Ham Helsing #2: Monster Hunter

by Rich Moyer

Overview

The uproarious next installment of the Ham Helsing graphic novel series sees Ham and his crew back to fight monsters at mysterious Camp Fish Head Lake!
 
Ham Helsing is a winner!”  --Lincoln Peirce, writer and artist of New York Times bestselling series Big Nate and Max & the Midknights

After an invitation to "peaceful" Camp Fish Head Lake, Ham and his buddies arrive expecting to be guests of honor. But there are no staff to be seen, and with kids (and their overprotective parents) arriving, they decide to just go with the flow. How hard can it be to keep a few kids out of trouble?
 
But the camp turns out to be not so monster-free--and definitely not the kind of lake you want to go fishing in! Ham and his friends have their hands full as campers start to go missing and will have to work together and trust each other to figure out what's going on--especially when old foes return.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593308974
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	06/14/2022
Series:	Ham Helsing , #2
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Lexile:	GN330L (what's this?)
File size:	70 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Rich Moyer specializes in the offbeat and irreverent as a syndicated cartoonist and an award-winning animator. He lives in Denver with his wife, Autumn, and daughters, Cleo and Juno. Ham Helsing is his debut
graphic novel series.

Editorial Reviews

"A rollicking, side-splitting good time with its silly adventures, appealing characters, and abundant action." - Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

05/01/2022

Gr 3–7—Ham and his vampire hunting friends take a break to relax at a summer campsite, only to discover a monstrous threat to the children dropped off there. The kids lead sheltered lives, both in terms of mindset and being cushioned with actual pillows. Moyer's anthropomorphic animals are expressive no matter the mood, and a flashback involving hundreds of vampires falling through the sky is particularly dynamic in execution. All of which makes this story feel like a missed opportunity for being so oddly mean. Punchlines are too often built from cynicism, and characters go past dry humor into a kind of contempt for each other that prevents joy from seeping through. Themes of self-reliance and establishing trust come full circle, but are interrupted by clashing, inconsistent styles of humor. VERDICT Fiction for young people has no shortage of self-professed "losers" who find their confidence and talent, but this story is more interested in reducing, not building up.—Thomas Maluck

School Library Journal

2022-03-29
Ham and the gang return to fight a fishy foe at a spooky summer camp.

In this graphic sequel, renowned vampire hunter Ham Helsing, gentle vampire boar Malcolm, and porcine ninja Ronin arrive at Camp Fish Head Lake to encounter an outrageously scaredy-cat group of campers with excessively attentive parents. There’s Timmy, who is protectively sandwiched between two pillows; Leo, who is terrified of bugs and has a cone circling his head; and Samantha, who is afraid of the dark—shadows included. Counselors are conspicuously missing. Unbeknownst to Ham, a decade ago, toxic sludge was dumped into the lake, transforming a once-gentle fish into an angry ambulatory beast. When campers start disappearing, Ham and his friends must team up with past foes Hen and Franken-Chad to stop the massive piscine perpetrator. Moyer’s sophomore offering is a rollicking, side-splitting good time with its silly adventures, appealing characters, and abundant action. Full-color illustrations keep readers’ attention, with simple backgrounds and a variety of interesting angles spotlighting the cast. There are references to the previous volume, but those new to the series could certainly enjoy this self-contained tale; however, more exploits are teased and another episode of “Shaz-Ham” is included as a bonus at the end. Animal characters cohabitate with a small cast of racially diverse humans.

Fast-paced and lots of fun. (Graphic fantasy. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews