When Jack and Lilly follow Maddy’s captor through the portal, they are ready for anything . . . except what they find waiting for them in the floating crossroads between worlds. Even the power of their magic plants may not be enough to get them back to earth alive.
Alone and injured, Jack and Lilly must each face their own monsters―as well as giants who grind the bones of human children to feed their “beast” and a fearsome goblin king in the sewers down below.
But when Jack finds himself in a tough spot, help comes from the most unlikely person: the goblin king!
Ben Hatke, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Zita the Spacegirl, concludes his latest middle-grade fantasy-adventure graphic novel series, Mighty Jack, with the energetic finale to his retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk.
Once upon a time, there lived a boy named Jack with his mother and his autistic little sister Maddy. One day, Jack trades his family’s car for a box of magical seeds and discovers these magic seeds grow an entire garden of plants that have hands and legs and are ready to attack. When a portal opens up and an ogre carry Maddy away into their world, it is up to Jack and their new friend Lilly to save her! (To read up on what happens before Mighty Jack and the Goblin King, go read Mighty Jack.)
In this conclusion of a modern reimagination of Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Lilly will have to face their own monsters—giants and a goblin king—before they can save Maddy.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MIGHTY JACK & THE GOBLIN KING
- Jack finally climbs a beanstalk—of sorts.
It’s not exactly a beanstalk, but close enough! They’re more like vines that leads to islands that are almost like a bridge to the different worlds. Jack does a lot of climbing—the vines and the pipes on the tower where the ogre lives.
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There are ogres and goblins.
Jack and Lilly discover themselves in a world unlike Earth. This world houses out-of-this-world creatures like ogres who need the blood and bones of humans to retain their control of their worlds, rats who act as guards biting at trespassers, and goblins who are fairly sweet creatures and do whatever their Goblin King tells them to do.
- Jack will do whatever it takes to save his sister.
Jack will not rest until his sister Maddy is safe and sound. He becomes blind to everything, and let’s his worry and temper get the best of him to the point where he’s not thinking strategically. There is no doubt that Jack cares deeply for his sister.
- Lilly has her own story arc, and no surprise, she kicks major butts.
While Jack is off sword fighting, Lilly is doing an excellent job fending for herself in the sewers where the goblins live. After a situation leaving her and Jack separated, she finds herself whisked away by the goblins and subjected to the Goblin King who wants her to be his wife. Lilly is having none of that. And boy, she surprises these goblins.
- The art is perfect.
Ben Hatke really takes you into this world. Just take a look at the art: here are few examples of the art.
Who will love this comic? Fairytale lovers! Anyone who’s familiar with the Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale. Young readers. Just about everyone.
