He then presented his crush with a whole Zita comic book. The admirer from Indiana gave Zita a new outfit and added a green cape. “She had done these series of short little comics when she was in high school about this future girl named Zita so I was like, ‘I’m going to develop this character.'” “I stole the idea from this cute girl I met at Christendom College,” he told the Arlington Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Diocese of Arlington. “I feel like I’m always coming clean when I tell this story,” said Hatke, as he sat next to his desk, covered with pens, paper, tiny action figures and a Madonna and Child statue. What many of the fans don’t know, however, is that Zita was not Hatke’s idea. The story, and subsequent trilogy, became a hit with readers who have become big fans of Hatke’s work. “Zita the Spacegirl” chronicles the adventures of young Zita as she braves the unknown in pursuit of her friend who vanished after pushing a mysterious red button. The opinions are my own.The rights to his first graphic novel, “Zita the Spacegirl,” was picked up recently by Fox for a movie and there is hope that one day Hatke’s brave characters will make it to the big screen. Read my review of Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl here.Ī copy of this book was provided by Raincoast Books for an honest review. I liked the story, I am a fantasy fan, and am looking forward to more in this series, loved the characters, particularly Lily, who is strong, brave, loyal and kind, and absolutely loved the illustrations.

The first graphic novel is simply called Mighty Jack and it might of explained how Maddie, Jack’s sister, ended up being stolen by an ogre from another realm and how Jack knew Phelix (I love this dragon).ĭespite the frustration I felt in missing information in this fantasy graphic novel, I still liked the book and still feel I can say I love everything I have read by Hatke (Little Robot and Nobody Likes a Goblin are the other two I have re-read over and over). I was, although I didn’t actually figure that out until I looked it up just now. I kept stopping to re-read the front flap, wondering if somehow I missed some key piece of information or if perhaps I was reading a sequel. As I read Might Jack and the Goblin King graphic novel by Ben Hatke ($20.99, Raincoast Books, First Second), I felt as though I was missing something.

Books by ben hatke