How to Be a Supervillain (How to Be a Supervillain Series #1)

by Michael Fry, James Patterson (Foreword by)

Overview

In this rollicking middle-grade adventure and national bestseller, Michael Fry's witty text and hysterical artwork combines superhero action with classic fish-out-of-water humor.

Victor Spoil comes from a long line of famous supervillains and he's fully expected to join their ranks one day. But to his family's utter disappointment, Victor doesn't have a single bad-guy bone in his body. He won't run with scissors, he always finishes his peas, and he can't stand to be messy. Hopeless!

As a last-ditch effort before they give up and let him be a — gasp! — civilian, Victor's exasperated parents send him to apprentice under a disgraced supervillain called The Smear. This matchup starts off as a complete disaster, but Victor and The Smear eventually find that they have a lot to learn from each other. When the stakes get high as Victor is forced to choose between his mentor and his family morals (or lack thereof) . . . what will the world's nicest bad guy do?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316318709
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	04/10/2018
Series:	How to Be a Supervillain Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	1,096,625
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.60(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	8 - 14 Years

About the Author

Michael Fry has been a cartoonist for over 30 years and is the co-creator and writer of the Over the Hedge comic strip, which was turned into a Dreamworks film starring Bruce Willis and William Shatner. He lives near Austin, TX.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for How to Be a Supervillain:


A National Bestseller!
An IndieBound Bestseller!
A Parents' Choice Award(R) Winner!

"The irreverent humor that middle graders relish will go a long way to capturing their interest. Superhero fans will enjoy this tongue-in-cheek take on the genre."—School Library Journal

"In this clever world, Over the Hedge comic-strip author Fry achieves an ideal balance of humor, poignancy, and zippy superhero/bad guy action, punctuated with frequent amusing black and white illustrations."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books


"Fry has written a hilarious story about an unlikely hero and masterfully incorporates the illustrations into the narrative. Victor's story is sure to be a hit among reluctant readers and fans of illustrated novels."

—Booklist


"This riotous story about heroes and villains will leave kids howling for more!"—Lincoln Peirce, New York Times bestselling author of the BIG NATE series

"Being bad at being bad has never been such good fun!"—Chris Grabenstein, NYT Bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

"Part novel, part comic, Michael Fry's humor shines in Victor Spoil's journey to discovering his true self!"—Dan Santat, Caldecott-medal-winning author of The Adventures of Beekle and illustrator of the Mighty Robot series with Dav Pilkey

From the Publisher

03/27/2017
Cartoonist and author Fry (the Odd Squad series) explores what happens when supervillain parents end up with a good kid in this offbeat story, which is bolstered by plenty of loopy b&w comics sequences. Twelve-year-old Victor wants to please his parents, Rupert and Olivia Spoil, but it’s hard when he’s a neatnik who doesn’t have an evil bone in his body. Enter the Smear, one of the many nutty heroes and antiheroes populating the story. Not even the most sinister of villains, Dr. Deplorable, is remotely menacing—Fry draws heroes and evildoers alike as egg-headed, out-of-shape has-beens with such names as Professor Tuba and the Pollinator. The Smear, whose superpower is staining people, has been hired by Victor’s parents to tutor Victor in the art of supervillainy in a world in which superhero battles are all staged, “just like pro wrestling.” Kids who like their humor absurdist may be entertained, but with low-as-can-be stakes and what’s essentially a cast of losers, it may not impress diehard superhero fans. Ages 8–14. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (May)

Publishers Weekly

03/01/2017
Gr 4–6—From the author of the popular "Odd Squad" series and the syndicated comic strip Over the Hedge comes a tale where superheroes and supervillains are real, though their battles, which once destroyed Boston, are now staged like professional wrestling bouts. Our protagonist is the young Victor, a good kid born to supervillain parents. Wanting to please his mom and dad, he signs on as an apprentice to "the Smear," a supervillain whose power is the ability to stain. The narrative takes some strange turns: there are good bad guys and bad good guys, the mysterious Authority that enforces the truce between heroes and villains, helicopter parenting, and a rebellious tween. The various strands of the plot don't always flow together evenly, and readers may feel the book lacks a unifying story line as the boundary between good guys and bad guys becomes blurred. The illustrations, however, keep the tone light, and the irreverent humor that middle graders relish will go a long way to capturing their interest. VERDICT Superhero fans will enjoy this tongue-in-cheek take on the genre. For large collections.—Matthew Forster, Big Words, Clarkston, MI

School Library Journal

2017-02-14
A good kid trains to become a villain.Twelve-year-old white kid Victor Spoil comes from a long, long line of famous supervillains. His mother and father are known around the world as the Spoil Sports, and they've been hoping and praying that Victor will follow in their footsteps. But Victor has a problem. Victor is, unfortunately, a good person. Victor can't stand messes, doesn't roughhouse, and is polite to everyone he meets. At their wits' end, his parents call in the disgraced white supervillain the Smear to train Victor. Victor and the Smear go on the road, battling heroes in scripted fights and learning from each other along the way. The novel is harmless enough, but those thirsty for superhero action will be disappointed. With the costumes and arranged battles, these superheroes are nothing more than big-time wrestlers. The plotting is episodic, and the characterization is quite poor—everyone seems to speak in the same bland, "too cool for school" style that seems to be becoming the norm in the James Patterson Presents middle-grade books. The humor, meanwhile, is barely middle-grade, leaning heavily on underwear jokes. When all is said and done, the novel barely registers. Readers may even forget about this one as they're reading it. Entirely skippable. (Adventure. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews