Bumperboy Loses His Marbles

By Debbie Huey

Highly successful in the mini-comic series format, Bumperboy's first adventure is now available in one complete book. Bumperboy Loses His Marbles is an all-ages story following Bumperboy -- with his best pal, Bumperpup -- on his frantic trek to find his missing marbles before the big Marble Tournament. Does Bumperboy have what it takes to win all the marbles?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976661004
• ISBN13: 9780976661009
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: AdHouse Books
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.8" x 0.2" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Simply wonderful!

Bumperboy Loses His Marbles is a great little book by a wonderful author/illustrator. Ms. Huey knows how to tell a story and her talent is obvious with charming characters in a wonderfully-drawn adventure. I read this book while sitting for an 8 yr old boy and he didn't want me to put it down. I can't wait to read the next installment!

I love Bumperboy as much as he loves his marbles!

This is truly an adorable and funny comic, and I'm very glad I ordered it. At first the drawings, storyline and dialouge may seem overly simplistic, but once you start reading the book will pull you in and you'll care about these little guys as much as any other beloved fictional characters. Bumperboy of Bubtopia is ready to compete in the big marble championship, but all his marbles are gone! They're scattered throughout the land and he- and his faithful dog Bumperpup- must visit some really neat places to find them all. But his most important marble (given to him by his grandmother) was stolen and is in the possession of his arch-enemy, who plans to use it in the championship! Will Bumperboy be able to beat him without his lucky marble and get it back? I'm in my twenties and I loved this book, but it's really perfect for very young readers. The book is very cute, but it's written sincerely with respect to the readers instead of a fake sugary-sweet way, which makes it appealing for all ages. The only drawback to this book is that it just flew by when I read it, and now I'm jonesing for more Bumperboy tales! From the official Bumperboy site I also bought the "First Day of School" book, which was also superb and featured the other characters in Bumperboy's world. The author was even nice enough to include an autographed postcard as well! I hope lots more stories in this comic will come out soon from this wonderful writer- I'll be there to happily buy every single one.

Buy it, read it, love it.

Simple character designs and minimal detail give Bumperboy the visual appeal of a newspaper comic strip, and Debbie Huey's effortless humor and casual pacing are evocative of the best Nickelodeon cartoons. Bumperboy and his dog, Bumperpup, wear some sort of full-body suit that makes them look like astronauts, and live in a world inhabited by, among other characters, a sock-wearing bear, a pair of bananas, and a malicious bird, Frederick, who'll stop at nothing to win the big marble tournament. It's Frederick who causes Bumperboy to lose his marbles in a "borp hole" hours before the tournament begins. Borp holes are teleportals that randomly send Bumperboy to places throughout Bubtopia as he tries to find his marbles, particularly his shooter, a legend in his family, given to him by his grandmother who won several tournaments with it. I've never played marbles in my life, never had the slightest bit of interest, and yet Huey makes the 56th Annual Marble Tournament as compelling as last year's Yankees/Red Sox playoff series, including a bit of a similarly unexpected twist in the results at one point. That she doesn't take the most obvious route to get to the ending is both appealing and her least notable achievement here. I repeat: SHE MAKES A MARBLE TOURNAMENT COMPELLING! IN A COMIC BOOK! Bumperboy Loses His Marbles has jumped into my Top 10 list for 2005 and I recommend it to everyone without qualification. Buy it, read it, love it. It'll make you a better person.

I CAN'T IMAGINE THE WORLD WITHOUT BUMPERBOY!

I love BUMPERBOY LOSES HIS MARBLES! That's it. No fancy shenanigans, no clever wordplay. I just love it. Besides, the book is full of fancy shenanigans and it has clever written all over it, so Debbie Huey has it more than covered. I mean, how can you not love a comic that has Onomatopeople with names like Bam or Pow? It's a credit to Huey's self-assurance that she has made a book for kids that gives kids the benefit of the doubt that they will even know what that means. It's a rare thing these days to find entertainment that actually remembers children can be clever, too. Plus, there are dancing bananas. Huey has self-published this collection of her minicomics using a Xeric Grant, and AdHouse Books are distributing it, so it's the most indie of indie comics. And yet, Huey manages to avoid all the hipster pitfalls that most indie comic book creators trip over when making books for kids. Too often such comics rely on an ironic pose to get them through, as if one jaded adult can only create such nonsense if other jaded adults can see him winking. BUMPERBOY LOSES HIS MARBLES! is played with a straight face, hearkening back to a time when we could all have fun without having to make excuses for it. Bumperboy's adventure is one every kid would want to have, and any adult worth knowing secretly wants to have it, too. It's a simple story: as Bumperboy and his faithful canine Bumperpup head off to practice their marble playing before the big tournament, their arch rival tricks them into dropping the entire bag of marbles through a Borp Hole, an interdimensional portal. The only way to get them back is to go into the hole themselves and search the strange worlds for the lost toys. With the deadline of the competition hanging over their heads, it's a bit of a challenge. The line work in BUMPERBOY LOSES HIS MARBLES! is clean and charming, and Huey approaches each page with an eye that manages to be inventive while maintaining clarity. Her layouts aren't just simple grids, they move with the events of the story. The journeys through the Borp Hole become a constantly growing riff, and Huey creates wonderful montages to get us through the marbles tournament without cheating us on the action. BUMPERBOY LOSES HIS MARBLES! is a graphic novel for anyone who wants to recapture the joy and remember what it was like to play a fun game--or read a good story--on a summer day. It's cliche to say it's for the kid who lives inside of all of us, but it really is. It's also perfect for those of us who are older comic book fans to share with a new generation of readers. I know my nephews can expect to get one in their Christmas stockings this year.