Mister Invincible: Local Hero - by Pascal Jousselin (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Bologna Ragazzi Award Winner 2020
A Junior Library Guild Selection 2020
Featured in The New York Times
Booklist Starred Review
Kirkus Starred Review
Publishers Weekly Starred Review

There's a new superhero in town -- Mr. Invincible! Sure, he wears a mask and cape and helps widows and orphans as any self-respecting hero would, but he also thwarts the mad scientists and bad guys with his amazing super-power that makes him the only true comic book hero: he can reach outside the comic strip panels to affect both space and time! By breaking the boundaries of 'comic book physics' he and his companions are able to do amazing things that are only possible thanks to the magic of comics! A wholly unique and creative twist on conventional comic-book reading experience, this wacky Middle Grade title will put your imagination to the test!

Review Quotes

NEW YORK TIMES - "Mister Invincible's team ultimately saves the day not with cosmic punches or fancy utility belts but by knowing just how fun it is to exist in panels on a printed page. Perhaps that is the lesson Mister Invincible teaches us longtime fans. The future of comic books lies not in ever flashier superpowers but in the wonders of the medium itself."

GOOD COMICS FOR KIDS BLOG (SLJ) -- This wacky title puts a creative twist on conventional comic book reading that middle school readers will love.

BOOKLIST (STARRED) -- He may be "the only true comic book superhero," but the chubby, yellow-clad Mister Invincible has humble aspirations: rescuing a cat in a tree, bringing baguettes to his grandma, foiling the
occasional mad scientist. Similarly, a casual flip-through of this book, with its uneventfully standard panel grids, might suggest a run-of-the-mill tale. But it takes no longer than the second panel for the character and the book to astonish, as Mister Invincible looks down in his kitchen and spots a mugging in progress on the tier of panels right below him, then leaps down into the lower panel to intervene. This French import gives new meaning to thinking outside the box, as mainstays of comics structure become opportunities for breathtaking formalist experimentation-transposing space and time, abstracting the solid, solidifying the abstract-to
mind-bending effect. Alternating one-page vignettes and extended masterpieces, Jousselin breathes joyous life into the form for fans and scholars of every age, and just when you think the device has run its course, he deploys another stupendous surprise. Neither does he let it all rest on his acumen; a charmingly deadpan hero, a sly sense of humor, and a good-natured, community-minded spirit are all visualized with clean, clear, expert cartooning and welcomingly classical figures. A wonderfully generous work displaying an unbridled love of the form.

KIRKUS (STARRED) -- Need ice? Cat up a tree? Giant robot on the attack? There's no job too large or too small for "the one and only true comic book superhero!"
Masked, caped, chubby, and imperturbable, Mister Invincible earns his moniker here in dozens of mind- and narrative-bending graphic mini-adventures thanks to his unique power to reach or chuck things into neighboring panels above or below. Catch a speedy thief? Mister Invincible nimbly drops into the next row! Foil a mad scientist's "mega-virus"? Just roll a lawn mower into the adjacent panel's microscopic world. Being clever as well as able to clobber unsuspecting villains from a later scene, Mister Invincible can even take on adversaries like Old Grandpa Jack, who can hurl words-or, more precisely, dialogue balloons-to damaging effect, and the Jester, a would-be supervillain capable of darting suddenly into view from the subsequent page and vanishing the same way. Jousselin too shows uncommon cleverness, as all these exploits and hijinks require exact, frequently ingenious placement of figures on both the same and neighboring pages to make them work. As Mister Invincible explains to one mystified witness, "It's just the incredible magic of comics, ma'am." The episodes in this French import, all drawn cartoon-style (with colors by Croix) in rows of squared-off panels, run one to 15 pages each. Mister Invincible presents White; there is a handful of secondary characters of color.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED) -- Jousselin takes full advantage of the comics format to introduce Mr. Invincible-"the one and only true comic book superhero!"-who utilizes "the incredible magic of comics" in his heroics. Jumping between panels to affect a story line's previous and future moments ("Time is space, and space is time"), the yellow-clad superhero considers no job too small, whether saving a cat (reaching down a panel to pluck it out of a treetop), confronting killer robots (bashing them with a mop through surrounding panels), or picking up a baguette for his grandmother (sending a note at the end of the strip to himself at the beginning). Single-page shorts, interspersed with longer tales, constitute most of this collection and serve to show all the ways Mr. Invincible creates an oft lighthearted meta narrative. Told in an art style reminiscent of Sunday comic strips and heavily rooted in visual gags, the vignettes aptly work outside the traditional box-er, panel-to explore a range of themes, including the value of hard work (Mr. Invincible learns early on in life not to use his powers to cheat), the dangers of corporate greed (a CEO embraces pollution to gain money and power), and the consequences of amassing military power (the U.S. attempts to weaponize a hero). Mr. Invincible, grounded and irreverent of his status as a major superhero, exudes infectious charm as he inspires those around him. Ages 9-12.