DC Comics Secret Hero Society, Book 4 - Science Fair Crisis

DC's world of young super heroes in the Secret Hero Society continues to expand with the fourth book in this children's series.  Part prose, part comic, part notes and journals, these books have been a lot of fun to read, and it's nice to see DC actually allowing their characters to be used for stories that are all dark and gloomy.  Since I've already seen that a fifth book is forthcoming, I am hoping this means the sales have been good, and DC will continue publishing the books for young readers!

Science Fair Crisis finds the students returning to Justice Preparatory Academy for an all new year of school under the new principal, James Gordon. As fate would have it, the return to school also means a new mystery for the secret hero society to solve - who is causing all of the accidents throughout the school that threaten to affect the upcoming science fair sponsored by S.T.A.R. Labs?  The book features the return of Bruce Wayne, Diana Prince, Clark Kent, Barry Allen, Oliver Queen, and Victor Stone, and introduces readers to the newest member of the SHS, Arthur Curry (better known as Aquaman!).

The story is pretty creative, as someone sabotages the science fair projects, and poor Arthur gets blamed for the damage done to the school. Arthur is forced to leave the school, and his thought-to-be-a-sure-fire-winner science project is withdrawn from the S.T.A.R. Labs contest.  While Bruce (Batman) is quick to believe Arthur is the blame, the other children (heroes) are not so quick to agree. They believe Arthur was set up, so they decide to investigate on their own - after all, isn't that what friends (and heroes) do?

It's fun to watch the kids use their own special talents to try and uncover clues that will lead them to the real culprit - and along the way, readers will meet Lois Lane, who runs the school newspaper; see Clark become a "reporter" for the school newspaper; see Diana use her lasso of truth to try and get to the bottom of things; see Ms. Waller come on board as the new guidance counselor and truancy officer; see Barry (the Flash) get some special tutoring from Professor Zoom; and see the Secret Hero Society work together to uncover the true villain behind the caper (and it's not at all who you will be expecting - quite frankly, even I didn't see this one coming, although the clues were there!).

Pamela Lovas and Shane Clester take over the art chores for this fourth volume in the series. Not sure what happened to Dustin Nguyen or why he didn't illustrate this one - but Pamela and Shane do a great job, and the variation in style really is not that noticeable.  The story flows as smoothly as previous ones did, and the characters maintain their look (making them easily distinguishable and identifiable even without their iconic costumes).

These stories are the perfect introduction for young readers who enjoy super heroes, allowing them to read about their favorite characters without having to face the continuity-heavy, down-trodden, darkness-filled stories that over-saturate the comic book market today.  Fun, simple stories that are truly enjoyable to read - even as an adult!

RATING:  10 mysterious text messages out of 10 for making super hero school fun to read!