Superfrog!

Foreman’s familiar blue and green palette and liking for wide-angle depiction of scenes are to the fore in creating atmosphere for this spoof superhero tale of Little Frank, a frog from Pond City who turns into Superfrog when a gang of toads steal frog spawn that his granny was babysitting. Quickly responding, Little Frank transforms himself into his alter ego, Superfrog, by breathing in great mouthfuls of air. Duly superendowed, he dives into the depths of the underwater underworld where he vanquishes the horny toad who is the leader of the gang, and liberates tadpoles, tiddlers and frog spawn all packed into his big, fat belly. There are delightful visual and verbal plays on the superhero and crime noir genres here, but none that are above the heads of young readers – a characteristic of Foreman’s work is the huge respect he always shows to his audience. Of course, a young princess appears at the end, but she doesn’t kiss our Superhero in case ‘he turned into a boring prince’. And how superheroes are propelled is also revealed here, no doubt to the delight of gas and bottom-obsessed youngsters. Beautifully paced and great fun for all.