Houston, Greg

Gr 10 Up—The Elephant Man is in trouble. Several forces are conspiring against him, including a slimy news reporter looking to get ahead in his career and a super-villain with three heads known as the Rabbi, the Priest, and the Duck. Despite his having many similarities to Superman, including an office-bound alter ego, there's nothing significant that connects this "hero" to the classic figures the book seeks to mock. With characters like "Crappy the Fly" trying to promote consumer products as a transparent analogy for commercialism, this title is intended to be humorous but will more likely leave readers scratching their heads in utter confusion. The black-and-white illustrations look more like thumbnail sketches of the characters than actual completed graphics for the text. This artwork is so distracting that it makes it difficult to follow the not-well-established story. The hard, in-your-face style of both artwork and text result in a poorly executed title.—Ryan Donovan, New York Public Library