
Fluffy Strikes Back ( A P:U:R:S:T adventure)
By : Ashley Spires
Publisher : Kids Can Press ( Apr., 2016)
An interesting graphical adventure which is a spin-off of the highly successful Binky the Space Cat Series -where pets take in-charge of the world, but to protect us all from the alien insects.
Sergeant Fluffy Vandemere, a Persian cat, heads the P.U.R.S.T ( Pet of the universe ready for space travel) with his team of pet assistants. Fluffy is a devoted worker, a master mind, and rather old.
"Of course every good leader needs a right-hand cat / And that`s where Click comes in / She`s his eyes and ears." with such gripping narration, the story moves smoothly. The entire story is read in narration with the help of expressive images. Speech bubbles are limited to "meows and woofs" Different shades of grey, with a touch of brown and blue here and there, assures the importance of this operation while evoking deadpan humor.
When P.U.R.S.T headquarters come under alien attack, and hostages are taken, Fluffy has to come up with a plan very quickly; as alien bees and flies buzzing everywhere, it`s going to be tough. His rescue mission takes off from his security bunker with a bit of help from his engineer Beaver. But Fluffy proves what a grand leader he is as he fights the aliens himself..."MEOW-WEE!"
With panels in light-coloured backdrops separated in black gutters, the story layout is kept tidy and orderly; a visually pleasing format cleverly designed with the minimum number of panels per page, yet leaving no gaps to fill in mentally (Transitions), altogether makes it simple and child friendly. An exciting graphical adventure with underlying dry humor, where felines and other pets take center stage, will obviously keep early readers as well as comics-loving young adults and old entertained!
(With many thanks to Kids Can Press and Net Galley for the ARC in return for a honest review)