Drew WeingCritiques

Funny and clever. I'm enjoying the developing friendship between Margo and the main character, Charles, and annoyed it was over so fast

I enjoy the characters so much in this little quasi-NY city they live in and all the various monster lore. We get some hints to Margo's backstory and the beginnings of a cat-and-mouse chase. There's a mysterious Eldritch Truth that's drumming up trouble for all monster-kind and Margo and Charles. Can't wait for more!

This was so fantastic. The illustrations alone are worth picking up and reading the book. But I also feel like it sends a positive message. Sometimes, you just gotta live. Let experience speak for itself. It could be that in order to find what you need, you have to go explore. No need to make anything up.

The ending was great too. It all ends where it began. With our anonymously published poet asleep in a chair at the Angry Kitten.

It’s dangerous to sit at the end of pier at night and fall asleep. You’re likely to be shanghaied! Well, not now, but that’s what happens to this gentle giant who only wants to write maritime poetry. Now forced to be a sailor, he has many fine, and some not so fine, adventures on the high seas. He’s not quite as gentle as he was, but he certainly has more to write about now. It’s a stirring tale of man who conquered the sea and achieved his dream. The cartoon panels are quite detailed, and offer much in the telling of the story. This graphic novel is one you will want to read and enjoy again and again.

children's graphic fiction, series (4th grade and up?) - In this installment, we learn more about Margo's backstory (adopted and raised by her Indian "uncle") and get to know her new sidekick Charles Thompson as they help some friendly monsters (and survive a run-in with some unfriendly monsters that we haven't seen the last of yet).

There is quite a bit of text in these, so I maybe wouldn't give them to a 2nd-grader to read on their own, but it's a fun and engaging storyline that will have kids clamoring for the next.

This was charming, the art style and the characters. I also laughed a lot at the rock band "Creepypasta" with their hit "Slenderman."

reviewed from egalley.

children's graphic novel (everyday diversity, inner city kids dealing with monsters)-recommended for 4th-6th grades.
clever and original stories featuring colorful artwork, a diverse cast, and various types of monsters will keep kids entertained for an hour or so. There is some additional backmatter for those who are interested in learning more details about ghosts, goblins, etc.

La ciudad esconde criaturas que viven tranquilamente entre nosotros, solo los niños pueden verlas

Charles y Margo Maloo unen sus fuerzas para atender las quejas y necesidades de todos. Mientras, en el centro comercial abandonado, un grupo de vampiros vive tranquilamente, pero su vida de eternos jóvenes amantes de la música se ve amenazada por la visita de adolescentes humanos que se muestran ansiosos por fotografiar actividad paranormal con sus teléfonos móviles. En casos como este, solo hay una persona que pueda mediar entre unos y otros, la misteriosa Margo Maloo.

Unas historias que comenzaron en internet y se han convertido en una magnífica novela gráfica.

¡La ciudad esconde sorpresas que solo tú podrás ver!

Charles acaba de mudarse a Ecocity, y algunos de sus vecinos nuevos le dan escalofríos.

¡Este lugar está lleno de monstruos!

Por suerte para Charles, Ecocity tiene a Margo Maloo, una mediadora de monstruos. Ella sabe exactamente qué hacer.

Swept up by a press gang, a passed-out poet awakens upon the sea in this short but effective ode to creativity and the sailing life. Despite being 146 pages, with only one (often wordless) panel per page, this graphic novel only takes about as long to read as a 22-page comic book. The art is cartoonish but works well for the story.

Lots of fun stuff here - two slightly snarky characters dealing with monsters that aren't necessarily evil, just being typical monsters. Was hoping for a bit more world building and maybe a bit more characters development - maybe in book 2?

This is one of my favorite recent buys, and one that my younger brother (~9yo) also really enjoys... he even pestered me into buying him the second volume. Satisfying stand-alone chapters that carry over neatly into an overarching plot, give the story an episodic TV show feel. Detailed art with strong retro newspaper comic vibes (the backgrounds in this are so much fun!), but doesn't hinder the overall clarity of the reading experience.

The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo
by Drew Weing
2016
FirstSecond Books
4.5/5.0

I really liked the graphics, and how this was formatted. A great story about a young boy, Charles Thompson, who moves with his family into an abandoned apartment building. Charlie begins to see a monster in his room, calling Margo Maloo to help. She introduces him to all the monster in the neighborhood.
The cutest wombat ever!!
#teamslaughter #scarathon @Clwojick

Fun kid read. I want to know more about the underground monster world. Maybe a sequel is in store.

The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo is a very entertaining comic or graphic novel for middle grade kids. This book is tells the story of Charles Thompson and his move to Echo City. He is a reporter on the web and seems to be worried about everything, mugging, murder and monsters. When a monster comes out of his closet the first night in his new home, he tells the neighbour kid. He gives him a card and he calls Margo Maloo. She is sort of like a ghost buster for monsters. She is billed as a Monster Mediator and seems to know all the trolls, goblins, ghosts and vampires in the city. She is able to mediate between Charles and Marcus, the troll living in the abandoned kitchen of the old hotel he lives in. Charles convinces Margo that he can help her and wants to go on her missions with her. The next few chapters involve Margo and Charles dealing with a variety of monsters and situations.

