The books revel in the placenames and proper names of epic poetry. There’s lots of discussion of Heathobards, Geats, and Danes, and of the Saracens and Franks. At the same time, the books largely avoid the excesses of Thor-speak. There are a fair number of outbursts such as “By Woden,” or “Odin’s eye” for local color–in other words, exactly the sort of thing that a kid might enjoy picking up. The books do not, however, make a fetish of authenticity. Kid Beowulf and the Song of Roland has a joke about union rep, for example, and the plot depends on the construction of an amusement park. The books are positioned clearly as a gateway drug to the classics, and do a good job of it.

Many thanks go out to The Graphic Classroom for their enthusiastic review of Kid Beowulf and the Blood-Bound Oath.

Fajardo gives us a kid friendly book. The art reminds me of the original BONE series: black and white line art with little shading. It makes the book clean for young students. Fajardo also inserts a lot of humor in the illustrations.

That’s right kids, Kid Beowulf is in good company with Bone!

One of the great things about The Graphic Classroom is that their reviews also include recommendations for using books in the classrooms.

My experience leads me to believe that fictionalized stories with strong mythological themes and characters bring students, including elementary kids, to our most ancient of stories. Modern retellings have a knack of driving young male readers mad with excitement. It is my opinion that the KID BEOWULF series is just such a tale.

If you’re a teacher considering graphic novels in your classroom, Bowler Hat Comics would love to hear from you. We’d also love to hear from students who want to see more comics in the classroom. Drop us a line, or leave a comment below.

I’m a big fan of Alexis E. Fajardo and his series Kid Beowulf, so I was thrilled to see him there [Super-Con].

Show some love back to Lunasea and check out their site. It’s a great source of “mythology, monsters, and mirth!”

And while we’re on Super-Con, be sure to head on over to kidbeowulf.com to check out some “fanboy-themed sketches.”

Read the full review here.

Read the full review here.