{"id":26756,"date":"2022-10-20T08:00:39","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T08:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=26756"},"modified":"2022-10-19T16:23:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T16:23:10","slug":"evil-emperor-penguin-antics-in-antarctica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/10\/20\/evil-emperor-penguin-antics-in-antarctica\/","title":{"rendered":"Evil Emperor Penguin: Antics in Antarctica"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Laura Ellen Anderson<\/strong>, with Kate Brown<\/strong> (David Fickling Books)
\nISBN: 978-1-78845-282-3 (Digest PB)<\/p>\n

Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Outrageous Acts and Brilliant Buffoonery\u2026 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2012 Oxford-based family publisher David Fickling Books launched an \u201cold school\u201d weekly comics anthology aimed at girls and boys between 6 and 12. It revelled in reviving the good old days of British picture-story entertainment intent whilst embracing the full force of modernity in its style and content. This comprised comic strips, humour, adventure, quizzes, puzzles and educational material in a joyous parade of cartoon fun and fantasy.<\/p>\n

In the years since its premiere, the periodical has gone from strength to strength, its pantheon of superbly engaging strips generating a line of superbly engaging graphic novel compilations, the latest of which is this riotous romp starring a gloriously malign arch-wizard of scientific wickedness to delight all readers with a profound sense of mischief and unbridled imagination…<\/p>\n

Conceived and created by illustrator and author Laura Ellen Anderson (Kittens<\/strong>, Snow Babies<\/strong>, My Brother is a Superhero,<\/strong> Amelia Fang!<\/strong>, Rainbow Grey<\/strong>, I Don\u2019t Want\u2026<\/strong>), these are the revived ad remastered exploits of Evil Emperor Penguin!<\/strong><\/p>\n

He lives in a colossal fortress beneath the Antarctic, working tirelessly towards total world domination, assisted by his stylish, erudite administrative lackey Number 8<\/em> and cutely fuzzy, passionately loyal Eugene. The latter is <\/em>an endlessly inventive little abominable snowman clone. EEP had whipped up a batch of 250, but none of the others are quite like Eugene\u2026<\/p>\n

The Penguin appointed the hairy, bizarrely inventive tyke his Top Minion, but somehow never managed to instil him with the proper degree of evilness. He is, however, a dab-hand with spaghetti hoops, so it\u2019s not a total loss\u2026<\/p>\n

Following a pin-up of the \u2018Fridge of Evil\u2019<\/em> and an info-packed double-page map of the Evil Underground Headquarters <\/em>disclosing all you\u2019ll need to know, an assortment of vile vignettes begins with \u2018A Stitch in Time\u2019 <\/em>wherein the cape-draped malcontent megalomaniac unleashes his Evil Emperor-bot of Icy Doom<\/em> at the annual World Leaders\u2019 Picnic.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, due to a totally typical cock-up with the plans by oafish underlings, the titanic tin-can terror\u2019s ice-laser eyes have somehow been replaced by instant knitting machines\u2026<\/p>\n

The next nasty invention doesn\u2019t even get out of the lab before malfunctioning. \u2018Have No Fear\u2019 <\/em>finds a dire device that manifests personal terrors running amok in the lab, unleashing EEP\u2019s domineering mother and sweet Eugene\u2019s incredible, ghastly secret phobia before the inventors can reach the Emergency Self-Destruct Button\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018Cat-astrophe\u2019 <\/em>introduces a terrifying rival in the Word Domination stakes who infiltrates the bad bird\u2019s base as a cute and fluffy feline pet for Number 8\u2026<\/p>\n

When EEP\u2019s giant spider robot immobilises the entire Earth in its \u2018World-Wide-Web\u2019, <\/em>even Evil Cat<\/em> is caught off guard, and only Eugene\u2019s incomprehensible preoccupation with shiny, sparkly unicorns prevents total disaster.<\/p>\n

The top-hatted, moustachioed, perfidious puss then attempts amnesty in \u2018The Truce\u2019 <\/em>but the fuzzy fiend is, of course, shamming friendship. The floral gift he proffers is actually a deadly animated booby-trap which is only just defeated thanks to Eugene\u2019s inherent ineptitude.<\/p>\n

Would-be World Dictators are not a particularly forgiving bunch and when the fuzzy tyke accidentally unleashes the full force of EEP\u2019s F<\/strong>erocious A<\/strong>nd R<\/strong>eally T<\/strong>errible<\/em> machine, \u2018The Stinking Truth\u2019 <\/em>is released in a Nuclear Stench Cloud and prompting the penguin peril to fire his Top Minion. EEP\u2019s loss is Evil Cat\u2019s gain though, and Eugene soon settles in with a Malign Master who really appreciates him.<\/p>\n

\u2018Please Alight for the Domination Station\u2019 <\/em>finds them quashing the chilly Caped Fiend\u2019s scheme to transform Britain\u2019s seat of government into the Houses of Penguinment<\/em> (which I\u2019m pretty sure we\u2019d all vote for this<\/em><\/strong> week), but a pitched battle between super-science cat and ghastly gadget bird swiftly escalates beneath London streets before Eugene\u2019s cuteness-filled ultimate weapon sadly takes out his new boss by mistake\u2026<\/p>\n

