ALA Booklist (Wed Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2022)

Steve L. McEvil might be the son of an out-of-work cartoonist, but he is descended from a long line of the world's greatest super villains. His grandpa was the latest in the family to hold the title until his recent retirement, which has left the crown up for grabs. Young Steve is keen on following in his grandpa's footsteps, but his villainous undertakings run into a road block when Vic Turry, a new kid at school with a strong sense of righteousness, begins foiling all of Steve's evil plans. However, when the two are paired for a school assignment with their classmate, Sierra (Steve's secret crush), they discover a mysterious occurrence that forces Steve to reconsider the life of villainy, all while managing typical sixth-grade worries. Turnbloom's campy cartoon art playfully makes use of classic comic book tropes, like robots, gadgets, and gravity-defying hairstyles, and nicely complements the wry storytelling. Kids who love anything relating to superheroes and supervillains will appreciate this funny, fast-paced comic.

Kirkus Reviews (Wed Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2022)

A young would-be supervillain has trouble living up to his name in this fart-sical outing.Stepping personally into the panels of cartoon art fore and aft, first to introduce his characters and then to show how to draw them, Turnbloom sets up his planned graphic series with a save-the-world scenario featuring sixth grader Steve-properly outfitted in lab coat, goggles, scowl, and huge flame-colored shock of hair-as a standard-issue inept lead. Notwithstanding a checkered history of freezing the faculty toilets and, with a special smartwatch supplied by his retired (mostly) villain grandpa, making Principal Wilfahrt and other unsuspecting victims poot on command, the budding bad guy finds himself joining dreamboat classmate Sierra Flores and archrival do-gooder Vic Turry in battling to close a local wormhole before the armies of alien overlord Perses the Destroyer can surge through. His quest for ultimate evilness may be stymied here by circumstances (not to mention still having a set bedtime, being forbidden by his mom to use death rays in the house, and the good influences of Vic and Sierra) but is bound to continue in future episodes. Fans of Jamie Thomson's Dark Lord romps, Artemis Fowl, or Wimpy Kid–style underachievers will find themselves in familiar territory. Sierra and Vic are browner skinned than the pale McEvil clan.Not gassed up by much beyond the rampant flatulence, but readers fond of that sort of laff will find it a blast. (Graphic fantasy. 10-13)

School Library Journal (Wed Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2022)

Gr 36 "It's hard to take over the planet when you still have a bedtime." While that is true, Steve L. McEvil has bigger problems than bedtime. Middle school is always tough, but knowing that your ancestor stole Atlantis is a hard family tradition to uphold, even if you have a Death Bot named DORKUS (Drone Of Remarkable Knowledge, Usefulness, and Skill). Among other trials, Steve has to deal with the crush he can't talk to, a goodie-goodie new kid, a sister who is better at evil than he is, and being given "old lady" frames for his new glasses. He seems to be a middle grade version of Judith Viorst's Alexander minus the desire to move to Australia. Plenty of humor will appeal to middle grade readers and their parents, such as Steve's horror at being assigned to two weeks on the Buddy Bench at recess. "Can't you, like, expel me instead? Please?!" he begs the principal. References to "Star Wars," "Short Circuit," and "Highlander," show some of Turnbloom's influences. Bold comic book illustrations capture all the action, use facial expressions to give more depth to the dialogue, and showcase the epic hairstyles of Steve and Vic (whose pompadour could rival Fabian's). Added features include instructions for making a three-panel comic strip and how to draw Steve and DORKUS. VERDICT Sure to be a crowd-pleaser with fans of Lincoln Peirce's "Big Nate" or Scott Seegert's "Vordak the Incomprehensible." Readers will eagerly await further adventures from Steve and his classmates. Suzanne Costner