Bird & Squirrel on Ice by James Burks

Bird & Squirrel #2. Scholastic - Graphix (Sept. 2014) NetGalley

Bird and Squirrel are back and ready for adventure!

After Bird and Squirrel crash land in the South Pole during a raging blizzard, a penguin named Sakari thinks Bird has come to rid her village of a hungry Killer Whale. But when Squirrel finds out that Bird will actually be fed to the Killer Whale as a sacrifice, they hatch a crazy plan to escape. With a good timing, a little luck, and help from Sakari, they just might make it out alive. Or they might end up as whale food!

Squirrel is extremely nervous when it comes to... well everything. So you can imagine how he feels when he crash lands in the South Pole. Bird on the other hand loves adventure. He's pretty much the most carefree bird around and is a goes-with-the-flow type of bird. So when this spear-carrying-warrior penguin arrives and declares him the chosen one, Bird is all for it. A little too much for his own good. Meanwhile Squirrel is trying to make sure Bird isn't eaten by a Killer Whale. With the help of Sakari, the warrior penguin, Bird and Squirrel may survive this adventure yet.

This is my first Bird & Squirrel comic so I don't really know the back story of where these friends are going and why. They might just be looking for adventures, but considering squirrels nervousness throughout this book I really doubt that. So it would be nice to read the first Bird & Squirrel comic so I have an idea why these friends are going on an adventure together. 

The humor in this comic is spot on. I couldn't stop myself from smiling or chuckling even with some of the obvious puns. Bird & Squirrel was really fun and silly. I could really see kids enjoying the type of humor that Burks has written. There was one scene in the beginning of the story that epitomizes the type of humor I really enjoyed during the comic as well as how insanely dramatic Squirrel could be (they both were really dramatic actually). It went like this:

Squirrel: "So this is what death feels like. It's so cold, everything is white.

Bird: "Aah...that's because you're lying in the snow."

Squirrel: "And I'm turning blue!"

Bird: "Squirrel, you've always been blue."

You find out pretty quickly that Squirrel is afraid of everything, but will do anything to save his friend. Bird is so full of himself in a silly way - I loved him. Both characters together are really fun and entertaining to read about.

The illustrations were all very cute and cartoony. You know what I found out? The author 
has worked on the Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis, Treasure Planet, Space Jam, the Iron Giant. Are you kidding me!? Those movies are a part of my childhood. Yet another reason why I like this comic - the author is awesome. 

On the downside most of the events and some of the conversations felt very predictable in the story. Although, seeing as this is geared towards kids, those kids may have not come across certain situations in this book so I'd say they wouldn't mind it as much as I did. Anyways the ending made those predictable moments feel like they weren't a big of a deal especially the resolution between Sakari and her father. Sakari is the warrior penguin who pretty much has life covered, but her dad is too protective over her to see that she can defend herself. Again, pretty predictable situation, yet there was a  really great resolution to her story.

This is a comic book I would have liked as a kid. It has funny puns and dramatic characters which can only lead to hilarious situations in the future. If I like this comic now you can bet I would have loved it as a kid. Bird & Squirrel makes me want to read and explore more kids comic books which ultimately tells you how much I enjoyed reading this story. 

Have you read any comics that you've enjoyed lately?