Saturday Morning Cartoons- The Lionharts and Zicky: Wrath of the Rat King

Lawrence, Michael. The Lionharts #1
March 3, 2026 by Abrams Fanfare
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

This graphic novel is set in a medieval world similar to Alexanders Chronicles of Prydain. The Lionharts have a Family Quest business taking care of magical problems for clients from their timbered building in a world where there are dragons and ogres. The parents tend to do most of the work that requires travel, although a standing job is clearing harpies out of Farmer Grunk's hayloft. This leaves Alder to run the counter in the shop while Grandma Dotty and Baba Gilbert (who are retired) take care of the house and Alder's younger brother, the exuberant if misguided Flynt. When a mysterious woman (who looks a bit like the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland) books an appointment to find a missing treasure, the weary parents head out alone, despite Alder's pleas to be allowed to help. When they don't come back for several days, Alder worries, and he and Flynt head out to find them. They meet Ferg, a troll who says they headed off toward the bog, as well as Clump, an ogre. They begin to worry that perhaps Maude, the dragon that Grammy Dotty took care of, has returned. When mists in the forest lead them astray, they end of at the cottage of Gloria, an elf who is Baba's ex-girlfriend. Joined by their grandparents, they learn that their parents are heading up the mountain. Grammy asks Gloria to watch the boys, but her idea of keeping them safe if much different. The three take a magical boat up the mountain, and Gloria turns the boys into a turtle and frog so that they can swim underwater to get into Maude's cave. Once there, they find their parents and grandparents engaged in battle with a surprising foe, and family secrets are revealed. Eventually, things are resolved, and Alder and Flynt are allowed to go on more quests with their parents.
Strengths: Middle grade adventures are so much better when parents are involved. Throw in a heroine grandmother, and this is as good as it gets. Of course, parents occasionally get kidnapped and need to be saved, so Flynt and Alder get to have plenty of adventures on their own. There are plenty of medievalish quest fantasy novels, but very few in graphic form. This even starts with a map of the kingdom, and includes all of the standard fantasy tropes and characters. The inclusions that make this feel fresh are the parents and grandparents, especially the stong mother and grandmother, and the fact that the boys don't seem to have been trained for adventures. The artwork is a little brighter and more modern feeling than I would have expected for a medieval adventure, but this also makes the story a bit fresher. While fantasy books haven't been circulating well in my library, graphic novels have. I'll definitely purchase this, and try to use it as a gateway for the many, many fantasy novels that are in my school library, especially ones like O'Donnell's Homerooms and Hallpasses.
Weaknesses: I rather wanted Flynt to get eaten by a dragon. He was annoying. Of course, I am an older sister, so I naturally sided with the more responsible Alder. I also have some questions about the advisability of leaving the boys with Gloria. There's definitely more to her story.
What I really think: While I personally will never quite understand the appeal of traveling up mountains, through forests, and underground (either through water or earth), fantasy readers love this sort of adventure. The closet graphic novel to this title is Aldridge's Estranged, and readers who enjoyed Yogis and Truong's City of Dragons series, Messenger, Freen, and Chianello's Keeper of Lost Cities adaptation, Siegel's 5 Worlds adventures, Sedita, Seraydarian, and Hamaker's Pathfinders books or Kurtz' Table Titans Club Dungeons and Dragons camp stories will be glad to see this classic quest tale given a graphic novel treatment.  

Cape, Darin S. (author), Hainsworth, Shawn (Editor) , Decrux, Zeno Decrux and Gabotto, Hiorsh Gabotto(Illustrators). Zicky: Wrath of the Rat King

April 14, , 2026 by SHP Comics
Copy provided by the publisher

Zachary is almost five years old and lives with his parents and older brother and sister. He has a very active imagination, and spends his nighttime and nap hours fighting the Rat King in a fantasy world where he is an older character called Zicky. When he goes missing one morning and the police have to be called, it's clear that his two worlds are mixing. He has rats in his bedroom, and a dog he has in the imaginary world appears and his sister adopts it. The Rat King wants his ring (actually a binky), and there's lots of fighting. The rats eventually come in to other parts of town in the real world. An exterminator is called, but he is no match for giant rats. Zachary has a potion that will make the rats larger and even turn him into Zicky in the real world. When his family experiences the giant rats and Zicky, they are suitably alarmed, but when Zachary is done having the Rat King in his real life, a Deus ex machina called The Ghost in the Machine comes in and cleans up all of the messes so that Zachary can go back to his regular life. 

This was a rather trippy, comic book style graphic novel that was a bit like Kochalka's The Glorkian Warrior books or Angleberger's The First Cat in Space; I just don't get the humor. The rats kicked me out, and the Manga style Rat King world was deeply unpleasant as well. Readers who aren't grossed out by Savage's Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy might pick this up. Even though SHP Comics is an independent publisher, this is available through Follett Titlewave and was reviewed by Kirkus. I'll put this copy in my library (I don't put all books I receive in my library!), but I don't know that I would have purchased it. I'm not afraid of rats in general, but THESE rats require a warning! I'll have to see how this one does with my students.