cover image Odd Schnozz and the Odd Squad

Odd Schnozz and the Odd Squad

Jeffrey Burandt, illus. by Dennis Culver. Oni, $19.99 trade paper (168p) ISBN 978-1-62010-244-2

The nose knows, and that%E2%80%99s certainly true for high school outcast Liz Minter, who can discern imminent danger%E2%80%94a nasal version of Spidey-sense, essentially. The talent comes in handy as Liz and her garage band get a violent introduction to the strange happenings in their hometown of Plano, Tex. It all begins when a talking chimpanzee drops out of a tree to enlist their help. The chimp is actually Dr. Frederick Zakowski, who escaped a secret organization, B.L.A.N.K., by transferring his mind into the ape%E2%80%99s body. Mix King of the Hill with Daria and blast it with gamma radiation, and you%E2%80%99ll have a good sense of the wild world that newcomer Burandt and Culver (Edison Rex) have created. Rapping robots turn deadly during a Battle of the Bands competition, betrayals and family secrets abound, and B.L.A.N.K. agents (not to mention the cyborg cheetahs, flying robo-dolphins, and gator-copters their grisly experiments have yielded) are lurking around every corner. %E2%80%9CThis... is too much,%E2%80%9D says bandmate Maude during a climactic fight that involves growth serum, a three-headed giraffe-bot, and a bear on tank treads. By that point, readers may be tempted to agree. Ages 13%E2%80%93up. (June)