The Epic Origin of Super Potato (Super Potato Series #1)

by Artur Laperla, Artur Laperla (Illustrator)

Overview

Super Max has it all. He's a superhero with a flashy uniform and a great head of hair. Sure, sometimes the evil Dr. Malevolent pops up to cause trouble. But Super Max has defeated the villain over and over again.

This time is different. This time, Dr. Malevolent's plan works . . . and he turns the handsome hero into a tiny tuber! But there's one thing the doctor didn't count on. The potato still has powers, and justice takes many forms. Super Max may be gone . . . but it's Super Potato's time to fly!

This hilarious, irreverent graphic novel series will entice fans of Captain Underpants and The Lego Batman Movie. Spanish cartoonist Artur Laperla presents the adventures of a costumed crime-fighter who turns into a potato and becomes a bigger hero than ever. He faces off against sinister scientists, slugs from space, giant chickens, and more in a series of graphic novels perfect for reluctant readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541526457
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2018
Series:	Super Potato Series , #1
Pages:	56
Sales rank:	361,596
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Artur Laperla is an author and illustrator who lives in Spain. His work includes the Super Potato series and the Felix and Calcite series.

Artur Laperla is an author and illustrator who lives in Spain. His work includes the Super Potato series and the Felix and Calcite series.

Editorial Reviews

"Super Max has a luxurious blond coiffure, a cape, big muscles (737, to be exact), and an outsized ego. So, it's humiliating when Doctor Malevolent shoots him with a new weapon and turns him into a potato. Now, he's Super Potato, a tiny figure with spindly arms and legs, and he's devastated: 'Super Potato cries like a baby surrounded by onions.' He still has superpowers, though, and once he rigs up a new costume for his potato-shaped self, he's ready to do battle with Doctor Malevolent (who looks like a slimmed-down Gru from Despicable Me) again. Super Patata has been available in Laperla's home of Spain for several years; this is its U.S. debut, and its uncredited English translation sounds natural and doesn't fumble. Laperla's parody strikes an easy comedic tone from the first page, and its wackiness unspools effortlessly. Full-color panel artwork combines caricature with handsomely drafted backgrounds of cityscapes and spaceships, and Laperla nails Super Potato's expressions of rage and exasperation. A promising start to a series with appeal to strong and reluctant readers alike."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

★ 07/01/2018
Gr 3–6—Super Max is devoted to fighting crime, especially Dr. Malevolent, and looking good. When Super Max learns that Dr. Malevolent has stolen a priceless statue, he heads to his nemesis's not-so-secret hideout to retrieve it. But Dr. Malevolent uses his new weapon on Super Max, transforming him into a potato. This is just the beginning of a hilarious story about a hero who needs to adjust to new circumstances. Laperla offers obvious and subtle humor, appealing to a variety of readers. Kids will get a kick out of the over-the-top action and enjoy watching Super Max come to accept his new role as a tiny tuber. The bright cartoons will draw in even the most reluctant readers, who will be happy to know that the series continues—this volume ends with a call for Super Potato to capture yet another outlandish villain. VERDICT A zany, funny selection that will entertain kids and the adults who might be reading over their shoulders.—Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library

School Library Journal

05/21/2018
Super Max has a luxurious blond coiffure, a cape, big muscles (737, to be exact), and an outsized ego. So, it’s humiliating when Doctor Malevolent shoots him with a new weapon and turns him into a potato. Now, he’s Super Potato, a tiny figure with spindly arms and legs, and he’s devastated: “Super Potato cries like a baby surrounded by onions.” He still has superpowers, though, and once he rigs up a new costume for his potato-shaped self, he’s ready to do battle with Doctor Malevolent (who looks like a slimmed-down Gru from Despicable Me) again. Super Patata has been available in Laperla’s home of Spain for several years; this is its U.S. debut, and its uncredited English translation sounds natural and doesn’t fumble. Laperla’s parody strikes an easy comedic tone from the first page, and its wackiness unspools effortlessly. Full-color panel artwork combines caricature with handsomely drafted backgrounds of cityscapes and spaceships, and Laperla nails Super Potato’s expressions of rage and exasperation. A promising start to a series with appeal to strong and reluctant readers alike. Ages 7–11. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

2018-05-23
This graphic novel has "Gilligan's Island Syndrome."Fans of the old TV show got frustrated because, over and over again, Gilligan and his friends tried to escape from their desert island, and over and over again, they failed. This comic book has the same sense of futility. On Page 10, Super Max, a very blond, very vain superhero, is turned into a potato by his archenemy, Dr. Malevolent, and he spends the rest of the book trying to reverse the process. Alert readers will figure out, just about around Page 10, that it's never going to work, because the book is the first in a series, and because potatoes are funny. So the appeal of the story depends on the quality of the jokes, which varies widely. Some scenes are mordantly funny: The villain corrects an elegant waiter who refers to him as "Mr. Malevolent." But there are far too many potato puns. (Arguably, one is too many.) Still, the visual design is appealingly simple. Even most of the human characters bear some resemblance to spuds in shape, except for Dr. Malevolent, who looks a lot like a string bean. (He even has green skin, making him just about the only character who isn't white.)The main storyline lacks any suspense, but fans of Waiting for Godot may enjoy the sense of fatalism, and fans of Gilligan will admire the hero's persistence. (Graphic humor. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews