The Saga of Rex
Originally serialized in Kazu Kibuishi’s Flight anthologies, the story of the intergalactically adorable fox named Rex is collected here. The tale dispenses with words entirely after the first of six chapters, which convolutedly sets up the premise: Rex gets plucked from his home planet to enter a cosmic ritual in which alien shape-shifters and their chosen companions (e.g., Rex) undergo a series of trials on a constantly morphing world. Why? “Those secrets have been lost in the catacombs of time.” But it doesn’t really matter, as the story pretty quickly takes on an epic scope, and Rex pluckily pounces his way into adventures soaring through the air on a flying stingray-creature; plowing into a jarringly violent encounter with a giant, pincer-jawed serpent; and finally proving his mettle beyond a doubt by shooting his newfound crystal-horn laser into space to obliterate a doomsday comet. The free-floating, heroic whimsy of the story arrives at a sweet ending, but the real experience is in swooping through Gagné’s deliriously gorgeous, silent panels and breathtaking planetary vistas. Grades 3-6. --Ian Chipman