Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him

Grover (Deeply Dave) contemplates the grounding power of friendship in this appealingly strange graphic novel about ghost Jake Spooky, who is inexplicably regurgitating live wolves. Unadorned, thinly lined comics introduce Jake—shown as a white sheet sporting a baseball cap and wearing a dot-eyed, deadpan expression—whose befuddling gastrointestinal issues have thrown a wrench in his otherwise chill existence. Though his laid-back roommates seem only marginally concerned, the arrival of a threatening letter from their landlord forces the friends to tackle Jake’s problem head-on. Along with humanoid Brand-o, whose head is a vintage TV, and underpants-wearing cat Quincy, Jake sets out to uncover the origin of his tummy troubles. Background details mirror the increasing urgency of Jake’s plight: wolves engage in chaotic shenanigans while denizens of Jake’s tropical community frantically prepare for an approaching hurricane. Elongated sequences of repeating identical panels give punch lines visual heft and vivacious pink accents punctuate the spare b&w artwork, imparting exclamatory verve to a simultaneously absurd and sincere plot about friends on the brink of transition. Ages 8–12. (Apr.)