Uncle Scrooge: The Hunt for the Old Number One
Grade 3–6—The Uncle Scrooge collection contains five chapters of a serialized saga wherein sorceress Magica de Spell tries to acquire Scrooge's lucky dime, a talisman he always keeps on his person, and to which he attributes his financial success. The art style and dialogue are suitably on model, evoking the now classic Don Rosa tales, but Scrooge is always best as a caper book, and the supernatural elements don't mesh well here. While the characters inCarscontinue to be popular with young boys, this book will likely disappoint. It reads as overextended and morally simplistic, but—crucially—in a story about speed and motion, the images fail to communicate the dynamism of movement or sell the drama of how one car was able to beat another. The subtitle ofIncredibles, the third volume in the current series, is strangely misleading, as it refers to a segment of plot that's not its main focus. The book is about how super-speedster Dash has his powers removed by his superhero parents. But Dash is afraid that all is not what it seems, and continues to try to be a hero in order to uncover a sinister plot. The story has a good twist, but an unfortunate change of artists halfway through reduces the expressiveness of the images and characters, leaving the conclusion emotionally flat. A closing coda by the parents feels out of place with the preceding focus on Dash's perspective.—Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH(c) Copyright 2011.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.