Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules (Delilah Dirk, Volume 3) by Tony Cliff has slightly darker content and images, than the other two novels in this graphic novel series. But it still has the same adventure, humor, and spunk of before. This time we follow our Delilah and her companion, Mr. Selim, as she tries and find a lost city, find treasure, fight the bad guys, try not to die (more than once) and deal with a newfound celebrity status that she really did not ask for. Mystery and mayhem and alternative history realism grace the pages.
This series is a combination of girl power and old-school adventure. You can flatter Delilah, but also know she is not a push over. She has her own code of honor, but it is a code. There is a smidgen of romance, a lesson or two, and lots of fun. Geared for the ages of 10 and up, most kids will be okay with it. However, the illustrations and text can get weighty, or “bogged down” (dense) so your younger reader might not be completely comfortable with it. This volume has fantasy issues, some violence, and minimal language, therefore, the sensitive reader also might not be the best audience.
The illustrations are glossy, colorful, and expressive. They capture the mood and tone by using the tools of the trade and making the shadows and deeper colors (red plays a large roll) be a narrator as well as the human one. This all allows them to pop off the page.