Behind the Scenes with Burt: A Breaking Cat News Adventure

Breaking Cat News #5

by Georgia Dunn

Your favorite purr-nalists are back and reporting on all of the most pressing cat issues in this fifth collection of Breaking Cat News comics.

It’s big changes for the kitties at BCN! Burt is bringing this news station up a notch. Join Burt behind the scenes as he updates some of our favorite broadcasts from the past, with better imagery and brand new footage! Including a trip to the vet, exploring the cupboards, hordes of trick or treaters, the action packed "Our IX Lives" Christmas special, and Puck daring to believe in the elusive, mythical Mailman.

This book welcomes some of the first BCN newspaper strips as Breaking Cat News made the jump from web to newsprint! Enjoy classic strips with beautiful updated artwork and never before seen broadcasts! Includes a “More to Explore” section with "Our IX Lives" paper dolls and a real-life behind-the-scenes peek into when BCN first rolled out in newspapers.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Humor, Cats, Fiction, Comic Strips, Childrens

187 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2022

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 4 out of 5]

That is just fun and funny to read!

I really like the comic style of presentation. It's easy to read and have fun with the entertainment it's trying to provide. The characters are fun. They seem familiar. That's the best part. The young readers will understand the humour and what the characters are talking about. The facial expressions will crack you up now and then. Kudos, artist!

I love the second half more! You will know why!

Thank you, Andrews McMeel, for the advance reading copy.

[Rowan :) · Rating 2 out of 5]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Spoilers: This review is spoiler free! ✅

Genre: Fiction, middle grade 🌎 🏫

Content Warnings: Honestly, I don’t think there were any!

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

Well. . . This was a little disappointing. I usually enjoy this short little graphic novels, but not so much with this one.

I didn’t like this one, as it was just everything that happens in the first book. . . Again? The only thing that was different was the art was better.

Still, I just don’t think this book was necessary. I was hoping for some new original stories, but instead I got everything that happened in the first book, which was really disappointing. If I wanted to read everything that happened in the first book, I could read it in that book. I really don’t think it’s necessary to put everything in the first book into a different one as soon as you get a new art style.

I guess two stars for this book because I didn’t hate it, I was just disappointed.

So, two disappointed stars from me.

ೄྀ࿐ ˊˎ-
Elvis Puffs Out: A Breaking Cat News Adventure ★★★★
Take It Away, Tommy!: A Breaking Cat News Adventure ★★★★
Lupin Leaps In: A Breaking Cat News Adventure ★★★★
Breaking Cat News: Cats Reporting on the News that Matters to Cats★★★

[AquaMoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know how your favorite DVD (or Blu-Ray) comes with all those Special Bonus Features? They don't actually continue the storyline, but they add to and enhance it and make it even better. Plus, they mean you get to spend a little more time with your favorite characters.

This book is like that.

Here we have remastered scenes of some of the best comics from the first couple seasons of Breaking Cat News. Plus outtakes, deleted scenes, rough storyboards, conceptual art, and a making-of featurette. Additionally, there's an episode of Our Nine Lives, which is comparable to the animated shorts that sometimes accompany Disney and Pixar flims.

I'm giving this four stars (4.5 actually) simply because it is more like a Bonus Disc rather than a sequel. I'm hoping the storyline picks back up with Pucky, Prince of Bacon: A Breaking Cat News Adventure. Still...this was a fun way to spend a rainy (and rather chilly) spring evening. I loved it!


p.s. My sympathies to Ms. Dunn for having to deal with Elvis at the Vet. I can relate. My sassy kitty Lilo is infamous, notorious, and feared at both our regular vet and the 24-hour specialty clinic. She's been described as "strong-willed", "spicy", and "downright difficult". And I'm pretty sure she's bitten office staff as well . Fortunately my other kitty Gizmo (seen on my current profile pic) is a big marshmallow and has never been any trouble.

[Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burt is back and as funny and entertaining as ever! Kids and adults who are cat lovers will enjoy the feline antics. It's also good for the reluctant reader.

This unbiased review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.

[Mary Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fun and very entertaining. My daughter that is in Middle School enjoyed it from beginning to end and was disappointed when it was over. The characters and story are humorous and cute. I highly recommend this book for ages 9 - 14, but adults will also find the humor in this book.
I am grateful to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breaking Cat News has been one of my favorite strips ever since I found it as a webcomic years and years ago. The art is absolutely charming and the characters have such well-developed personalities. Dunn's attention to detail is delightful and fascinating. Definitely a modern classic.

