Squiggle, a bit jealous of Johnny's cool Boo Power, flies off to find his own inner Squiggle Power (which is weird, right?, because he used his Squiggle Power to escape Ice Cream Monster's belly the last time, but whatever). Johnny finds himself scared to be alone at night. When the Ice Cream Monster suddenly jumps out from the bushes Johnny lets out a frightened "Eek." This kind of embarrasses the little dude and he tries to cover by claiming that "eek" is his new way of saying "boo." The Ice Cream Monster, being a dullwitted buffoon, actually believes him and asks Johnny to teach him how to say "eek." Squiggle hears Johnny yelling "eek" over and over again and rushes to save his friend. This wacky misunderstanding leads to Squiggle stumbling upon his own unique Squiggle Power. Then for the next few pages The Ice Cream Monster wiggles his butt around and gets dizzy and everyone laughs, even the stars in the sky.

The End.

There's a third JOHNNY BOO book out in August. It's called JOHNNY BOO: HAPPY APPLES. It is about apples.

Preview JOHNNY BOO: THE BEST LITTLE GHOST IN THE WORLD!

Preview JOHNNY BOO: TWINKLE POWER!

5 comments:

  1. Hey Doug - great review! I just want to point out that Squiggle goes in search of Twinkle Power in book 2 (hence the title), not Squiggle Power, which of course he already has.

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  2. Of course! I think the power of Ice Cream Monster's newfound WIGGLE POWER scrambled my brain.

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  3. Hi, Dad! I was looking for the followers page to add myself, but ended up reading this. Cool! (By the way, his throw-up is PURPLE, not green. Violet vomit. Purple puke. Lavender lunch. Whatever.)

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  4. Oh, I forgot. You called Squiggle Boo when you said "and he accidentially ate Boo,".

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  5. S***, I hate those letter identifications you have to pass to do this. Rentoumou.

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