Melvin Beederman, Superhero

A mix-up at the laundry leaves a fledgling superhero sans cape and powers in this laugh-laced kickoff to a new series. Graduating at the top of his Superhero Academy class despite needing more than just a single bound to leap tall buildings, Melvin lands a juicy first assignment: L.A., superhero-less since the retirement of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There, his pursuit of the unwashed but canny McNasty Brothers, Filthy and Grunge, runs into complications when he gets the wrong cape back from the cleaners and suddenly can't fly, see people's underpants with x-ray vision or run any better than a middle-schooler. A small but intrepid figure with oversized eyeglasses in the many Jetsons-style line drawings, Melvin exudes a seriousness at amusing odds with the tale's droll tone. In the end, the McNastys are behind bars and Melvin, with both his original cape and a new sidekick, is left "to rest up for book number two": The Revenge of the McNasty Brothers (ISBN: 0-8050-7929-7; 0-8050-7837-1, pbk), also due in June. His "noggin power" should win the day there, too. (Fantasy. 9-11)