Traction Man is Here!
by Mini Grey
This spoof of superhero comics and their ubiquitous action figures is so damn funny it’s impossible to get through a first reading without pausing to hold your ribs. But it has a Shrek problem: its best lines zoom straight over kids’ heads and target Mom and Dad.
This is welcome news if you’re weary of countless nights re-reading Pooh or Seuss ad nauseum. But it’s tough to explain to a toddler why the sight of a foot-tall plastic toy diving in a sink for the Lost Wreck of the Sieve provokes such snorts and guffaws.
Traction Man’s a Christmas gift to an unnamed boy, whose imagination turns him loose on unsuspecting household objects. But both meet their match with Granny, who knits the doll a puke-green coverall that fairly screams “dork.” Picture the matching bonnet and it’s easy to summon similar mortifying moments from your own childhood.
Reviewed by Anne Levy
Rating: *\*\*\*\
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