Comics Squad #2: Lunch!

Comics Squad #2

by Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Calling all kidz! Do you like comics? Do you like laughing till milk comes out of your nose?! Look no further—do we have the book for you! All your favorite comic characters are right here in one book, including the Peanuts gang, Babymouse, and Lunch Lady. This all-star tribute to classic Sunday comics includes eight sidesplitting, action-packed stories about every kid’s favorite subject—LUNCH!   Lunchtime can be fun, wild, yummy, or complete chaos! And in this second collection of comics, it is definitely hilarious.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Humor, Juvenile, Short Stories, Childrens, Food

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 26, 2016

About the author

Jennifer L. Holm is a USA TODAY and NEW YORK TIMES-bestselling children's author with more than 9.8 million books in print She is the recipient of three Newbery Honors for her novels OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, PENNY FROM HEAVEN, and TURTLE IN PARADISE and a Scott O'Dell Award for her novel FULL OF BEANS.

Jennifer collaborates with her brother, Matthew Holm, on three bestselling graphic novel series -- the Eisner Award-winning Babymouse series, the SUNNY series, and the Squish series. SQUISH is now an animated tv series on YouTube!

For more information, visit her website at www.jenniferholm.com.

Reviews

[Paul Orsino · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second installment of this series does not disappoint! Graphic novels are hotter than ever and my students cannot wait to get their hands on this!

The Comics Squad series is a great "jumping on" point for those new to comics and will introduce readers to fantastic characters such as Babymouse and Lunch Lady.

For those of us who have grown to love the contributing authors and characters, Comics Squad gives us more of what we crave, fun and thoughtful comic adventures.

[Kellee Moye · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVED the new Nathan Hale story!

[Bridget's Quiet Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one got a 4 stars because there were a couple stories that were either confusing and/or just not my thing until the end. But other than those two stories, I loved the book.

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review. Receiving this book for free has in no way altered my opinion or review.

I will be honest and say it's been a very long time since I read any comics at all. I remember getting the paper as a child and that was the only section I would read. And then in college I started getting the paper just so I could read the comics on Sunday while relaxing. So, I did what I thought would be best and sat down on a Sunday with my big cup of coffee and read through this cute comics!

I will say that it was really fun to see what the authors came up with. From food fights in the cafeteria, to history lessons about the World War II, these little snippets were funny and yet serious. Good lessons taught to all.

I truly enjoyed the Snoopy comic as it brought me back to my childhood.

I will say I had a hard time following The Case of the Missing Science Project. I liked the concept, but the arrows just confused me too much to read it. I think this one might be hard for children to follow, as well.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading these and I've passed them on to my kids to have fun with.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eight different comics explore that perennially popular topic of most youngsters--lunch. Readers will be surprised at the different directions the stories take. For instance, in "Crazy Little Thing Called Lunch," Cece Bell explores Ellie's reluctance to vary her dietary routines for fear of affecting her academic performance. In "Lunch Bomb 1943" Nathan Hale tells the true but most astounding story of how potatoes were used to sink a Japanese submarine during WWII, and in "Lunch Girl and the Ominous Origin" Jarrett J. Krosoczka features those ever-loving lunch ladies and how one brave youngster deals with a bully. I liked how Janice tries to befriend the bully when the others turn on her. Like its predecessor, Comics Squad: Recess!, this one will fly off the shelves faster than that mystery meat so often served in school cafeterias lands in the garbage cans. What a funny and great idea for a collection that highlights several talented graphic storytellers.

[Abby Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another cute collection of comics by some of the hottest names in kids' comics. This one especially stands out for its inclusion of a choose-your-own-adventure style comic. And I especially liked Nathan Hale's contribution.

