Welcome back to the last Tradio…
…of the year. That was mean…I know, sorry. Now that Christmas is over and you have all the extra Christmas cash from your nana, why not invest it in this week’s Tradio pick: (deep breath) Fantastic Four Presents: Franklin Richards, Son of a Genius – Lab Brat by Marc Sumerak and Chris Eliopoulos, published by Marvel Comics.
Lab Brat tells the adventures of Franklin Richards, Reed and Susie Richards' son, when he is young and full of wonder, curiosity, and just plain mischief. Lab Brat presents about twenty different short stories that present fun and funny tales of Franklin’s adventures as he gets into and out of loads of trouble using the various inventions that his father just happens to have lying around his home in Four Freedom’s Tower. We also get to see some fun counterpoint as H.E.R.B.I.E. acts as his nanny and tries to contain the little rambuncious force of nature as he hops from one predicament to another.
Lab Brat is a ton of fun and Franklin and H.E.R.B.I.E. act a bit like a modern-day Calvin and Hobbes and Eliopoulos’ kid-friendly cartooning really underscores this. Light-hearted and fun and truly a book for all ages in the best possible way. If you have even a passing knowledge of the Marvel Universe and enjoy humor books, you will get a huge kick out of what is presented here. The only misstep are the Masked Marvel reprints at the very end of the volume that do not fit at all with the rest of the material and are very suspect in their inclusion. I am guessing an editor got bribed. Anyway, they don’t distract from the meat of this volume and something fun to share with kids of any age. Happy New Year!
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