Fresh from defeating the evil Dr. Malevolent in the first volume, Super Potato faces a new foe in Super Potato’s Galactic Breakout.
Zort III, an intergalactic slug king, has been cruising through space kidnapping creatures from every planet, and lacks just one thing to complete his collection: an earthling. Super Potato, who happens to be flying nearby, will fit the bill. Soon our hero finds himself forcibly taken aboard Zort’s ship amidst other bizarre creatures who seem to have boredly resigned themselves to their captivity. But Super Potato isn’t about to give up without a fight. The trouble is, he’s never met a problem he couldn’t solve by punching it, and Zort’s ship with its many gadgets is too powerful even for Super Potato’s strength. This time, the battle will come down to wits.
Super Potato #2: Super Potato’s Galactic Breakout has a simpler plot than the first volume in the series, which included Super Potato’s origin story and coming to terms with his new identity, along with his struggle against a perennial foe. This installment is self-contained, lacking any of that backstory, and involves a relatively simple sequence of events from Super Potato’s capture through his escape. This simplicity in the plot makes the book’s interest level skew a bit younger than that of the first volume, yet the self-referential and witty humor will perhaps appeal to older readers, as well. The interactions between Zort and his robot servant are especially amusing, as it is clear that the robot is quite a bit more intelligent than its master, Zort.
The full-color illustrations feature a simple panel structure with few panels per page. Narration is shown in boxes, clearly distinct from the dialogue which is shown in traditional speech balloons. Characters are easily identifiable, and each alien creature is colorful and distinctive, with humorous facial expressions.
Though far shorter, the Super Potato series will be enjoyable to fans of Dog Man and other Dav Pilkey selections as the humor is similar. At 54 pages, the book is brief enough to be accessible to young readers. This volume is a great intro to graphic novels, as was its predecessor. While Galactic Breakout doesn’t have quite the same depth of plot as the first book in the series, I still found its off-beat humor enjoyable.
Super Potato #2: Super Potato’s Galactic Breakout 2
By Artur Laperla
ISBN: 9781512440225
Graphic Universe, 2019
Publisher Age Rating: 7-10
Series Reading Order