Pirate Penguin vs Ninja Chicken Volume 1: Troublems With Frenemies
New publisher Top Shelf gives the hardcover treatment to Friesen’s previously self-published wild stew of absurdist shenanigans as Penguin and Chicken keep finding ways to fight each other—even though they’re pals—in an array of short stories. The gags continue to fly faster than a barrage of throwing stars in a longer tale that takes Chicken to a ninja convention and sends Penguin into space with an armadillo astronaut. The slick, digitally gleaming images would be right at home on the Cartoon Network and, while Friesen makes no huge strides forward, new and old readers looking for nonstop nuttiness need search no further. Grades 2-4. --Jesse Karp