Dungeon: Zenith - Vol. 3: Back In Style

by Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar

Overview

Taking a pause from the Monstres sub-series, the main Zenith mini series is back! This time with the art of Boulet but still written by the Sfar/Trondheim duo. Two stories continue the heyday of Dungeon, in the first, Isis is to be married to the Keeper but she wants Herbert! Besides, the whole affair promises to ruin the Dungeon completely. In the second, besides the continued Keeper financial mishaps, Herbert wishes to make his comeback to his hometown where his name is mud. He disguises himself with a potion that makes him the mask of death . Only one problem: if he laughs, he becomes himself again!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561635504
Publisher:	N B M Publishing Company
Publication date:	04/01/2009
Series:	Dungeon: Zenith , #3
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Lewis Trondheim is the creator of such comic strips as A.L.I.E.E.E.N., Mr. O, and McConey Rabbit, and is the cowriter of Dungeon. He is the author of A.L.I.E.E.E.N.: Archives of Lost Issues, Kaput & Kosky, Mister I, and the Little Nothings series. He is the head of Shampooing, an imprint of the French comics publisher Delcourt.

Editorial Reviews

It's hard to say if Sfar and Trondheim's long-running Dungeon epic is a dead-on parody of sword-and-sorcery clichés or if it's just a first-rate fantasy series that happens to star anthropomorphic animals and involve lots of comedy. This volume teams the writers up with artist Boulet, whose loony character drawings and elaborately designed scenery use the look of Trondheim's artwork as a springboard. Like every volume of Dungeon's various series so far, it also expands the scope of the overall project-this time moving Herbert the sword-wielding duck and Marvin the vegetarian dragon out of the dungeon itself and establishing some of the culture of the world around it. In the first of two stories, the bankrupt dungeon Keeper is attempting to avoid having the dungeon repossessed by a creditor and his hilariously unstoppable lawyer; in the second, Herbert revisits the city from which he was exiled and finds himself embroiled in a very odd coup attempt. Boulet handles the action set pieces and slapstick farce with equal aplomb, and Trondheim and Sfar shake up the tone of the story every few pages: there's romance next to brutal violence, and tender whimsy punctuated by cruelly bleak humor. (Apr.)

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Publishers Weekly

Gr 5 Up—The Keeper, an old duck, is the Dungeon Master who seeks to increase his fortune by marrying the wealthy cat Isis. He must convince her father of his financial worth and work to save his dungeon from being repossessed by Delacour, the rooster who tricks him through legal chicanery. To help him save the dungeon, the Keeper relies on Marvin, the vegetarian dragon, and Herbert, the duck warrior. To complicate matters, Herbert is in love with Isis and wants to elope with her. The group journeys to Craftiwich, a once-noble city, so that Herbert can reunite with his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Craftiwich, but things prove difficult when Herbert swallows the Mask of Death potion and Marvin raises an army to take over the ancient city. This is an outstanding Dungeons and Dragons parody that serves as a stand-alone story. Readers will be entertained, even those unaccustomed to comic fantasy fiction. These anthropomorphic characters are well drawn, and the snappy dialogue is craftily paired with Boulet's stunning imagery.—Lisa Gieskes, CA Johnson Preparatory Academy, Columbia, SC

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