Batman Classic: Fowl Play
If the title doesn’t tip you off, this latest entry in the publisher’s superhero series for beginning readers is stocked with the usual punny dialogue: Oh, I can think of one bird that belongs in a cage. He speaks of the Penguin, of course, who has been plaguing luckless Gotham City with an armada of trained birds that break into people’s houses and carry off valuables in upside-down umbrellas. Batman tracks Penguin to his lair, where he is attacked by the birds. Batman versus birds? No, it doesn’t sound especially exciting, but the trick is that he doesn’t want to hurt the birds. This feeds into the book’s gentle green message, personified by worried environmentalist Beverly Birdsong. Like the other volumes, this opens with a list of character profiles and doesn’t focus much on plot or sense—the finale basically comes out of nowhere (or Batman’s utility belt, to be exact). But Gordon’s comic-book illustrations are of the sharp, whiz-bang, action-packed variety, and that ought to be enough. Preschool-Grade 1. --Daniel Kraus