A Bad Buzz Day

September 30, 2024
Raúl the Third (the World of ¡Vamos! series) delights in this amusing graphic novel series opener starring hair-themed superheroes. Scissors City, famous for its population of citizens with stylish coifs, is home to a team of cosmetic styling “hairtastrophe” fighters known as the Snips: Casco the scientist, Patty the inventor, Letty the batonist, Nubes the barber, and Flealix the talking dog. Chaos ensues when the luchador-themed duo the Bad Buzz Boyz—comprising brothers Boffo and Biffo, grandsons of the inventor of the buzz cut—set out to restore their family’s honor by breaking the Snips’ record for most haircuts given in a day. The siblings unleash a giant monster called the Unruly Hairthing upon the city as a distraction while they forcefully give citizens awful haircuts, prompting the Snips to rush into action to save the city from disaster—and a collective bad hair day. The creator’s
cartoonish illustrations, evocative of
children’s animation, depict a madcap ensemble of characters. Humorous puns, consistent worldbuilding, and quirky conflicts make this a rollicking crime-fighting adventure. The Bad Buzz Boyz cue as white, the Snips are intersectionally diverse, and background characters are depicted with varying skin tones. Ages 7–10.

September 30, 2024
In soaring lines of poetry that feel as graceful as the creature they describe, Limón (In Praise of Mystery) considers a fox seen in a fenced backyard, “flashing across the lawn,// squirrel bound and bouncing” with characteristic vulpine leaps. D’Alessandro (The Cot in the Living Room) uses a strong digital line and sleek, stylized elements to show the fox against backdrops of sunrise pink and dusky blue. Here, the figure is seen suspended in midair before landing to pounce, engaging in almost casual-feeling pursuit of smaller animals that “doesn’t seem/ like work at all but play.” On the street at night, the fox explores garbage bags out for collection, assembling “a living out of leftovers// and lazy/ rodents too slow for the telephone pole.” Though the fox is visible to two humans silhouetted in a home’s window, its life and the lives of its witnesses do not meet: the fox “never cares how long you watch...// never cares// what you do once he is gone.” The sense of having entered the world of a wild animal for a few unexpected moments lingers in this refreshing picture book encounter. Ages 5–9.

November 1, 2024
A team of buzzworthy heroes foil a hair-raising plot. Over in Scissors City stands the sharp Tijera Tower, part headquarters, part museum for the hair-oic Snips, a quintet consisting of brilliant scientist Casco Hardhat, madcap inventor Patty Pomada, tomb-raiding botanist Letty Lentes, cybernetically enhanced Nubes Cloudhead, and wunderkind pooch Flealix. The famous Snips provide the city's residents with "DAZZLING DOs" and relative safety from potential "HAIRTASTROPHES." From the onset, author/illustrator Ra�l the Third and returning colorist Bay weave an adventure that's packed with punny humor, hair-larious worldbuilding, and richly hued artwork, all centered on a racially diverse crew (Letty, in fact, is green-skinned). When a gel-ous trio calling themselves the Bad Buzz Boyz hatch a scheme that involves unleashing a bizarre and unruly creature on the city, the Snips bounce into action. Meanwhile, the Bad Buzz Boyz start on their true goal: breaking the world record for most haircuts in a day (a record currently held by Nubes) to impress their father and reclaim the cut-rate honor for his company, Buzz Corp. Despite an uneven pace, this hero romp buzzes with action-filled thrills. Spanish words and phrases dot the primarily English text to add extra twists to this do. A shear feast of an adventure. (snippets from Flealix)(Graphic fiction. 7-10)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2024
Grades 3-6 Scissors City is abuzz in the first installment of a new action-packed graphic-novel series from Pura Belpr� Award winner Ra�l the Third. Readers will comb straight through as they follow the Snips, a barber quintet beloved by all in Scissors City, as they seek to put a stop to the Bad Buzz Boys. The youngest of the Buzzington family, the Buzz Boys are determined to undercut their competitors and reclaim their grandfather's record for most haircuts in a day using their family's claim to fame, the Buzz Cut. Ra�l's signature bright, bold art style is blended with comic-book formatting that jumps off the page and features a monster worthy of a vintage movie poster. The characters depicted vary in skin tone, "dazzling dos," fashion, and body type. The dialogue is threaded with Spanish vocabulary and phrases that will especially resonate with bilingual readers. Readers are rewarded with delightful extras, including a snippet on the real-life record holder. A wildly enjoyable reminder that the greatest success comes not from winning, but from bringing support and joy to the community.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2024

Gr 2-4-Scissors City is home to some of the best and funkiest hairdos ever, thanks to superhero team The Snips. Each member of the team is not only a super stylist but also has individual special powers, like Casco who has a magic pompadour that can punch out bad guys. But when the villainous Bad Buzz Boyz unleash a hair monster to try and beat a hair-related record, The Snips must team together to save the day with style. Much like Dav Pilkey's "Dog Man" or Aaron Blabey's "Bad Guys" series, this graphic novel plays on the superhero genre with humor and kid-friendly action. The illustration elevates this concept even further by using character poses and designs inspired by popular comics of the 1970s and 1980s, blending them with a modern, rubber-hose cartoon style, making the book feel blissfully untethered to a particular time. VERDICT A fresh look at the early reader superhero genre with unbeatable art that pushes boundaries.-Bentley Perks

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2025
In this wacky and entertaining graphic-novel series starter, readers are welcomed to Scissors City, famous for its superhero-barber team, the Snips. In their spare time, the Snips invent hair-related gadgets and formulas (a "shatterproof peluca"; "drone barber bots") and travel the world to discover "hairstorical artifacts" ("la Trenza de Medusa"; "la Barba de Rasputin"). Member Nubes Cloudhead has even broken the world record for most haircuts in one day -- catching some negative attention from rivals the Bad Buzz Boys, who will go to drastic lengths (i.e., give bad haircuts) to beat the record themselves. With his usual irreverent flair, Raul the Third (Vamos!: Let's Celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos, rev. 9/24, among others) gives readers a hilarious, thrilling showdown between the two barber groups, putting all the hairdos of Scissors City at stake. The dynamic illustrations (in explosive colors by Bay) are jam-packed with action shots, references to classic comics, and clever details that merit multiple looks. Spanish is naturally incorporated and often translated into English, and an appended "Snippets from Flealix" provides the story of the real-life world record holder for most haircuts in one day. Monica de los Reyes

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)