Animorphs: The Predator - Graphic Novel Review

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Applegate, K.A & Grant, M. (2024). Animorphs The Graphic Novel: The Predator. Adapted by Grine, C. Scholastic.
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The fifth Animorphs book to be adapted into a graphic novel, The Predator, is 208-pages long and was published by Scholastic on 1 November 2024. The book is written from the point-of-view of Marco who is known for being Jake’s best friend and for having a sarcastic sense of humour. A couple of years ago he lost his mother, Eva, in a boating accident. They never recovered her body and his father, Peter, never got over the grief of losing her. Marco is cautious about becoming too involved in the war against the Yeerks because he is afraid that if something were to happen to him his father would never recover.

In The Predator Marco confesses to Jake that he is worried about his father. It is coming up to the two-year anniversary of his mother’s death and he is not certain how his dad is going to react. In the last previous book in the series, The Message, the Animorphs rescued Elfangor’s younger brother Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil from the bottom of the ocean. In The Predator Ax is feeling lonely on Earth and asks the Animorphs for help to get back home. The Animorphs hatch a plan to get Ax the supplies he will need to make a Z-space transponder. They manage to send a distress signal into space which attracts a Bug Fighter. Moments after the ship lands, the kids are taken captive by Visser Three and an army of Hork-Bajir, who had been lying in wait for them the whole time. They are taken up to the Blade Ship and meet Visser One who has taken a human host: Marco’s mother. The reveal that his mother is alive and has been taken as a controller horrifies Marco. Visser One helps the Animorphs escape back to Earth because it will make Visser Three look bad. Marco vows to keep fighting in the war to rescue his mother.

The Predator is a pretty significant book for Marco where some major events happen. The reveal that his mother is alive and has been taken as a host by Viser One is huge. It changes Marco on a deep and personal level. He becomes fully committed to fighting the Yeerks and develops a ruthlessness that will help him survive the war. The Predator is the first book in the series to show the Yeerk Pool Ship, we learn more about Yeerk politics, the kids have a horrifying experience morphing ants, and all six of the Animorphs are forced into their first battle situation against the Yeerks.

Chris Grine is getting better and better at adapting Animorphs into a graphic novel series. He’s getting really good at drawing animals, aliens, and the horrifying morphing scenes. One of my favourite scenes in The Predator is when the kids get into their battle morphs. Jake’s fingers curl into claws, Marco grows black fur all over his body, Cassie’s face stretches into a snout and her hands reshape themselves into wolf legs, and Rachel’s legs swell into elephant legs. On the next page, we see a close-up of each of the kid's eyes in their battle morphs. It was a really cool superhero moment. I also really liked the scene where the Animorphs morphed into ants. I thought that Grine did a really good job illustrating what a nightmarish situation it was for them. The best part of this book is the change we see happen in Marco after he discovers that his mother is alive while. He is shocked at first and then you can slowly see the rage start to build in him. I was really impressed that Grine was able to show so much human emotion on Marco’s face when he was in his gorilla morph. You can see the moment when he decides that he is in the war now and wants to destroy the Yeerks for stealing his mother from him.

Summary: Marco finds a reason to stay in the fight against the Yeerks.
Cost $18.99
Website: Animorphs Graphix 5: The Predator - Scholastic
More Book Reviews by Marisa
Animorphs: The Invasion - Graphic Novel Review
Animorphs: The Visitor - Graphic Novel Review
Animorphs: The Encounter - Graphic Novel Review
Animorphs: The Message - Graphic Novel Review
Animorphs - Book Series Review
The Top 5 Animorph Books

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