Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy: Disco Fever

Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy: Disco Fever. Huh? Having never heard of Savage Chickens or Doug Savage before, I had to rely solely on my intrigue at the strange illustration on the cover in my decision to take a chance on this graphic novel. I am so glad I did! Although this book's target audience is kids, don't let that fool you! Adults will get as much, if not more, joy from this book as their kids.

Whenever the cute but obviously evil chickadee is around, bad things happen. Laser Moose, protector of the forest who shoots lasers from his eyes, and Rabbit Boy, his dancing sidekick, are on the case. Cyborgupine, Laser Moose's cyborg-porcupine nemesis, makes use of a truckload of disco balls to attempt to defeat Laser Moose once and for all. Can Laser Moose still be a hero if he can't use his lasers?

With Gus (a vegetarian wolf), Frank (a deer), squirrels, a fish, an eagle and a spider along for the ride, I couldn't choose a favourite character. I liked them all! I even noticed a cameo appearance by Mechasquirrel from the first Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy book.

Doug Savage's illustrations had me happily making a fool of myself by randomly bursting into laughter throughout the book. I particularly loved the chain reactions that evil chickadee caused. This graphic novel is the perfect example of a picture painting a thousand words. The details are important in Doug's pictures and if you pay attention to what's happening in the entire scene you'll be rewarded. Something small and seemingly insignificant at the beginning of the story may well come back into play later.

As soon as I finished reading I searched for more graphic novels by Doug Savage. I found the first of this series along with plenty of Savage Chickens offerings available on my library's digital comic book and graphic novel app. (What would I do without libraries?!) Needless to say, every single one has been downloaded ready for my amusement. Incidentally, as I've recently discovered my love for this publisher, I also downloaded as many Andrews McMeel Publishing titles as I had space to store and plan to go back for more once I've devoured this lot.

I received an ARC of this graphic novel from NetGalley (thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity) in exchange for honest feedback.

Laser Moose is just what he sounds, a moose that has the ability to shoot lasers from his eyes. This can be cool, but also a bit troubling (think trees accidentally felled). The trouble intensifies when a truck full of reflective disco balls falls into the woods and Laser Moose's lasers are reflected everywhere by the small mirrors. When Cyborupine -- an evil porcupine with a bionic eye, natch -- decides to make a transformer type monster out of reflecting disco ball mirrors, trouble ensues. Is this the work of the evil chickadee that lives in the forest, or is the chickadee an innocent bystander. Confused? Intrigued? This is the world of Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy and it's a doozy. Lots of fun and unlikely action, great starter comic book for kids.

The 2nd Laser Moose is here and we were so excited!!! This book is so silly that we all laugh. I love how incredibly silly it all gets.

Sometimes they are sarcastic which is really funny for adults. And sometimes it's just silly which is really funny for kids. Frank is there, and there's a vegetarian wolf!

And the real star, the evil chickadee! But can Laser Moose find the proof he needs?

Laser Moose shoots lasers out of his eyes. Rabbit Boy is a rabbit that is his best friend. This is the second book in the series, and has a much simpler plot than the last one. The basic story is that there is evil out there, and Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy have to fight it, as soon as they figure out what that evil is.

In between all this, a shipload of disco balls comes into their valley, thus the disco fever name for the book, and there is evil, but is it the chickadee? Is it the wolf? And what is the beaver doing?

Fun, sarcastic, easily read by a middle-schooler on up. What a great series. Is there a theme? A message? I guess the message is "things aren't always what they seem."

Thanks o Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Laser firing moose, cyborg porcupines, disco fever and evil chickadees...all make for very funny and insane comic trip!

Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy are busy keeping the forest safe. Laser Moose has his eye on Chickadee whom he is convinced is evil but he can’t catch in the act. Meanwhile, an escaped load of disco balls has crashed in the forest and Cyborgupine has gathered them to make a fiendishly clever laser-proof suit. Unable to use his lasers to save the day, Laser Moose has an identity crisis. But Rabbit Boy helps give Laser Moose a pep talk and come up with a way to defeat Cyborgupine despite his highly reflective suit.

I liked this much better than the first Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy book. In fact, I might suggest to just skip book one and pick up the series here (since the characters are reintroduced here and book one spends most of its time introducing them you aren’t missing much). Laser Moose learns some important lessons about true worth and jumping to conclusions, and he and Rabbit Boy employ some creative problem solving to save the day. Kids can have fun debating whether or not Chickadee is evil or not since the evidence isn’t super conclusive one way or the other. If you know a lower grade student who is struggling getting into reading and likes unique superheroes, this might be just the thing. And you can learn some unique dance moves from Rabbit Boy in the back of the book too.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content or decency issues. Some animals get hit by wayward laser beams but just get flesh wounds that are depicted with a little red.