314. The Unkindness of Ravens by J. Torres & Faith Erin Hicks

The Unkindness of Ravens by J. Torres. Art by Faith Erin Hicks
Bigfoot Boy, 2

Rating: (3/5)

(US) - (Canada) - (UK)

Sept 1, 2013, Kids Can Press, 100 pgs

Age: 7+  

"Another weekend at Grammy's, another weekend of Rufus using his magic totem to transform himself into Bigfoot Boy! But when you're big, hairy and loud, it's hard to keep your powers a secret, especially when there are trickster ravens that want the magic for themselves.

You won't want to miss this second rrrawesome adventure of Bigfoot Boy and his friends!" 

Received an egalley from the publisher through Edelweiss.

A common term for a group of ravens is an "unkindness" of ravens and in this title there is, of course, a play upon those words as "the bad guys" in this volume are ravens.  The very first page is a beautiful piece of art from Hicks, the likes of which we've never seen from her before.  It is a nature scene with animals and quite a stunning opening page.  Hick's artwork is broadening out in this volume, moving away from her character driven style and incorporating animals, both anthropomorphically and realistically along with nature scenes.  A different style for her but she keeps her characters in the form we are used to and pulls off the rest nicely.  I enjoyed the first "Bigfoot Boy" volume more than this one.  Here the story was simply about the ravens trying to steal Rufus' totem and he and his gang of friends trying to get it back.  It's all over the place and actually ends without a resolution on a cliffhanger note with the words "to be continued".  I'm not terribly impressed with Torres writing or plotting here but I will read the next volume to see how Hicks art develops in this new turn towards animals and nature. 

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