Glitchy Dream

Part of a new series by creator Alex A., Glitchy Dream is essentially a spin-off from the popular ‘Super Agent Jon Le Bon’ graphic novel series. Aimed at younger readers, it follows Jon le Bon’s clone Mini-Jon and his friend Mini-Maple as they go on their own adventures, trying to keep out of danger (and trouble!) along the way.

In Glitchy Dreams, the two friends find a “dream unifier” which allows them to share the same dream experience at the same time. Together, they dream up a delightful candy-themed world, but it all falls apart when evil computer genius Gabriel Lobe shows up and tries to use the dream unifier to control their minds. The pair come up with a brilliant escape plan, realizing that, if they get scared enough, they will wake up. Readers can clearly look forward to future Mini-Jon and Mini-Maple stories featuring Lobe as this adventure ends with a very angry villain declaring “…until next time.”

Like the previous book in the series, Munch Monster, Glitchy Dreams is a short and engaging introductory graphic novel. Once again, the writers have achieved a nice balance between accessible language and new vocabulary, including some challenging words for emerging readers which can be easily decoded using context clues.

The illustrations are very similar to the familiar Jon le Bon series, with funny characters that aren’t always instantly recognizable as being one particular species. I love that each book seems to stick to a particular colour palette; this one is primarily pinks, oranges, and yellows which suits the dreamy, Candy Land-type setting perfectly.

Between this title and the first book in the series, the plot of Glitchy Dreams comes out just a little bit ahead for me. I liked the addition of the villain, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing him again. I also found the plot just a little more exciting and interesting than the previous adventure. Overall, both Glitchy Dreams and Munch Monster are cute, funny stories for readers ready to move on from picture books but not quite ready for a full graphic novel.