March 3, 2026 by Andrews McMeel Publishing
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
In this graphic novel, we meet Zander, who struggles in school. He's being raised by a single mother who runs a local coffee shop, The Donut Hole, and his great uncle, Mervin. Zander's grandfather was Felix Fast, a superhero who disappeared when Zander's mother was young, and Mervin stepped in when her mother died. Mervin loves to tell tales of his time helping out his brother, making sure superhero vehicles were in good repair. When it looks like Zander will have to enroll in summer school because his reading is poor, his teachers says that he can join the school reading challenge instead. This has been won several years running by Tanya May, and has a pizza party as a reward. When Tanya May brings a misdelivered package to Zander's house, the two strike up a conversation. The package contains an old looking book about speed reading that conceals a crystal. When Zander gets caught out in a lightning storm with the crystal, it zaps him with powers. He can suddenly run very fast and even read very fast, which helps him with the reading challenge but puts him at odds with Tanya. When men in black suits start following him, Mervin enlists the help of Dr. Simon Simian, whom Felix Fast had saved from being controlled by Big Brain, who had created an army of "brainiapes" to help him wreak havoc. The crystal turns out to be Speedium, which is what gave Felix Fast his super powers, and Zander has also absorbed this element. When he overhears some of the evil plans of the men in suits, he and Tanya try to figure out what is going on. There are some twists and turns, and a second book is definitely hinted at!
Strengths: It has always confused me that there is a disproportionate number of graphic novels that are essentially whiny memoirs, when there should be many more that are comic book style adventures! Zander is a classic underdog; a little pudgy, not great in school, and picked on by bullies, but he has a great support system in his mother, Mervin, and Tanya. A graphic novel is a great way to shout out classic comics, and some of the panels have a grainy, newsprint style dot quality to them, and the history makes sense; super heroes of the 1970s would be grandparents now. I particularly loved one of Mervin's friends, retired super villain "British Invader" who is now just pensioner Reggie Knight, but still rocking his groovy, vintage threads. Zander also has a trusty dog, Spike, who is along for the adventures. While the twist at the end isn't a huge surprise, I don't want to ruin it.
Weaknesses: Since the speed reading and the reading competition figured largely in the plot, I needed to know more about what troubles Zander really had. It's not realistic to let a student out of necessary instruction by requiring participation in a reading competition. Not accurately portraying how schools work is a pet peeve of mine, but this won't bother students. And yes, I know: we can have super speed powers acquired through a crystal and taking apes, but I want summer school to be correctly represented?
What I really think: Cody knows his classic comic and superhero lore; his Powerless (2010), Super (2012), and Villainous (2014) were very popular ten years ago in my library, and his six book Cat Ninja series (2020) puts yet another twist on this theme. I'll definitely purchase this for my school library, and I think it will be popular with my students, who get weary of the surfeit of autobiographical graphic novels.
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