[Elizabeth Mellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel for the ARC of this!

My daughter and I are obsessed with this series! The cats are so cute, and I love the additional animals they interact with - the dog, mice, and even an owl. This one was a little heavy on the kitty cat soap opera, and less on their own lives, so I liked it just a little less than previous installments. It was still really cute though and I definitely recommend it for fans of the series. Perfect for middle grade and up, it’s just really sweet and easy to read.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Laurel Bradshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this contains a number of redone strips from the first book, Georgia's style has changed a lot from the "old" days, (i.e. before newspapers). I liked the framing of going behind the scenes with Burt. The "Our IX Lives" Christmas special was a bit underwhelming, and it was a little hard to follow. Hey, I know! Georgia should do a whole book just on Our IX Lives! Loved the paperdolls, and if I were younger, I just might copy them onto tagboard and cut them out to play with. Laughter is the best medicine and this gave me a very pleasant hour away from the real world.

Description: It’s big changes for the kitties at BCN! Burt is bringing this news station up a notch. Join Burt behind the scenes as he updates some of our favorite broadcasts from the past, with better imagery and brand new footage! Including a trip to the vet, exploring the cupboards, hordes of trick or treaters, the action packed "Our IX Lives" Christmas special, and Puck daring to believe in the elusive, mythical Mailman. This book welcomes some of the first BCN newspaper strips as Breaking Cat News made the jump from web to newsprint! Enjoy classic strips with beautiful updated artwork and never before seen broadcasts! Includes a “More to Explore” section with paper dolls and a real-life behind the scenes peek into when BCN first rolled out in newspapers.

[Bunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Well, I just just just finished the original BCN trilogy and said I was desperate for more! And this...

Isn't really it!

Well, that's not fair. It does start with a holiday special that focuses on our amazing soap opera, Our IX Lives, which is hysterical and perfect. And there's a bit of newness sprinkled in, as well.

But this is also mostly a celebration of the fact that BCN got upgraded to newsprint, and while I ABSOLUTELY hope that means it will make it to my local paper soon, it did mean this was a lot of reprints. This might not have been a problem if I didn't marathon the first three books within the last two months, but. Alas.

Outside of my whining, though, this comic is absolutely amazing and delightful, and I can't really get enough of these cats.

[Bethea Scovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first time I have read any of the comics that are in this book. The first half of the book was told in a story that I had difficulty following. However, I did appreciate the illustrations and the humor associated with cat antics. The second half of the book was a series of comic strips. I thoroughly enjoyed them and laughed out loud quite a few times. As a cat owner, I could appreciate the humor and references to cat antics such as chasing a June bug, getting into the laundry, hiding from the vacuum, and playing in boxes. The cats each had distinct personalities which were portrayed in both the dialogue and illustrations. The illustrations lent a lot to the book and it was fun to look at the details put into each one. I think if I would have read the comics in the back first, I would have understood the characters better and would have appreciated the first half more. The upper elementary and middle school students I work with love graphic novels and I think this is one they would enjoy. It is the perfect kind of humor for children of that age and for adults who are cat lovers (or at least cat owners). I will be recommending this book to my students as one I think they would enjoy.

Thank you to #NetGalley for an ARC of #BehindtheSceneswithBurt by #GeorgiaDunn in exchange for an honest review.

[Josephine Sorrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had trouble sticking with this one. I thought the cat humor was spot on as a cat owner. I do think middle school readers will like the series.

In this installment, we Join Burt behind the scenes as he updates some of our favorite broadcasts from the past, with brand new footage. For example, a trip to the vet, exploring the cupboards, hordes of trick or treaters, the action packed "Our IX Lives" Christmas special, and Puck vs the Mailman.

Another humor packed graphic novel.
This is the fourth in 5he series of Burt, so I guess I’m a little late to the party. Maybe I should have gotten to know Burt in the beginning,b

[Jennyfer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Behind the Scenes with Burt is a Cat News comic. A crew of news cats take a station break, leaving just Burt the camera operator behind to remaster and rerun old footage.

