Review by Booklist Review
Captain Raptor, who appeared most recently in Captain Raptor and the Moon Mystery (2005) returns, this time on a mission to save his home planet from raiding space pirates. The Captain is aided by Scalawag, the deposed captain of the pirates, who later betrays Raptor and his crew. Things look bleak, especially since Raptor's spaceship lacks the firepower to take on the pirates. Raptor, however, is ready with tricks of his own, and he sends the pirates to jail at the story's end. The plot is thin; what stands out are the comic-book-style illustrations, which place dinosaurs into outer space. Some young readers may reject this flight of fancy, but many will find the combination of scaly skin, huge teeth, elaborate spaceships, and explosions on nearly every page completely irresistible. A sure hit with dino/sf fans and an undoubted draw for reluctant readers.--Morning, Todd Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
PW wrote that Captain Raptor and the Moon Mystery "balances tongue-in-cheek cheesiness and earnest enthusiasm... and is sure to please the Dinotopia crowd." The sequel, Captain Raptor and the Space Pirates by Kevin O'Malley and Patrick O'Brien, finds Captain Raptor and his crew in galactic combat when marauders imperil planet Jurassica. Once again, the comic paneling and occasional full-page action spreads will make this an appealing read. (Walker, $16.95 32p ages 5-8 ISBN 9780-8027-9571-7; Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-Fans of Captain Raptor and the Moon Mystery (Walker, 2005) will welcome this new adventure and clamor for more. Here, the captain and his crew must track down the space pirates who have raided the Imperial Palace and stolen planet Jurassica's jewels. Blasting off on the Megatooth, they follow the pirate vessel's ion trail through space. The pirates fire tons of molten lead at their starship, which lands hard on a barren moon. There, Captain Raptor discovers a mysterious castaway who fixes their shattered plutonic servoscope, but is Bloody Bart Scalawag-with a hook for a hand and a pirate's salty vocabulary-friend or foe? This graphic novel comes alive with O'Brien's watercolor and gouache illustrations. The action moves quickly in small frames dense with realistic dinosaurs in armor and the inner workings of spaceships. Dramatic chase and battle scenes are depicted in full-page illustrations or full-bleed spreads. The writing is melodramatic and true to form with frequent cliff-hangers ("Could this be the end of Captain Raptor?"), sound effects ("BLAM! BLAM! BOOM!"), and key phrases in bold typeface. Few readers-reluctant or otherwise-will be able to resist this clever mix of dinosaurs, pirates, and science fiction.-Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Continuing the heroic work of making the spaceways safe for all law-abiding dinosaurs, Captain Raptor and the scaly crew of starship Megatooth return--this time in pursuit of the pirate ship Blackrot, whose bloodthirsty mob of "misshapen mutants and reptilian cyborgs" has stolen planet Jurassica's trove of jewels. Repeatedly escaping near-certain death ("Could this be the end of Captain Raptor?" becomes an almost-plaintive refrain), the daring deinonychus escapes ambush, a metal monster lurking in the Perilus Nebula and a pitched battle before (did you doubt?) bringing the scurvy knaves to justice. Rendered in realistic, gloriously melodramatic detail, the toothy, armored dinosaurs look ready to burst out of their comics-style panels, blasters blazing. O'Malley and O'Brien have way too much fun here, and the Captain's legions of fans will, too. (Picture book. 7-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
