This was a fun and amazingly clean parody of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and it was so funny. Because this time it’s not a little kid having a bad day, but Superman. He puts his suit on backwards, walks through his wall, explodes his shampoo, and even had to cover the flower show. But some days are like that. MAD did a good job. Might have to add this one to my collection.

Works As Parody and As A Standalone

I'm a sucker for anything from The Usual Gang of Idiots at MAD, but that probably doesn't tell you much about how this book might appeal to its target kid audience. I liked the premise for this book and for its companion volume, "Goodnight Batcave", and I'm happy to conclude that the book seemed to me to work on both of its intended levels.

As to the parody, well, I've never been a huge fan of the "Alexander..." original, so I was wide open to a parody. This gets the feel of the original book, and since it's funnier and more clever than the original it works well as a parody.

But the important part is that it's fine as a standalone. Any kid who likes Superman, or any of the Justice League characters, will get the basic joke, and most of the funny bits and throwaways. We fool around with the cape, villains, doing Super-chores, the Clark Kent disguise, quick-changing into costume. This is all classic Superman and straight up fun. Sometimes books like this can get too subtle or obscure, but here each of the elements of Superman's bad day is classic and obvious Superman-ish.

It's all sold, though, by the illustrations. A sketchier or more manic and exaggerated approach probably wouldn't have carried the joke. But here Tom Richmond has done a wonderful job of giving us a very expressive and understandable Superman. There is a lot of energy in the drawing, but it's always clear what's happening to Superman and how he feels about it. Even a very early reader will get what's going on, and the drawings would help any reader to follow the tale. For older readers, there are a lot of clever and witty bits of business drawn into each page, and some of the funniest stuff is hidden in the margins and backgrounds of the drawings. This makes the book more engaging and much more rereadable than usual.

So, I was happy with this as a fun and funny addition to any kid's superhero shelf, and appreciated the good-humored goof on the genre. A nice find.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

This is a funny book starring Superman in a parody of a classic children's book. Kids and adult superhero fans alike will enjoy it.

Excellent parody in both text and illustrations. Superman makes ordinary bad days pale in comparison to what a Superhero has to endure! Sleep walking through your bedroom walls, ruining your work suit, having to endure the taunts of children and your Justice League colleagues. Croatto gives readers a glimpse of the darker side to being a Superhero that is rarely ever seen.

I asked my 9-1/2 year old son to read this book with me. He of course is the one who gave it a 4 star rating. I laughed though as I thought it was definitely a 4 star book given the age range it was for. We both laughed and enjoyed the book immensely.

This is perfect for kids, fans of Superman and those who grew up with the original Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Dave Croatto did a wonderful job adapting the story for Superman and the other Superheroes hanging out in the Hall of Justice not to mention Jimmy, Lois and Perry. With the popularity of Flash and Batman thanks to the movies and TV Show I thought it was cute the way Croatto played off that in the story since they've gotten more love from fans and press time than Superman's character lately. I too think anchovies don't belong on pizza lol!

As great as this story is, what cements it as a MUST have are the illustrations which do a wonderful job of bringing it to life. It's not just what you see right away in the foreground but if you allow yourself the time to really examine the details in the background as well it ups the wow factor at how much was included.

Between the story and the illustrations you'll find something to laugh about on every page to make this a quick favorite.

Since the Justice League movie comes out a month after the publication of this book I see some great marketing tie-ins and giveaways in the future....

A classic children's book meets one of the most classic Superheroes in one of the best ways imaginable in this excellent comic-al (pun intended) parody that pays such clear loving homage to both of its sources. Simply put, this is an absolute delight for both DC fans and everyone who grew up with the "Alexander" books!