Mighty Jack by Ben Hatke

Jack and his family are going through some tough times. He wants to help his mom, who is exhausted and stressed from working multiple jobs, but all she wants him to do is watch his non-verbal sister, Maddy. When Jack gets into trouble at the county fair by selling the family car for a chest of magic seeds, it seems like the family is at their lowest point ever. But when Maddy plants some of the seeds, and the two are joined by lonely homeschooler Lilly, things are looking up. After all, what could be better than a magical garden? But maybe the garden isn't the perfect world it seems - and Jack has to make some difficult decisions with serious consequences.

While Jack is the central character, both Lilly and Maddy are strong characters in their own right, and the three share equal time and equally complex emotions and feelings. Maddy is shown as a complete character, including her frustration in trying to communicate with the others. Lilly starts out as a stereotypical "tomboy" but like the others she grows in depth and character throughout the book, and although more privileged than Jack's small family, she is not without her own struggles as she longs to experience the world and learns to handle her own emotions and needs.

Hatke's art is fresh and cinematic, balancing the excitement, danger, and adventure of the strange creatures and the magical garden with the character development of three complex personalities. It's a mark of his genius that through his art and text he keeps this fairytale spin-off from being just another male-dominated fantasy adventure.

Verdict: A complex and powerful story is included within the skillful and adventure-packed art and this is a must-have for any library with fans of Hatke's earlier work, Zita the Spacegirl, or fantasy adventure comics in general.

ISBN: 9781626722651; Published 2016 by First Second; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

Revisited: Review originally published in 2016. I have bought several copies of this since it was originally published, most recently a prebound version in 2020. The series eventually stretched to a trilogy, ending with a volume that combined Zita and Jack's stories, and my only complaint is that not all are available in prebound, only in paperbacks which do not stand up to the constant circulation.