The first half o the book is taken up with the remaining cats watching a kitty version of Days of our Lives; the latter half contains the original strips that were drawn for newspaper syndication. The comics are slice-of-life comics from the household cats point of view, and include such highlights as "discovering treasures under the couch" and "laser pointers" among many more.

A very cute comic strip!

~Many thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

[Sue Harsevoort · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Breaking Cat News book. This book was a bit different from the previous ones because it started to cover strips from when Breaking Cat News started appearing in newspapers which required a few changes. Some of the stories covered were covered in earlier books that had the web only strips but there were a lot of new stories too. The book started with the Our IX Lives Christmas special. This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I have always enjoyed the strips about the soap opera, and these strips were special when they came out because Georgia did them while she was taking her break to prepare the strips for newspapers and I always considered them her Christmas gift to us fans.

Besides a few that were included in the back when Georgia explain about how she started out in the beginning with the dailies in the newspapers being colored by a colorist, none of the daily strips from the from the first few months were in the book. If you enjoyed the book you might want to go to GoComics and check out the daily strips from 3/27/17 - 7/22/17. A number of them were reworked from the web comics, but some of them were new.

[Alison · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Wow where to begin with this book. First let me say that I have not read any of the other books in this series or by this author. This book had a lot of issues for me. I feel the storyline/flow of the book was choppy. I feel like it was written by someone who was suffering from OCD.? Just when I began to like or understand the story it would change without warning in a totally different direction. Several times I felt like details were missing and it took me a page or two to catch up again. I don’t feel like I got to know the characters. They were very flat to me so I could not fully invest in them. It was so hard for me to follow that I stopped reading after 30 pages. This is the first time that has happened to me since joining NetGalley and doing reviews.

The pictures that went with the book were ok. Overall, I am not going to be reading more from this series or by this author.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of comics featuring the other things on the air when Breaking Cat News isn't (especially a day time cat drama), and some remastered older comics as well as a couple brand new comics not in previous collections.

The cat soap opera is kept appropriate for kids. It is just overly dramatic and pokes fun at some of the odd and unbelievable twists daytime drama is famous for (I don't watch them myself, but I know enough to know this is poking fun at them). That part was just a 3 star read, but the redone older comics bumped the overall rating up to 4 stars. The bi-monthly running of the cats at 2am is a classic which I think might be extended in here(?), and I don't remember the comic featuring Elvis thinking the baby's See-n-Say toy is an evil animal spirit calling device, but I found that one hilarious and had to show my husband. Hand this to cat lovers, cat owners, and comic fans of any age.

No content issues.

[Alison C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I make no attempt to objectively “review” Georgia Dunn’s brilliant Breaking Cat News comic, I simply adore each and every panel she creates. “Behind the Scenes with Burt” is no exception to that rule, and in fact I love it even more than all of her other books - because this one includes strips I’ve not previously seen, yay! There’s some information here about the process of coloring comic strips for print newspapers and digitally, there are costumes for the characters for children to cut out and use, and there are priceless descriptions of important events like the 2 AM Running of the Cats (lamps, beware!), a Trip to the Vet and the Attack of the Vacuum Cleaner, among many other important matters. This is a book for everyone who loves cats, and the people who love the people who love cats; highly recommended!

[Niffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts with a weird little story arc that the news archives are being redone, so the cats take a break to watch their favorite soap opera. Okay, the "break" and the redoing of the archives is a cute idea, but honestly my least favorite part of BCN is the soap opera interludes. If you like them, maybe the intro worked for you. I just found it a bit irritating.

Then the first few "redigitized" archives kind of bounced from storyline to storyline. We got a couple of strips about the Woman's pregnancy, but the meat of the arc was cut, and then a couple of other random bits about things like the mailman myth, etc. It just felt very scattered.

The book finally settled down into its standard story arcs and felt a lot more like the BCN that I love. But the beginning was kind of rough.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have adored this series since I discovered it as a comic strip online. This book contains a new episode of "Our IX Lives" and more puppets for those who want to have their own adventures with the cast of that drama. It also has new and remastered material about the feline news crew.
The only thing I wish had been included was a few more strips about Burt and his work behind the scenes to bring the book full circle back to the beginning.
I am so very glad I found this comic at www.gocomics.com and that Georgia Dunn has published books of these cats adventures along with making some merchandise available through the sites of www.zazzle.com , http://store.gocomics.com , and Society6.com/breakingcatnews.

