Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot is a series of children's graphic novels written by Dav Pilkey (best known for his Captain Underpants books) and first seven books illustrated by Martin Ontiveros and all nine books, including two long-awaited sequels, illustrated by Dan Santat. In each book, Ricky Ricotta, a mouse, with the help of his mighty robot, saves the world from an evil villain. Also, the books each have an alien animal from a different planet in order from closest-to-sun to farthest-from-sun including Earth, as the villain of the first book is from Earth. The reader could see the villains being jailed in each series and later notice the familiar villains from previous books.
Publication history
The first three books were initially published as Ricky Ricotta's Giant Robot. Dav Pilkey stopped using Giant in 2002 after many young fans pointed out that the Robot is not a giant. He's just 12 times taller than a mouse, so he's only about tall. Many young readers suggested the adjective "Mighty" instead, so after careful consideration, Pilkey changed the title of all the books.
Dan Santat replaced Martin Ontiveros as the illustrator in 2014 and had the first seven books re-drawn by Santat plus illustrated the remaining two books that were not published with Ontiveros as the illustrator. Books 1 through 5 with Santat's illustrations were released in 2014, books 6 and 7 were released in 2015, and the new books 8 and 9 were released in 2016. This happened in 2012 when a Ricky Ricotta fan in Canada begged Pilkey for more Ricky Ricotta books. Shortly after that, his editor and the publisher decided to not only create more Ricky Ricotta books but also to re-illustrate the previous books modernly in colors plus add never-before-seen mini-comics. Pilkey's editor asked who he wanted for re-illustrations, and he chose Dan Santat as the only illustrator in mind. And fortunately for Pilkey, Santat agreed to re-illustrate all seven books, plus illustrate two new remaining, unpublished Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot adventures.
Graphic novels
Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot
Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot (2000) is by Dav Pilkey and illustrated by Martin Ontiveros (2000 version) and Dan Santat (2014 version), the first in the series. The book was initially called Ricky Ricotta's Giant Robot. However, it was changed because he is only about 12 times taller than a mouse, and therefore, that does not make him very tall.
Ricky Ricotta is a lonely mouse who lives in Squeakyville. He always wishes he had a close companion to keep him company. Once Ricky starts school, he gets bullied because of his small size. He was full of sadness because the bullies picked on him. Ricky wishes that something big would happen. In a secret cave on the mountain top, the crazed rat scientist, Dr. Stinky McNasty, creates a giant robot to destroy Earth. When the robot refuses to do so, Dr. McNasty zaps the robot as punishment. Luckily, though, Ricky happens to be watching at the time. He kicks a ball at the deranged doctor, and the ray gun is smashed, forcing McNasty to retreat. When the robot sees what Ricky has done, Ricky befriends the robot. Ricky shows his parents, teachers, and schoolmates how helpful the robot can be, but since the robot can't fit in the house, Ricky resorts to stashing him in the garage.
Meanwhile, Dr. McNasty is plotting revenge. He brings a potion of hatred and feeds it to the classroom lizard. The lizard becomes Dr. McNasty's new, more obedient servant and starts attacking. After Ricky's robot pal bests the lizard in battle, the lizard returns to normal. Enraged at what has just happened, Dr. McNasty decides to destroy the robot himself. He pulls out a rocket launcher, but Ricky jumps at him just as he pulls the trigger. The rocket ends up landing on Dr. McNasty's secret cave, destroying it. Dr. McNasty grows angry when it is a bad day for him. Together, Ricky and his robot imprison the scientist. During the cookout, Ricky talks to his parents about the adventures. He, therefore, hopes his Mighty Robot will be by his side when he says the line, That's what friends are for.
Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Mutant Mosquitoes from Mercury
Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Mutant Mosquitoes from Mercury (2000) is by Dav Pilkey and illustrated by Martin Ontiveros (2000 version) and Dan Santat (2014 version), the second in the series.