Pirate Penguin vs Ninja Chicken, Volume 1: Troublems with Frenemies

by Ray Friesen

Overview

Two best "frenemies" have tons of fun, fights, and frozen treats in this collection of comics featuring the funniest pair of fowl you've ever seen.

Pirate Penguin and Ninja Chicken are friends. Or maybe they're enemies. Heck, if they can't keep track, then how can we!? Whatever they are, they're definitely hilarious. We think you'll like this book: there are about a bajillion jokes inside, and it's filled with action, adventure and arguments. Sometimes the stories are really teeny, about stuff like ice cream smoothies or making fun of your friends (just like real life!), and sometimes the story gets really epic-tastic, filled with spaceships and giant monsters and evil koalas and stuff (just like real life!). Plus, since it's about pirates, there are at least 17 swordfights (that's the rule with pirates).
Perfect for friends, enemies, and "frenemies," this full-color collection of wacky adventures will keep you cracking up with no "troublem."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603090711
Publisher:	IDW Publishing
Publication date:	09/06/2011
Series:	Pirate Penguin vs Ninja Chicken , #1
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Ray Friesen is currently 22 years old, but if you read this in the future he might not be anymore. (if you're reading this in the past, Time Travel High Five!) Ray draws lots of silly things, most of which have penguins in them.

Ray has been drawing cartoons for pretty much his whole life, but has been a professional artist since the age of four (That was the first time he got paid for his art — a wind energy company used a bunch of his cutesy animals and windmills drawings for their 'clean energy for everyone' campaign.)

Ray self published his first comic book at the age of 12, titled The Continuing Adventures of Raymond Q. Wonderful the titular character of which bore a very similar resemblance to the author. When confronted with claims that he has an enormous ego, Ray will be the first to point out that he is writing this autobiography in the 3rd person. "I'm just great!" he has been known to quip, when feeling especially boisterous.

Ray was nominated for the 2003 Ignatz award for Promising New Talent ("the youngest person ever!" Ray claims, though has done no actual research to prove this.)

Ray has spent the past however many years trying to take over the world via stealth doodling. He does school visits, so if you are a teacher and would like Ray to chat with your kids, please get in contact, we'll see how feasible that would be! It helps if you live nearby where Ray lives, which is in Californialand.

Read more of what Ray has to say, and his weekly webcomic of the moment at his webular site, www.DontEatAnyBugs.com.

Ray's first graphic novel for Top Shelf debuts in 2011.

Editorial Reviews

Pirates and ninjas going head-to-head is a familiar comedy-action trope, but Friesen gives it an energetic twist by making the pirate a penguin and the ninja a chicken. And by making them friends... sort of. The pair pass the time by sparring—verbally and physically—but also by hanging out, taking on mutual enemies (like Camouflagey Chameleon and Steve the Owl the Drycleaner), and, eventually, joining forces against an interdimensional monster summoned by Kung Fu Koala. Like many recent print comics, this one was brought into the world as a web comic and has the episodic format that is common to that medium. Still, the personalities of the colorful characters build over the course of the two- or three-page stories, and they’re fully realized by the time readers get to the second half of the book, a long story called “The Biggest, Giantest Epicest Pirate Penguin Versus Ninja Chicken Story Evar!” The characters are definitely the focus; backgrounds are often empty in panels, so there’s no real sense of the world in which Penguin and Chicken live. The banter between the two often falls flat, too, not quite rising to the level of screwball comedy it aspires to. Ages 9–12. (Sept.)¦

Publishers Weekly

Ray Friesen is a remarkable cartoonist. He makes the silly funny and the funny sublime. The world seems lighter after reading a Ray Friesen book.” — Jimmy Gownley, author of Amelia Rules!

“Ray Friesen is a veritable fount of silliness... Pirate Penguin vs. Ninja Chicken is filled with nonsense, from the copyright page to the comics to the endpages, and it’s guaranteed to make your geeklets giggle.” — Jonathan Liu, Wired GeekDad

“The humor comes at a furious pace, with sometimes four of five jokes crammed into a single panel. Lots to look at here.” — Jesse Karp, Booklist

“A comic book writer/artist of considerable talent and originality.” — Midwest Book Review

“The jokey asides and playfully sophisticated take on language are reminiscent of Walt Kelly’s Pogo... [a] manic blend of mayhem and adventure.” — Ian Chipman, Booklist

From the Publisher