[Scott Robins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice balanced collection of comics with familiar characters and some new ones all around the theme of lunch. Plus, a dedication to me in the front!! :-)

[Tim Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of comics about lunch by various authors. Nothing special.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of comics with the (loose) common theme of lunch. Varies by comic so individually:

Crazy Little Thing Called Lunch by Cece Bell (El Deafo author) ***

A girl who likes to eat the same thing every day for lunch, is challenged to try something different, with dramatic results and makes a new friend! Raises a good point of making sure you let people know if you have a food allergy before you eat something. Though her crazy allergy induced dream is pretty funny.

Lunchtime Beagle by Schulz Studio (Snoopy) **1/2

Snoopy, under orders from the Head Beagle, is helping with the school lunchtime. Various things ensue. Okay, so if you grew up watching/reading original Snoopy, than you'll know what I mean when I say this is "new" Snoopy and therefore less fun.

Babymouse Lunch Table Champion by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm (Babymouse authors) ***

Babymouse and friends must defend their lunch table from the bullies who want to take it for themselves. This had a bit going for it with the Robin Hood and dodgeball elements, but ends super abruptly and without any real resolution.

Little Jimmy, Kid Detective, in the Case of the Missing Science Project by Jason Shiga (Meanwhile author) ***

A detective story that's "Choose Your Own Path" with a slightly different ending depending which way you go. HOWEVER, my biggest issue with this, is that it's vaguely mentioned that they need to solve this by lunchtime, but there is no other affiliation with lunch which is the theme for the book, so fail. Otherwise, it is pretty fun but seems misplaced in this collection.

Pikput & Cullen in Worst Day Ever by Cecil Castelluci & Sarah Varon (Odd Duck author/illustrator) ***

Pikput and Cullen are not friends, but after causing trouble in science class they are put on lunch duty where they find experiments to do and bond. I wouldn't want these guys in my kitchen or touching my food, but does show them growing and science in everyday life.

Lucy & Andy Neanderthal: Cave Soup by Jeffery Brown (Jedi Academy author) **1/2

A Neanderthal family makes lunch. I've never been a cave-man fan, so this misses the mark for me from the beginning, though Mr. Brown always creates humorous characters (and he does in this as well), but then he dumps them at the end for archeologists? It was a bit puzzling.

Lunch Bomb 1943 by Nathan Hale (Hazardous Tales author) ****

A Hazardous Tale from WWII that has to do with how lunch saved the day for one destroyer crew in the Pacific theater. Has the characters back from the Hazardous Tales series, has a great true story and though a tad of humor, doesn't forget that this involves peoples lives and they didn't all make it through. Easily my favorite of the collection.

Lunch Girl and the Ominous Origin by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Lunch Lady author) ***1/2

A girl finds another girl sitting by herself at lunch and decides to sit with her and find out why she's sad. It has to do with a bully, but the problem is not a simple solution and the first try is a miss. Eventually, though, justice is served! I liked that the story was a bit complex and that the quick solution wasn't the best. Also a fun activity at the end.

Content notes: No issues.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the editing team that brought you 'Comics Squad: Recess" comes an all-new treasury of comics devoted to the second most popular class at school- LUNCH! Fan favs such as Babymouse, Lunch Lady, and the Peanuts gang return from book one to in this very fun collection.


Of the eight stories contained in this anthology, seven were really good. My favorite was, of course, the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales adventure. I just am in love with that series.

Here, captured spy Nathan Hale recounts a short story set during the second world war. When an American naval ship runs afoul of a giant Japanese destroyer, they set out to sink the Imperial monster or be sunk themselves. As the battle rages in the Pacific, the American ship runs out of ammo, that is until someone gets the idea to start shooting bombs made of potatoes and other items from the galley. It's an all-true account of a food fight that helped save the free world!!!

Other really great stories in this collection involves the secret origin of Lunch Lady when she was a bullied child and Sara Varon's 'Worst Day Ever' about two rivals becoming friends thanks to lunchtime science experiments. Another great tale is titled Cave Soup. This yarn by Jedi Academy creator Jeffrey Brown involves two pairs of Neanderthal children. The older pair keep pushing off their chores on the younger while they goof around. But the younger cave-kids are one step ahead of their older siblings and are determined to make sure the big brother and big sister have to clean up.

