September 9, 2024
A school field trip to the Knights Templar castle ruins goes awry for four friends and their archenemy in this whirlwind graphic novel series starter by Spanish author Damián. As students run to the buses to escape sudden treacherous weather, class bully Piero plays a nasty trick on classmates Sara, Mei, Driss, and Arnold with calamitous results, sending all five tweens toppling into a cistern. In his frantic attempts to escape rapidly rising water levels, Piero accidentally opens a time portal that hurtles the group into a jungle filled with bizarre beasts and man-eating plants. After they’re saved by Antione, a Knights Templar descendant whose ancestors fled the Spanish Inquisition, the group traipses through various dangers on their way to meet with the Ancients, who purportedly have the power to get them home. Conflict surrounding the characters’ body types and abilities—Piero disparages Arnold for his weight and refers to Sara, who walks with crutches, as “a cripple”—sours the rambunctious energy of this wild adventure. Fuentes (GenPet) uses a wide-ranging palette, from hot pinks to doom-and-gloom browns, to accentuate the action and fit the mood, making for a visually pleasing tale of magic, mystery, and time travel. Ages 7–12.