Ricky and his Mighty Robot are in BIG trouble now! Not only must they learn responsibility, but they've got to save the world as well. In this epic adventure novel, the villianous Victor Von Vulture is trying to control the planet by turning everybody into his own, personal voodoo slaves! Can Ricky and his Mighty Robot save the world AND get back their TV privileges? Read the book to find out! ---With Flip-O-Rama action scenes, and a cool How-To Draw section.

When Dav Pilkey was a kid, his life revolved around television. Dav's parents often used television (or the threat of NO television) as a way to persuade him into acting responsibly. It worked pretty well most of the time, and that seemed like a good starting-off point for this book. "My church and (parochial) school constantly tried to scare people into conversion by threats of "Hell". They described Hell as a place with unquenchable fire and never-ending suffering. But that never seemed realistic to me. If they had just described hell as a place with no TV, I would have dropped to me knees and begged for salvation on the spot. I'd probably be a monk today." — Dav Pilkey Although television plays a vital role in this book, Dav was careful not to vilify TV. He didn't want this book to be interpreted as "anti-television". "As long as I can remember, people have been putting down television by implying that it is bad for your mind. Before television came along, people blamed the radio for ruining minds. And guess what they blamed before the radio was invented? READING! Seriously! Reading was often blamed for the ruination of society, as well as all kinds of ailments, including depression, madness, gout, obesity, hypochondria, cataracts, indigestion, bad eyes, vertigo, Communism, and flatulence (farting)—I'm not making this up! Why was reading so bad? It wasn't. And neither is the radio or television (or comics and video games for that matter). It's a sad fact that some people just can't stand to see anybody else having a good time. If they come across somebody who is enjoying a good movie or a funny TV show, they try to put a stop to it at once! So they drive around with "Kill Your Television" bumper stickers and invent absurd rituals like 'National Turn off the TV Week'. I strongly encourage everybody to rebel against this type of pseudo-intellectual manipulation. Don't let people make you feel guilty for something that isn't wrong!" — Dav Pilkey

1. Illustrator Martin Ontiveros is another big TV fan. He was quoted as saying: "I love TV... I wouldn't be the artist I am now without all the cartoons, monster movies, and science-fiction movies I watched growing up." 2. When kids ask Dav advice on how to become a writer, Dav usually replies "try to watch as much T.V. as you can." Dav doesn't really believe this— he just says it to see the shocked and horrified look on all of the adult's faces. It's hilarious! 3. This book was originally published as "Ricky Ricotta's Giant Robot Vs. The Voodoo Vultures from Venus." We stopped using the word "Giant" in the year 2002 after many young fans pointed out that the Robot really isn't 'giant'. He's just 12 times taller than a mouse, so he's really only about two-and-a-half feet tall. Many young readers suggested the adjective "Mighty" instead, so after careful consideration, we changed the title on all the books. We like to keep our readers happy! 4. If you have a copy of the old title ("Ricky Ricotta's Giant Robot vs. the Voodoo Vultures from Venus"), hang on to it. The books will never be printed that way again, so your copy will be very rare and valuable some day! 5. Venus is the second brightest object in the night sky. While Venus is similar to the Earth in size, mass, density and volume, there are some major differences. Venus is surrounded by thick clouds of sulfuric acid, the atmosphere is primarily carbon dioxide, and the surface temperature averages more than 800 degrees. 6. Venus is hotter than the planet Mercury, even though it is farther away from the sun than Mercury. The cloud cover on Venus traps the heat from the sun and really warms things up. Venus has 430 volcanoes which are 12 miles or more in diameter, and tens of thousands of smaller ones. More than 80 percent of Venus is covered with lava flows and plains, plus other volcanic features. 7. The Magellan orbiter of 1991-92 created a high-resolution radar map of the surface of Venus. It mapped 84 percent of the planet in just one day—that is, one Venusian day (which is equal to 243 days on Earth). Although the Megellan discovered raised land masses and several "Starbucks" coffee shops, it did not reveal evidence of any Voodoo Vultures, leading scientists to believe that they either don't exist, or were hiding. 8. Venus Facts: DISTANCE FROM SUN: 67.2 million miles (108.2 million kilometers). REVOLUTION AROUND SUN: 225 days. ROTATION: 243 days. DIAMETER: 7,520 miles (12,100 kilometers). DENSITY: 5.2 x that of water. MASS: 0.815 x that of Earth. SURFACE TEMPERATURE: 850°F (454°C). Venus facts were swiped from "www.nationalgeographic.com"

• Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot Vs. The Stupid Stinkbugs from Saturn