Reviews

Nico Bravo and the Hound of Hades by Mike Cavallaro

thewesmolebash's review against another edition

5.0

NICO BRAVO AND THE HOUND OF HADES is beautifully drawn and absolutely hilarious. It’s a wonderful adventure, and Mike Cavallaro does a great job handling the multiple storylines. If you like comics, fantasy, and humor, you can’t go wrong with this book!

rkiladitis's review against another edition

4.0

This fun new graphic novel adventure is perfect for mythology fans. Vulcan is a kid working at Vulcan's Celestial Supply Shop, serving all the gods' and goddesses' needs. He works with a sphinx named Lula and Buck, a unicorn with PTSD, and things are fine and dandy until Eowulf - descendant of Beowulf himself - targets a monster for slaying, to keep the family name going. The problem? The monster happens to be Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld! If Cerberus isn't there to guard the gates, there's about to be a whole lot of dead folks invading our world. Nico has to get it together and stop Eowulf from bringing on a zombie apocalypse!I like Mike Cavallaro's storytelling. He's great at worldbuilding - something I discovered when I read his fencing graphic novels, Foiled and Curses! Foiled Again, where he created a side-world filled with fantasy and myth. There are mythological references throughout the book that kids will recognize, and some possibly new ones to draw more readers in. Have your Rick Riordan books ready, and your mythological reference books on hand - you've got great display possibilities! The cartoon art reminds me of popular animation on TV, with book expressive eyes, colorful artwork, and fantastically cool monsters and beasts for everyone to enjoy. There's a lot of mythology available, and kids love reading about it - I hope we get some more adventures with Nico Bravo soon!

fernandie's review against another edition

3.0

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

quietjenn's review

3.0

I can see this being popular with kids. It’s very Cartoon Network.

mxmaggie__'s review against another edition

3.0

I personally would give this graphic novel a "meh," but I think tweens will like it. A very silly narrative, a comedy fantasy/mythological world, and a slew of fun characters pushing the plot forward. Nico Bravo is a human who feels quite at home in At Vulcan’s Celestial Supply Shop where they sell anything you can imagine to Gods and adventurers a like. Nico works with Lula a sphinx and Buck a Unicorn still haunted by the unicorn wars. When a very undeserving adventurer buys the coolest sword Vulcan has created, and takes it to go kill the guard dog of Hades; Nico kicks into action to try and prevent all the dead from rising back to Earth. A whimsical story that would be a good stepping stone book for readers hoping to get into Percy Jackson, though not a story with any particular depth.

bluehairedlibrarian's review

4.0

A fun story about a boy who works at a magic shop where all the gods and adventurers get their tools and magic supplies. Nico works with a unicorn with a wonky horn and a sweet sphinx that can kind of fly, and their boss is Vulcan, god of making awesome things. When an adventurer comes in for supplies to kill Cerberus, the three-headed dog protecting the gates of Hades, Nico knows he has to stop her because Cerberus is the only thing standing between the living world and all the shades of Hades.

What follows is adventures through different realms, a never-ending unicorn war nobody believes is read, and various godly shenanigans. This is a delightful start of a series and a way to introduce kids to various types of mythological pantheons.

angebrown's review

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

academianut's review

3.0

A fun middle grade graphic novel packed with references to mythology, but a bit convoluted in the different plots, and characters aren't fully developed - but it's a series, and so that will probably happen in the sequels. A promising start.

sionna's review against another edition

4.0

Nico Bravo is a fun story about a young staff member of a supply shop trying to stop a monster hunter, a descendent of Beowulf, from killing Cerberus. While I’m torn between liking and not liking the artwork, I’m totally a fan of the story. And honestly, this is just me being super picky about artwork when I have no right to be.

Nico is a great character, I loved the inclusion of a Unicorn war veteran who fought in a war no one else believes in, and all the mythical references were great fun. I liked Eowulf and thought it was cool our monster hunter was a girl ready for adventure.

I love how the mythical people and creatures are portrayed. There are a lot of myths brought up. While the main focus here is Greek because of Cerberus & Hades, there is mention of many others and not all Western. I hope if this truly is a series that we'll see inclusion of even more non-Western mythical people and creatures.

This book is goofy fun even if I wasn’t always on board with the dimensional traveling and such. I do hope this is a series.

emtobiasz's review against another edition

Thanks to FirstSecond and Netgalley for a review copy. Review to come closer to the release date.