The Case of the Missing Science Project by Meanwhile's Jason Shiga was my least favorite story. This choose-your-own-adventure type story should've been one of the best stories in this book but the idea just didn't translate very well in the graphic novel medium. Originally, a CYOA story has you given a series of options to choose from and then you flip to the corresponding page number
. While a few page numbers are given in Shiga's story, most of your choices require you to follow a snaking series of arrows that often get a little confusing to follow. I did enjoy many of the bizarre ways that the hero of the Missing Science Project met his fate. Those crazy ending were part of what made those CYOA books so fun to read.

Despite this one disappointing story- this was a fun read that any school aged child 13 and under should enjoy.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are eight different comics in this book, all revolving around lunch! I don't read comics like I used to so I was interested to read this collection. They were all so different. I really enjoyed "Lunch Bomb 43" by Nathan Hale. He shares a true story from WWII about how potatoes were used to sink a Japanese submarine. I thought it was a clever way to share history in a book about lunch. "Cave Soup" by Jeffrey Brown was a fun way to show that we have more in common with neanderthal's than we sometimes think. "Lunch Girl" by Jarrett J. Krosoczka shows how a girl deals with a bully at lunchtime. "The Case of the Missing Science Project" by Jason Shiga uses the choose your own ending format. You follow the arrows and make decisions to see how the story will turn out. I thought "Babymouse: Lunch Table Champion" by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm was cute, too. Babymouse's lunch table was taken over so she turns to the story of Robin Hood to take it back. It turns into a mean game of dodgeball with a funny twist at the end.

This was fun to read and I did enjoy some of them more than others. If you love comics, this is a good one to add to your collection!

I received a copy from the publisher for an honest review. My opinion is 100% my own.

Mel's Shelves

[Sheyla ✎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comics Squad Lunch is a compilation of short stories with the main subject being lunch. All of the eight different stories were fun to read and I found myself feeling like a little kid again. I would say my favorite was Lunch Bomb 1943. It was beyond entertaining and the best part it's based on a true story. (Who could have thought potatoes could be so important?). My least favorite was Lunchtime Beagle. I had no idea what Snoopy was trying to do.

Some of the other stories I liked included Crazy Little Thing Called Lunch! where a young girl who eats the same thing every day it's forced to eat something new when the boy she likes asks her to buy something from him. Cave Soup was also pretty cool and I liked how the story unfolded.

I believe this would be a great addition to any library for kids 7-12.

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lunch is the theme of this mostly mish-mash of graphic shorts. Eight notable cartoonists contributed to this collection that goes from silly (Holm’s “Babymouse: lunch table champion” and Bell’s “Crazy Little Thing called Lunch!”) to didactic (Krosoczka’s “Lunch Girl” and Castellucci’s “Pikput & Cullen…worst day ever”) to nonfiction-y (Hale’s “Lunch Bomb” and Jeffrey Brown’s “Cave Soup”) to baffling and off-putting format (Jason Shiga's “The Case of the Missing Science Project”) to just plain awful (Snoopy in…Lunchtime Beagle). The Snoopy entry has no ties to Charles Schulz and it shows; it was done by Schulz Studio. The palette of gray, black, white and yellow is used throughout for all entries, but I don’t think that more colors would have helped. Back matter includes a “Write Your Own Origin Story,” instructions on how to draw “Babymouse” and quick bits about the featured artists/authors. Most of these tales were just not funny to me, but elementary and middle grade readers will no doubt love these puerile offerings.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will never look at school lunch again after reading this short stories. Whether it's an allergic reaction involving hallucinating classmates as food, or a World War II story about potatoes as weapons, Krosoczka and the Holms working with other talented graphic novelists have created another winning collection for young readers. My personal favorites were Lunch Lady as a girl facing off with a bully (hurrah for a bully story where the adults aren't missing in action!) and Snoopy in charge of the cafeteria (laughed my head off). There really is something here for everyone. Anyone who has experienced school lunch should get a kick out of these wildly unrealistic but thoroughly entertaining stories. There is even one story written as a choose your own adventure type (you have to follow the arrows) with multiple endings. A great addition to most graphic novel collections, but only if you want to hear children laughing.

