Happy Birthday to The Expets

Try as I might, sometimes books slip through the cracks. Tatulli is the author of my favorite graphic novel of all time, Short and Skinny, and also pens the highly addictive and clever Lio, which I have added to my twice a month trip to Go Comics, along with Big Nate and Frazz, which my local paper no longer carries. I feel bad that I didn't get to read and review this for so long, but I wish the book a very happy first birthday, and can't wait for the sequel. My  mother would have been 91 today, so that's a nice connection. 

Tatulli, Mark. The Expets (#1)
April 30, 2024 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Bosco, who normally lives a quiet canine life, manages to thwart two bumbling criminals with his stanky breath, and before he knows it is summoned to the lair of the Incredible Mr. Turtle to become an Expet, along with Laser-Eye Kitty, Ginormous Gerbil, and Wonder Guppy. Not thrilled that his super hero name will be Stanky Dog, especially since he also possesses super stretchy legs, he returns home to Larry the Lizard, to resume his quiet life with his dog toy in the shape of a cat. When his Expet collar summons him, he tries to ignore it, but when he realizes he needs to help save kittens, he reluctantly accepts his assignment. The evil Captain Calamari, who is in thrall to an evil Skunk and aided by the thieves Ambrose and Winston, has sequestered millions of cats on the moon. The cats are looking for the ancient Collar of Power of Kitty KahKah, about which the Skunk learned after his friendship with Mr. Turtle ended and Skunk lived in an abandoned library, reading all the books. Bosco finds it hard to rescue the kittens, since his Super Stank doesn't work in zero gravity, but by cleverly utilizing his dog toy shaped like a cat, he manages to persevere. While it seems he has managed to thwart the thieves, a lone kitten on the moon finds the collar, and someone close to Bosco is not the ally he believes. 

While there is plenty of action on each pages, quirky characters galore, and a reluctant hero with an unfortunate moniker (middle school readers will LOVE that his name is Stanky Dog!), there is also a well developed and easy to follow plot, which I appreciated very much. There are even some twists, and I am very much looking forward to reading the sequel. 

I might be imagining it, but I sensed allusions to Wanda Gag's 1928 Millions of Cats, which added an even better layer of cleverness. The collar of Kitty KahKah is an excellent inclusion for a hero's quest, Ginormous Gerbil might be MY new super hero name, and having Skunk as the villain, with a backstory pitting him against Mr. Turtle, makes perfect sense, but having a lone kitten suriviving on the moon was a master stroke! 

Tatulli's exuberant style nicely supports this underdog super hero tale, which has a much better plot, and character development than comparable titles like Pilkey's Dog Man, Angelberger's The Two Headed Chicken, or Barnett and Harris' The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza. It also helps that there are plenty of jokes that may go over the heads of younger readers, but will endlessly amuse middle school ones. I am all for learning more about the Simon and Schuster Comics Universe and how it compares to Marvel and D.C.