Marvel Heroes: Puzzle Peril!

Background

The folks at Brighter Minds Media, Inc. are actually creators of computer software as much as books. They have published some PC software and even a game that plays on your DVD player. But they've also produced a few printed products too, including this jigsaw puzzle book.

Story Details

Marvel Heroes: Puzzle Peril! is 8.75" x 10.25". The book is just over half an inch thick, and features a hardback cover with hardback pages.

Including the inner front and back panels, there are eight pages. That makes four jigsaw puzzles, and four little "stories" that go with each puzzle. The puzzles star Wolverine, Fantastic Four vs. Super Skrull, Hulk vs. Abomination, and Spider-Man vs. Wolverine.

The Spider-Man/Electro story is pretty typical of them all. Spider-Man is patrolling New York when he sees Electro trying to short-circuit an ATM machine for some quick cash. Hero and Villain battle briefly, but Spidey dodges Electro's blasts and then simply coats the evil-doer with webbing. Score one quick victory to the web-head.

General Comments

The Spider-Man story is rather silly, as are the rest of the texts. But they're silly in a rather inoffensive, light-hearted sort of way.

The 20-piece puzzles themselves are bright and attractive. I haven't snapped the pieces out, but they seem to be substantial enough. Overall the book feels well-constructed and has an appealing look to it.

Overall Rating

The text is bearable, and the puzzles are attractive. I would be tempted to give this an above average rating, except for one major defect. The cover of this book proudly states "8 puzzles inside". That is a shocking lie.

Inside are eight pages, but only FOUR puzzles! Given such brazen mendacity, I must reduce my rating accordingly.

Three webs it is, then.