Dante N. Ferno is Not a Loser

In this new illustrated comedy series for children, a hapless young demon boy fights hard to reinvent himself after a terrible time at school.
Dante N. Ferno is about to move on to high school and is absolutely determined to rid himself of his reputation as a loser, which was harshly earned after an unfortunate trousers-down-in-the-cafeteria incident. It is bad enough putting up with his flatulent brother and pest of a sister at home, but school is even worse. Dante is perpetually tortured by a hoard of bullies, constantly reminding him of ‘the incident’ and making his life a nightmare.
Dante is a resilient demon, though, and makes a plan to reinvent himself as he moves up to high school, where he hopes to avoid an entirely new group of bullies and show everyone that, deep down, he is the coolest of cool. His plan has some merit (such as getting good at ‘sports stuff’ and wearing sunglasses) but Dante is delightfully clueless when it comes to social situations: his efforts to look cool make his parents think he has become a mime artist!
Nevertheless – despite managing to draw the attention of the head teacher on his first day at high school – Dante strikes it lucky when an angelic boy called Virgil sits next to him in class. Though neither boy enjoys positive social status, they are stronger as a pair, and Virgil’s intelligence helps to fend off the bullies to a certain extent. When they spot a sign saying ‘Dante N. Ferno is a loser’ they hatch a plan to win the school quiz competition and shed their painful reputation.
The story’s mythical setting is somewhat confusing and adds little to the enjoyment of the story. Apart from his tail and horns, and the fact that the food in his house is always burned, there is very little evidence of Dante being a devil boy. The other characters (monsters, unicorns, human flies, angels) are also only discernible as non-humans by Gordon’s hilarious, characterful drawings.
Many children will empathise with Dante’s situation of managing the social challenges of moving up to high school and – demon-boy or not – Dante is delightful company. His misplaced confidence and swagger provide great comedy, with expertly-timed drawings illustrating Dante’s whimsical asides to the reader.
With such a compelling main character, there is much for young readers to enjoy about Dante N. Ferno is Not a Loser and, with all of Heaven and Earth…and Hell to explore, there is plenty of scope for future episodes.