The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo is clever, witty and a wonderful adventure altogether with great characters and plot. Both Charles and Margo are interesting characters with recognizable personalities. This comic fits both girls and boys with the main characters being one of each. As an adult, I also enjoyed reading it with my grandson. The story flows nicely and the panels are put together in a way that the story is easy to follow and the graphics are recognizable. The art is well done in a dark shadowy way that fits well with the story. The family images are bright and fun which mixes well and makes the story more believable. The back of the book has pages showing each of the monsters in the story. It tells a little about them and shows their physical makeup. A nice addition. This is a great book for school and public libraries, especially for those reluctant readers whether male or female.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

In this second book in the Margo Maloo series, Charles is the official assistant to Margo when it comes to solving mysteries or problems involving monsters or other supernatural beings. In this outing, Margo is contacted by a teenage vampire. They have been living and hiding out in the abandoned mall, but she is afraid that humans are trying to find and film them. Margo and Charles head off to help. They go not want another home to the vampires to be taken and have them move to another place like the imp they are helping. I also enjoyed the interesting explanation of why there are only teenage vampires. This case has a happy ending, but I do not want to give away the whole story.

This series is clever, witty with wonderful adventures altogether with great characters and plot. Both Charles and Margo are interesting characters with recognizable personalities. This comic fits both girls and boys with the main characters being one of each. The story flows nicely and the panels are put together in a way that the story is easy to follow and the graphics are recognizable. The art is well done in a dark shadowy way that fits well with the story. The back of the book has pages showing each of the monsters in the story. It tells a little about them and shows their physical makeup. A nice addition. This is a great book for school and public libraries, especially for those reluctant readers whether male or female. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

This book has a nice energy, but the kids vs. monsters theme is not particularly original, even with a small twist about the title character's viewpoint of that struggle. Margo Maloo is too much of a cipher/jerk to draw me in, and Charles, the Watson to her Holmes, doesn't do much for me either. The art is well-suited to the supernatural elements.

Charles is not happy about moving to the big city. He'll have no friends, his parents are making him eat weird food, and basically everything is different. On top of all of that, there is an ACTUAL MONSTER IN HIS CLOSET. No, not a pretend one. A real one! Fortunately, a neighborhood kid drops a hint - Margo Maloo is the girl.... er.... person? to call. She turns out to be a very strange.... creature? and not at all what Charles expected. But now that he's had a glimpse of the monster world he can't get enough and he's ready to take any risk to follow up and get the scoop for his blog.

Drew Weing's art is attractive, clear and simple without too many details or too boring. It was also strangely familiar and then I realized that he's married to Eleanor Davis, who has a similar style which I love. Ah, Secret Science Alliance, where is thy sequel? I would have like the black kid to not be (once again) the sidekick, but Margo is certainly diverse enough for anyone's taste. Is she monster or human? Or both? She's a woman of mystery.

I really enjoyed this spunky mystery. It's got the perfect mix of mystery, monsters, adventure and humor that will make kids read it from beginning to end.

Verdict: There's hopefully a sequel in the works for this monster mystery. If you have any fans of Kiki Strike they'll devour this graphic novel; otherwise, promote it as a perfect book for lovers of the slightly macabre and mysterious.

ISBN: 9781626723399; Published 2016 by First Second; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

This book is about a young boy who moves to a new apartment in a new town. He sees a monster in his room and is freaked out. A neighbor boy tells him that if he sees anything weird "like a monster" he needs to call Margo Maloo. Margo deals with the monsters that live in their city. The boy becomes interested in writing a story about the monsters. While he is investigating, he is accessed of kidnapping a baby monster. Margo steps in the solve the case and prove the boy is innocent. After some investigating, Margo and the boy find the missing baby and the boy no longer under suspicion. The book is definitely a good read. The book does have words to go along with the pictures, but that help the reader understand the story better. The author did a great job at keeping the text short and too the point. The illustrations were very good and had tons of details in them. I would use this book in a lesson about sequencing. We would break down the book and talk about how each frame of the story adds to the next.

This book changed my opinions about graphic novels. I have always had a hard time focusing while reading graphic novels, but I throughly enjoyed this short, sweet book. This book tells the story of a big lug that has the heart of a poet. He then sets out to sea and soon realizes that it does not meet his expectations. This short graphic novel teaches an important lesson while keeping the attention of the reader. I particularly enjoyed the theme of this book because I am a lover of all things nautical. I intend to have this book in my classroom library and share it with my students.

Great little book. Picked it up as an in-between and it was great. Cool illustrations, not much dialogue but great story and sweet ending.