Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Basil - Hardcover

Miller, Wiley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439856655 ISBN 13: 9780439856652

Publisher: The Blue Sky Press, 2006

Synopsis

Wiley Miller's comic strip, "Non Sequitur," is syndicated in more than 800 daily newspapers. Now he presents his first book for young readers--an exciting adventure about a boy who saves the world.

Talented and well-known syndicated comic strip artist Wiley Miller presents a stunningly illustrated tale of a boy who is bored by his life and ready to break free from the lighthouse he calls home. Led off by a wonderfully eccentric professor in a hot-air-balloon ship, Basil travels to another dimension where he and a new friend save the fantasy city of Helios from destruction.

About this title

About the Author

Wiley Miller is the creator of the internationally successful Non Sequitur comic strip which is syndicated to over 800 newspapers in 20 countries. This is his first book for children. The second title, also featuring the lovable Basil, will follow next year.

Review

Robotic armies, flying pet dinosaurs and jet-propelled helium suits feature prominently in Miller's first book for children, liberally illustrated and based on his (Non Sequitur ) comic-strip character Ordinary Basil and set in 1899. The 12-year-old hero, bored with his "ordinary" life on the Maine coast, longs for adventure. He soon gets his wish when he becomes the first Earth-dweller to visit Helios, a magical, futuristic city in the clouds, courtesy of Professor Angus McGookin's balloon airship. The man explains that humans have called Helios many things (Eden, Atlantis, etc.), but "the history of Helios is the history of human accomplishment, not human self-destruction." Basil quickly finds himself-along with his new friend Louise-in a battle with a stereotypical madman-genius, Dr. Von Röttweil (a fallen member of Helios's High Council). Other familiar archetypes and themes abound. Basil has been chosen out of all humankind ("The High Council will be most pleased to know you've finally been found"), for instance, and Von Röttweil's sidekick is a "hideous, hunched assistant"à la Quasimodo. Miller's diverse perspectives ratchet up the suspense, as in several vignettes depicting the children's ride on Louise's pet pteranodon. The characters' exaggerated facial expressions nicely counter the compositions' Gorey-esque edge. Miller has packed plenty into this engaging escape of a read, with a whiff of commentary on contemporary times. Readers will be glad Basil broke the confines of the funny pages. Ages 7-10.(Nov.)

Copyright © 1997-2005 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. -- Publishers Weekly

Edition details

• Publisher: The Blue Sky Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0439856655
• ISBN 13: 9780439856652
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128