Meet The Bumble Brothers by Steve Metzger

I met Steve Metzger online during an intensive class for authors and illustrators of kids graphic novels during the pandemic.  As virtual classmates, we connected instantly due to our similar taste in humor based on the TV shows, comedians and cartoons we both enjoyed growing up.  As such, we of course like to support each other’s efforts to make kids laugh through our like-minded brand of absurd, slapstick and pun-filled stories.  Steve’s newest book series, The Bumble Brothers, is hot off the press NOW and I’d like to share my review of the first issue, The Bumble Brothers Crazy for Comics!

If you have a young reader who enjoys Captain Underpants and Dog Man, then I’m certain they’ll gobble up the bickering, bantering and buffoonery of The Bumble Brothers Crazy for Comics! written by the author of over 70 children’s books, Steve Metzger and illustrated by Brian Schatell. Meet the Bumble Brothers, 9-year old twins who in fact, “bumble” their way through life!  A trip to the store to buy milk quickly turns into an adventure fraught with forgetfulness, arguments, far-out fantasy sequences and…Dun! Dun! Dun!… a fearful encounter with the neighborhood bully, Harold.  It doesn’t take long for the boys to forget where they were going and decide to go to the comic shop to buy the latest edition of their favorite comic, Frabbit (half frog, half rabbit).

Boy readers especially will enjoy the harebrained hilarity in this first of a series of 3 books from Reycraft Books.  Schatell’s colorful, expressive illustrations have the feel of Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants characters without being a copycat.  And I especially like the many thought balloons that illustrate the wild and wacky imaginings that go on inside the boys’ heads.

Please spread the news of this book far and wide; for the world desperately needs a good dose of crazy comical fun!