Broken Frontier

Geronimo Stilton began life as a series of cute chapter books from Scholastic. Now the Italian phenom is set to take America by storm in Graphic Novel format.

Papercutz brings the first Geronimo Stilton comic to the states. What better way to start than by having Stilton and his family hop in their time machine to foil the Pirate Cats as they attempt to incite a mutiny during Christopher Columbus’s famous voyage?

Stilton narrates this story with skill. Quick introductions and labels get new readers up to speed without a lengthy retread to bore returning fans. This is the kind of recap that the big two should be thinking of, it is much more entertaining, less intrusive and more importantly doesn’t waste a page of story for needless boring prose summary. For the more curious reader, the inside covers reveal little bios of all the major players of the series.

Then the story gets going, the current situation with the Pirate Cats is set up and the editor of the Rodent Gazette sets off to keep history intact.

Along the way, important terms or events are explained in little side scrolls that fit in with the theme of this story. It provides the educational values of the series without needless distraction from the narrative. Dastardly deceptive, children will learn without realizing that they are reading. Of course, a time travel story necessitates that history not be followed to a tee, but then I don’t remember ole Chris Columbus being a mouse in my elementary history text. Cats are a might bit bigger than mice as I recall as well. The idea is not to provide a history lesson, but to spark the interest. Youngsters might seek out their own legitimate source after having the fun filled ride here.

The book is fun and inventive. Full of the kind of action and jokes that makes the old Disney reinventions of great stories fun. The cast is delightful and the villains more bumbling than menacing. Stilton still keeps his eye on that ever important audience, kids.

Pretto’s art has a whimsy that recalls the best of Don Bluth. He skillfully dresses his mouse "actors" in period clothing, completing the illusion of our mice’s journey. With the past being a more meticulous sort of reconstruction, the real marvel is Mouse City. With its cheese sculptures and mouse sized cars, it is a cartoon like world awaiting its stint as the next big PBS animated series. Anthropomorphic mice simply help the book walk that line between the history it is playing off of and pure fantasy.

Educational, fun, and more importantly, safe for any new reader, Geronimo Stilton has a built in fan base. Hopefully, this new media outlet will bring in some new readers to the ever aging fanboy population.