Ben Hatke, known to Catholic homeschoolers for his illustrations in many familiar titles such as Angel in the Waters and Once Upon a time Saints (Bethlehem Books) among other things, has written a full length "graphic novel". Entitled Zita the Spacegirl, his comic book tells the many adventures of a likeable and good girl, Zita, who is accidentally thrown into a space odyssey of sorts. To help her friend Joseph, Zita bravely faces all sorts of adventures!I have loved Ben’s art since I first encountered it and I was very excited to get a hold of this book as this seems to be what he loves to do best! I grew up with nice comic books, free from the reputation they suffer here in the United States (and I must add deservedly so for the most part), and it is a delight to have my children enjoy Zita as I enjoyed Tintin, Asterix and others.
We fell in love with Zita for many reasons: first of all, Zita is good, brave, kind and cute! Then the characters created by Ben are unique and original and hilarious! The story is fast-paced and very adventurous! Shortly after we got the book my 11 year old was reading in the car with a friend and I had to chuckle at their comments and excitement over their joint reading. The art is wonderful: Ben is a fantastic, talented and solid artist. I must add that the reviews from major sources of this new graphic novel have been very positive—Kirkus calls it “out of this world!”—and I think well-deserved!
In preparing this review I chatted with Ben over the internet and asked him a few questions that will relevant to Mater & Magistra readers. He was fun to work with, and watch the next issue of Mater & Magistra for it!
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