Dungeon: Parade - Vol. 1: A Dungeon Too Many (v. 1)
Grade 8 Up—Set in the already absurd Dungeon universe, this book collects two humorous stories that exist without any additional contribution to the overall saga, making it a great stand-alone volume but not the best introduction to the series. The first tale concerns a theme-park dungeon being built next to the eponymous setting, and the competition that arises between the real thing and its family-friendly knockoff. The second story involves the last wish of a genie's lamp, time travel, and fart jokes, as well as the interesting speciesism that crops up in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals. Both tales involve the fabulously macabre sense of humor that characterizes the series, with a childlike fascination with displays of gore and social commentary. The line work is raw and energetic, and may not appeal to those used to the clean compositions of American and Japanese comics, but after the initial immersion, there is much to like here. The character design is grossly comic, and the level of variety and detail that goes into populating the world with bizarre monsters is both endearing and fascinating.—Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NHCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.