Maxwell Dark

Orphaned middle schooler Maxwell Dark has a special gift: he can enter other kids' nightmares to help them find and confront their cause, thus eradicating the terrifying visions for good. But his powers haven't always been easy to control. During his first foray into a nightmare--his older sister Gwen's--Maxwell fled the frightening dream and Gwen disappeared from the waking world. Each time he aids someone during a nightmare, however, he finds traces of Gwen, which he hopes will one day lead him to her whereabouts. As he assists classmate Sid in expelling her demons, he discovers that he has become increasingly entangled in the dream universe, a realm in which "all nightmares are connected" that exists parallel to his own. Smith (Bug Sandwich) deploys stylized cartooning rendered in psychedelic color to depict human characters (portrayed with varying skin tones) dwarfed by multi-eyed monsters, tentacled terrors, and snotty, toothy, creepy cryptids, while thick line art reinforces the frenetic feeling of entrapment in a strange and horrific place. Each chapter of this promising graphic novel series launch boasts thrills and humor that's sure to impel readers into the next volume. Ages 8--12. (Apr.)

Gr 3--6--Every day is a nightmare for Maxwell Dark, who has the paranormal ability to visit and defeat people's nightmare monsters. As an expert-level nightmare hunter with 73 successful cases, he is confident that he has seen it all and can certainly send middle schooler Sid's bedtime tormentors packing. Sid is wary of mysterious stranger Maxwell's offers to help and refuses his assistance until her nightmares become too intense to endure. Max and Sid team up to take on the worst creatures her mind can conjure in order to locate the source of her terror, but when Max realizes his past and Sid's nightmares are connected, his easy case turns into a much bigger and scarier challenge than he could have ever imagined. For readers eager to level up from the tamer scares of the "Desmond Cole" and "Goosebumps," this graphic novel builds its scare-factor slowly, but the visuals may be too intense for some readers by the end. Smith's aesthetic and characterization has a 1990s cartoon feel, and his full-page renderings of nightmare monsters are delightfully detailed. Readers will root for Maxwell and Sid as they team up to defeat the ultimate ghoul--blood-chilling Splithead--and escape the confines of her mind in one piece. VERDICT A dark and fun foray into the horror comedy genre for young graphic novel readers.--Sarah Simpson