As a result of that debacle, the little snowman is briefly evaporated by Evil Cat and ends up floating wistfully over Antarctica as a \u2018Head in the Clouds\u2019<\/em> even as Evil Emperor Penguin faces his greatest challenge when his little sister Ruth<\/em> – she prefers \u201cRuth-less\u201d – pays a visit, sees what big bro is up to and decides that she too is going to rule the world in \u2018Sibling Rivalry\u2019\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Things get even worse after Evil Cat interferes, holding Ruth-less hostage until everybody involved has foolishly forgotten that tiny turncoat Eugene is afflicted with niceness and a powerful conscience\u2026<\/p>\n

The exploration of \u00a0cartoon evil and daft depravity amplifies and intensifies in an epic exploit detailing \u2018The Return\u2019 <\/em>when sweet-natured Eugene\u2019s continual bodges at last force Evil Cat to fire him with extreme prejudice. Hopeless, homeless and homesick, the shaggy savant is on his last legs when he\u2019s adopted by jolly unicorn Keith<\/em>, who nurses him back to health and flies him to Antarctica just in time for them both to become embroiled in a final fateful clash between Penguin and Cat.<\/p>\n

Naturally such devoted do-gooders can only get stuck in and engineer some marvellously magical reconciliation\u2026<\/p>\n

More nefarious nonsense unfolds in extended thriller-chiller \u2018I Will Cr\u00e8che You\u2019 <\/em>wherein EEP\u2019s incredible De-Ageifying \u201cYouth Juice\u201d wreaks the now-customary havoc after insidious rival Evil Cat breaks into the citadel and everybody gets a rejuvenating soaking\u2026<\/p>\n

Undaunted, the Penguin of Perfidy attempts to increase his own stature with a growth ray but doesn\u2019t consider that his top menial might wander in and accidentally become \u2018Hugene\u2019<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

More trouble arrives when the Barmy Bird decides to digitise and upload himself into the global data net via his Super Computer of Evil. Believing supreme power is in his feathered grasp once he becomes ultimate virus \u2018X-Treme Evil\u2019<\/em>, EEP is ambushed in virtual reality by digital demon virus Trojan the Hunk<\/em>. Luckily, Eugene is a dab paw with computer games and comes to his master\u2019s rescue\u2026 sort of\u2026<\/p>\n

Back in the physical world once again the Emperor is next subjected to a terrifying surreal assault by feathered scavengers and finds himself \u2018Pigeon Holed\u2019<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Everybody loves cute kittens, which is what Evil Cat\u2019s cousin Debra<\/em> counts on when she uses soppy Eugene to infiltrate the fortress and steal all the Spaghetti Hoops in \u2018What\u2019s New Pussycat\u2019<\/em>. With the team – even Evil Cat – trapped and helpless, they must surrender all pride and dignity and call on jolly unicorn Keith to save them\u2026<\/p>\n

Without their favourite food, Christmas seems drab and dreary for the entire ice-bound army but when Eugene finds \u2018The One Hoop\u2019 <\/em>it unleashes a torrent of unexpected emotion to tide the Evil Emperor over, even though it ultimately leads to deprivation mania in \u2018A New Hoop\u2019<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Deranged and desperate, EEP is only saved after Eugene and Number 8 track down Debra and steal back the vast cache of spaghetti tins. Good thing too, as she wasn\u2019t planning on eating them but needed them to power her world-destroying machine\u2026<\/p>\n

After all that drama, \u2018Eugene\u2019s Day Off\u2019<\/em> is an unremitting stream of great experiences for the faithful servitor, but for the Penguin Potentate – forced to put up with substandard substitute Neill<\/em> – a string of catastrophic and painful disasters. Thus, it\u2019s no surprise and a total tragedy when EEP\u2019s top flunky is lost on a melting \u2019berg after watching the pretty sunset \u2018On Thin Ice\u2019<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Happily, the unthinkable occurs as the cape-clad malcontent megalomaniac teams up with scintillating Keith the Unicorn to save Eugene from dire deep sea doom\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018Pop Goes the Easel\u2019 <\/em>finds the putrid penguin planning an attack on world leaders through the medium of art, but sadly, turning his victims into paintings proves to be a double-edged sword with unexpected repercussions, especially after Eugene tries to help\u2026<\/p>\n

This gag-filled grimoire of bird-based bombast concludes in high style as a sinister scheme to flood the world with scented candles of distilled Ultimate Evil is thwarted once \u2018Essence of Eugene\u2019 <\/em>is added to the wax mixer, resulting in a global outpouring of warm, fuzzy euphoria\u2026<\/p>\n

Rocket-paced, hilariously inventive, wickedly arch and utterly determined to be silly when it most counts, this tome of terror also has educational merit as it offers lessons on \u2018How to Draw Eugene\u2019<\/em>. Evil Emperor Penguin: Antics in Antarctica<\/strong> is a captivating cascade of smart, witty funny adventure, which will delight readers of all ages.
\nText and illustrations \u00a9 Laura Ellen Anderson 2022. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Laura Ellen Anderson, with Kate Brown (David Fickling Books) ISBN: 978-1-78845-282-3 (Digest PB) Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Outrageous Acts and Brilliant Buffoonery\u2026 8\/10 In 2012 Oxford-based family publisher David Fickling Books launched an \u201cold school\u201d weekly comics anthology aimed at girls and boys between 6 and 12. It revelled in reviving the good old … <\/p>\n

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