Super Sidekicks: No Adults Allowed

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

by Gavin Aung Than

Interest age: 6 to 11
Reading age: 6+

Published by Penguin, 2021

Comic books
Funny
Graphic novels

About this book

JJ and his friends Fly Girl and Dinomite are sick of being taken for granted by the adult superheroes they work for. It’s time to stage a revolution and prove that they’re not just sidekicks!

Can they get the adults to listen? When Goo arrives at their no-adults-allowed meeting things get even trickier. The misunderstood sidekick of the villain, Dr Enok, Goo just wants to have some friends. But Dr Enok has other plans.

Now the Sidekicks have their first mission: free Goo. But will their superpowers be up to the task? Although saving Goo from Dr Enok’s evil grasp is their top priority, if they succeed, perhaps the adults will finally see them as superheroes in their own right and take them seriously for once.

An excellent, super-fun mini graphic novel (in black and white) that perfectly captures the superhero genre whilst also speaking to any reader who’s ever felt unfairly undervalued just because they’re a child. The adults are of course also completely blinkered when it comes to Goo, and it takes the kids to help them open their eyes. A clever story of empowerment told in a fresh new voice and wrapped up in a superhero comic package.

About the author

Gavin Aung Than is a freelance cartoonist based in Perth, Australia. His webcomic Zen Pencils, a cartoon blog which adapts inspirational quotes into comic stories, has been featured by The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Slate, Buzzfeed, Gawker and Brain Pickings, and was named one of the top 100 websites of 2013 by PC Mag. Zen Pencils has also been collected into New York Times bestselling books. His first series for children, Super Sidekicks, grew out of Gavin's long-time obsession with superheroes.