[sinag · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Just like the first one in this series that I have read, this is so good! The cats are so cute and goofy, and just purely adorable. I loved them acting as if they are broadcasters. The first part with the IX Lives is kinda boring and uninteresting, though. I wished this was a full-on broadcasting thing of the cats. Also, Burt was in the title, and yet he has very little appearance throughout the entire book. Nonetheless, this was another great book in the series and one I would recommend.

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ordinary day-to-day lives of BCN make for great humor when viewed through the eyes of the intrepid reporters: Puck, Elvis, and Lupin. Getting stuck on the fridge, going to the vet, and rescuing a comrade from the evil vacuum make for hilarious content. And that visit to the vet was one of my favorite BCN adventures yet. If you purchase your own copy of the book, you can make paper dolls of the characters from the patterns inside. Put them on popsicle sticks and you can have your own puppet show. These may be categorized as a Juvenile Graphic, but I think they are like a board game--fun for all ages.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I look at this cover I thought it was going to be a kids or a middle grade graphic novel. But within the pages it seems more of an adult novel with adult scenarios played out by a cat. There’s nothing that really makes it adult compared to middle grade except it’s a type of comedy I don’t think kids will get. It very much reminds me of the Office. There’s even a part where the cats are paying attention to a TV show called the Days of Our Nine Lives. This book was not for me I DNF it halfway through and I’m not sure I’d add it to my library either I just don’t get it.

[Deb Montague · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because I've followed this comic since it debuted, reading this was like embracing old friends. The best part, absolute best part, was "Our IX Lives." Oh my cat. Georgia Dunn is so very, very clever.
If you aren't familiar with this comic, this is a wonderful book to pick up. There's a brief history of how the author got to where she is now and many, many strips which illustrate how the tales (tails?) of the cats grew.
Go get it. Read it with kids or do as I did, read it to your cats. Mine weren't all that amused other than I was curled up with them, and that's what counts.

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely for older middle graders [who will totally get this kind of humor], I had a difficult time staying engaged with this and to be honest, found the illustrations a bit on the creepy side and the story-line...odd.
I am sure kids will love this, but alas, it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Georgia Dunn and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Dain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Downgrading ratings from prior books in the series (rated all 5 stars) because I personally didn't care about the "our IX Lives" soap opera storyline and also the inclusion of repeat strips simply because the artwork had been updated. I just want more Pucky, Lupin, and Elvis! But that's obviously my hugely subjective opinion. I just love those guys & hope to see more of them soon! What a fantastic & consistently funny (not to mention SPOT-ON) cat world Georgia Dunn has created!

[Abigail Pankau · Rating 4 out of 5]

The continuation of the comic series about cats reporting on household events as if they were news reporters. It’s really cute and funny if you like cats and their antics. In this one, we get a storyline from the cats favorite daytime drama, and then we have a new character Burt who “remasters the old episodes” (the comics were redrawn to fit newspaper format), so we get lots of old comics with new art, but also some new comics as well.

[Zinzee Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading that was hilarious and enjoyable!

The presentation's comedic tone definitely appeals to me. The enjoyment it seeks to offer is enjoyable and simple to read. The people are entertaining. They appear familar. The finest part is that, the humor and topics being discussed by the characters will be clear to young readers. You will occasionally laugh out loud at the facial expressions. Bravo, artist!

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I have skipped a couple of books (I'm waiting for them from the library) but I have loved it so much, I just can't wait! This is hilarious. The soap opera Christmas special "Our IX Lives", then the cats just being themselves. I loved their take on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" and them warming themselves on the pizza box but them at the vet is an absolute scream!

Vet: Heart sounds good.
Puck: That's where my feelings are.

This mouse has a case of too many legs (it's a spider)

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know, these are marked for kids but I’m really enjoying them as an adult. I think any cat lover would get a chuckle out of them. I’ve seen a couple of the individual strips in the paper and I got to read this book and the previous one as ARC but I need to go back and read the first ones! No real need to read these in any order I think. Just roll with it being cute cats that talk!

[Sue Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars aren't nearly enough to express how much I love the Breaking Cat News cartoon strips. This latest book in the series is a great addition to the archive. It includes the long lost "Our IX Lives" Christmas Special that will never be translated into newspaper format. There are also paper doll cutouts for the major characters of "Our IX Lives."