[Holly Letson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up, because I am a fan of Lunch Lady, Babymouse, and Snoopy. I figured an anthology that contains stories about these would be great fun, and I was right. This anthology was a delight from start to finish.

There was even a *Choose-Your-Own-Adventure*-type comic where you got to choose how the story would go. And, it included *Lunch Lady*'s origin story that showed her as a child.

I would love to read the other Comics Squad anthology as well.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I'm not a huge fan of graphic novels as a reader, I know how much my students love them and I understand why. The Comics Squad series is great because all the stories tie around a central theme, in this case lunch, and different authors/illustrators share mini-stories to give you an idea about what their writing is like. Not only will I recommend this book to my students, but I will use it as a mentor text to show them different things about different graphic novel illustrators and how the same theme can be different to different writers. Even using this book, or the other two in the series, to do some compare/contrast analysis would be great. Small book, many uses.

[Russel Moreno · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about a group of friends and their time during lunch.It is a continuation of their adventures in recess. It deals with their fun adventures during lunch, and also their troubles with picking what to eat. This book is done with a graphic novel style to it. The illustrations aren't too detailed, but the colors used are very bright. This is a book that I would include for fun reading during open time. This book is similar to Dog man. It's very entertaining and is just fun for kids to read.

[Alexa Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no shortage of kids to hand this off to, though the idea that they all tie to lunch is actually a stretch in this case. I always love to see Jason Shiga stretching the boundaries of how to tell stories in graphic form, and your Babymouse lovers will be happy to see her being as awesome as usual.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunate to get an ARC of this book, and my students are going to love it as much as the first one. This collection of short comics comes from a great variety of artists, and I really enjoyed the different lunchtime tales.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of comic shorts by very popular graphic novel authors. The theme is the school lunch approached from different views and done in the style in which that author is known. Quite fun being able to compare the different styles and approaches.

[Cathlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little collection of comics- I definitely love how they feature familiar characters from other graphic novels. A great way to introduce kids and get them wanting to read the other graphic novel series.

[Emily Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fun! I was glad to read this next installment in the Comics Squad collection. So fun, but I would not recommend reading it as an e-reader as Jason Shiga's comics are hard enough to follow in paper, its impossible to follow those arrows across a screen!

[Karen Arendt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories from some amazing graphic novelists. The stories are funny, intriguing, and full of heart.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute comic vignettes that revolve around lunch. I particularly enjoyed the Nathan Hale one and got bored reading Jason Shiga's (unfortunately). Backtracking to read the first volume next.

[Casandria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very uneven...

[Amanda Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Comics Squad 2, we get the scoop on what happens at lunch! You'll read a variety of comics from popular authors like Cece Bell, Jennifer & Matthew Holm, Jeffrey Brown, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, and more!

The book starts with a little girl named Ellie, who packs the same lunch every day for fear of something going wrong if she were to stray from her normal lunch eats...she's going along fine until her crush sells her a candy bar, which she cannot refuse, and then he wants her to taste it! What could one taste hurt, right? What if something crazy starts happening? What if Ellie doesn't make it out of the lunchroom alive?? Next we visit Snoopy in Lunch Time Beagle! How will he keep all those kids in the lunch room behaving and fed before they are on to their next class? If you love Snoopy, rest assured that he'll figure something out! This fun book wouldn't be complete without Babymouse! During lunch Babymouse heads to her normal table and what does she find? Someone else is sitting there!! In this robinhood-esk story, Babymouse fights for her friends and lunchtable in a harrowing dodgeball match...will she win or will she get slammed to the ground? Follow Little Jimmy, Kid Detective as he helps Filbert find out who stole his science project, it will be a cool adventure finding out who did it! Pikput & Cullen find out that the Worst Day Ever, might not be so bad, in fact because of science, it might just turn out to be the best day ever!!

Did you know that cavemen ate pea soup? Check out Lucy & Andy Neanderthal in a short, funny story called, "Cave Soup"! You'll find out that cavemen lunch time might not have been that much different then our lunch time, well minus the fact that they had to catch their own rabbits or go pick their own peas! Could you wait that long for lunch? Can a potato save the day? If you love history and want to hear a cool lunchtime story, check out "Lunch Bomb 1943" told by the famous Nathan Hale! Do you hate lunch bullies? You know, those kids who steal your lunch money, and leave you with nothing to eat? So does LUNCH GIRL! How does Lunch Girl get revenge on mean ol' Christine when she steals her friend's lunch money? All I can tell you is that she's in for a muddy surprise!

If you love graphic novels and are particularly interested in a collection of stories, this would be a fun read! Don't forget to pick up Comics Squad #1: Recess!

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short graphic novel stories that have something to do with lunch from several popular authors. This Comic Squad features:
"Crazy Little Thing Called Lunch!" by CeCe Bell - A girl learns to branch out from her same-every-day lunch, but to be wise in her experimentation.
"Snoopy in...Lunchtime Beagle" by Peanuts - Snoopy "helps" around the school cafeteria.
"Babymouse: Lunch Table Champion" by Holm & Holm -Babymouse and friends lose their lunch table to the popular gang and try to win it back in a dodgeball challenge.
"The Case of the Missing Science Project" by Shiga - A choose your own adventure challenge to solve the case of who stole Filbert's science project.
"Pikput & Cullin in...Worst Day Ever!" by Castellucci & Varon - Two science partners who can't stand each other become best friends over lunch duty.
"Lucy & Andy Neanderthal: Cave Soup" by Brown - A group of Neanderthals struggle to make lunch.
"Lunch Bomb" by Hale - A short hazardous tale about a crazy encounter in WWII when American's bombarded a Japanese sub with potatoes.
"Lunch Girl and the Ominous Origin" by Krosoczka -Lunch girl overcomes a cafeteria bully, inspired by cafeteria ladies to do the right thing.

The most impressive of these was definitely Shiga's. You could spend hours just following all the possible trails through his story. The Snoopy story didn't feel authentic Snoopy to me. And I didn't care for the Neanderthal tale, but the rest were all fun.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. There's a battle with fatalities mentioned in Hale's story. Some bullying in other stories and a severe allergic reaction in one story.

[Katie Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely loved Comics Squad: Recess. I thought the comics in the first volume were funny, well-written and flowed together well too. This collection seemed much more random. I did not understand the Peanuts comic and some of the others while entertaining, did not stick with me like the comics in Recess did. I was absolutely fascinated by Nathan Hale's tale about World War II and found myself doing more research on the story. The other highlight for me was the look at Lunch Lady as a young girl, very fun! Overall this was just ok for me, but I will buy multiple copies for my library and I know my students will love it. I definitely recommend buying it for your library if your students loved the first one.

ARC copy received during the AASL Conference

[Earl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a huge fan of the first Comics Squad anthology. And I was glad that this will be a series.

My favorites in this collection were:
-Jason Shiga's choose your own adventure- I've been wanting to read Meanwhile and this was definitely made me move it up my list. I got to admit though, I don't think I completely understood it, especially after the time loop.
-Nathan Hale's nonfiction tale
-The cute how to draw Babymouse segment

It was nice to see familiar characters and this is such a fun way to try new out new authors and illustrators!

[sucker4synth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A graphic novel anthology surrounding my favorite meal, LUNCH! Made me remember just how important lunch is to a kid. It's a communal eating time that doesn't involve your parents. It breaks up the day. It's also a source of all kinds of adventure. Not every story grabbed me but the overall idea was great. I can't figure out for the life of me how Jason Shiga's story reads, but I couldn't figure out Meanwhile, either. It might be because I am a boring adult, though. ;) Cute little book from some of the most well-known middle read graphic novelists today.