InvestiGators: Ants in Our P.A.N.T.S.: A Laugh-Out-Loud Comic Book Adventure!

InvestiGators #4

by John Patrick Green

With agent Brash trapped in a mysterious coma, the technicians at S.U.I.T. have designed the ultimate RoboBrash! This high-tech replica has been programmed with all of the original Brash's crime-fighting skills and knowhow--but it seems he's got a few bugs in his system! Will Mango and his new partner be enough to stop the giant ants that are on a rampage in the city? Orchestrated by the spaced-out villain, Maestronaut, and Houdino, the dinosaur escape artist, it seems criminals are certainly upping the ANT-y!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Childrens, Animals, Mystery, Fiction, Humor

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2021

About the author

John Green grew up on Long Island and has worked in New York City ever since graduating from School of Visual Arts for Graphic Design in 1997. He was the comics consultant for Disney Adventures magazine, and in addition to Disney has written, illustrated, or otherwise worked on comics for Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, Scholastic, DC Comics, and First Second Books. When not drawing comics John creates artwork for video games, such as Emerald City Confidential, Puzzle Bots, and Nearly Departed. See more of John's work at www.johngreenart.com.

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wordplay in this series continues to be simply brilliant. There are so many layers to the humor and John Patrick Green appeals to multiple generations with this endearing series. Mango and Brash take up where the previous book left off with Brash in a coma -- replaced by RoboBrash temporarily. Joining them in this book are a maestronaut (orchestra conductor on the bottom, astronaut helmet on the top) and giant ants who help form the ANTY Crime Unit -- not to be confused with the AUNTY Crime Unit who listens to a lot of murder mystery podcasts, can knit really fast, and they make a great green bean casserole. Additionally, they were sent by Pop and Lock -- a set of superheroes who come out of retirement (and you have seen them in all the other books). Don't worry, Doctor Copter is back along with many more characters -- old and new. If you haven't started reading this series yet, there is no time like the present.

[Emily Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

My boys were so excited that I won this on a giveaway! Another great installment of their favorite series. Kept them entertained and they both have already reread it. Highly recommend for younger readers who love graphic novels.

[David Veith · Rating 4 out of 5]

And my girls have the next two books, Im sure I will be reading them soon lol

[Abigail McClead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my this one has drama ✨

[Salma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mango and RoboBrashare trying to stop WaffleDile from doing bad stuff (Waffeldile was a aligator then a craker then was a waffel who got turned in to stone)

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My two kids and I took turns reading this to each other and we had a blast! We have read all the previous books and we were so excited to go on another adventure with Mango, Brash, and all the other characters.

The illustrations are colorful, interesting, and a lot of fun. Green does a great job of combining exciting adventures while also slipping in a few life lessons for kids to digest while they are giggling from all the jokes and puns.

I would definitely recommend the series, and this book to families and children, especially around the ages of 7-9. Thank you to @01firstsecond for sending us a copy of the book

[Ezra Cotton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is really good. This book wasn't as good as the other ones were but it is still good.

[Sooz Hutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Goodreads for this advanced copy! I had my 10 yr old daughter read it first and she loooved it! She loves graphic novels and told me this one was so entertaining and she liked the characters and plot! I then read it for myself and it has so many funny puns and plays on words that it’s fun for kids and for adults alike! This is a series but my daughter said it doesn’t have to necessarily be read in order. The characters are the same but you can catch up very quickly and each new book is a new adventure. We are excited to read the others in the series!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was ridiculous and absurd, but the jokes made me laugh!

[Colleen Earle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the aunties and knitting puns
Fun book

[Adriel Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite one so far!

[Joshua Glasgow · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe I would feel differently if I had read the earlier books in the series first but I disliked this a lot and told my son I didn’t want to keep reading it to him. It was a DNF for us.

[Lawson Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Book Was Sooo good, i didnt want to put it down. the fact that brash wakes up and saves mango at the perfect time is soo relieving

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

The newest instalment of Investigators! Loads of laughs, some deeper stuff around Mango and Brash’s friendship and lots of crime! I just love how puntastic these books are. John Patrick Green is just smashing it again with the incredible artwork. Can’t wait for the next one!

[yu chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

funky book, rly enjoyable for a quick read!

[Mary T · Rating 2 out of 5]

My sons and I have really enjoyed this series so far, but I think I'm done after this one. For one thing, it's getting super confusing the longer the series goes -- I can't keep track of all the acronyms and characters and what has happened to them even though we've read the whole series in the span of a few months. What I really didn't appreciate, though, was the use of a seance, medium, and crystal ball. I think there had been a brief mention of a crystal ball in an earlier book, but it was easy to skip over. This time, by skipping over, we missed a chunk of the book. That probably contributed to my confusion, but I don't want anything to have to do with seances, and I don't expect to find them in children's graphic novels.

[Lissi Filibuster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zum Immer-wieder-Lesen: witziger, actionreicher Fall für Mango und Keck

Mein 8-jähriger Sohn liebt Comics und ganz besonders die Reihe "InvestiGators" von John Patrick Green. Klar, dass auch der vierte Band "Angriff der Mega-Krabbler" ganz schnell bei uns einziehen und in Windeseile gelesen werden musste.
Die Fälle der beiden Investigators Mango und Keck sind spannend, witzig und voller verrückter Ideen, die meinen Sohn und mich immer wieder zum Lachen bringen. So macht das Lesen riesigen Spaß. Und da die Bücher so toll sind, werden sie bei uns wieder und wieder gelesen.
Die Fälle der beiden S.U.P.E.R.-Agenten bauen ein wenig aufeinander auf, sodass man sie besser versteht, wenn man die vorherigen Bände gelesen hat. Aber auch Kinder, die die ersten Aufträge von Mango und Keck noch nicht kennen, werden mit diesem Fall hier viel Freude haben.
Das liegt zum einen an den lustigen Bildern, die eher einfach gehalten sind, aber trotzdem so viele Details und Humor enthalten, dass allein das Anschauen der Bilder Spaß macht. Zum anderen begeistert uns aber auch der Wortwitz und die Wortspielereien, die diesmal besonders gelungen sind.
Vor allem Mango und Keck sind uns total sympathisch. Wir lieben es, wie sie als Team zusammenarbeiten und sich gegenseitig helfen. Ebenso mögen wir die wiederkehrenden Bösewichte, die gefährlich und witzig zugleich sind. In diesem Band sorgen sie für einen spannenden Fall mit riesigen Ameisen, einer gefährlichen Rakete und einem Gefängnisausbruch mit chaotischen Folgen.
Für Kinder im Grundschulalter, die gerne witzige Comics mit verrückten Ideen und viel Action mögen, ist die InvestiGators-Reihe genau das Richtige. Wir freuen uns jetzt schon auf die nächsten Fälle von Mango und Keck.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The S.U.I.T.S. (Special Undercover Investigation Teams) are onto a new mission after having just defeated their arch villain, Crackerdile/Waffledile, who though defeated, left a dangerously menacing message to all other villains that could rally them together to do even more evil. Out to catch the villains before they cause trouble, Mango and Robo-Brash have to lead the way. Robo-Brash is a temporary stand in for the real Brash who is Mango's partner but is currently unconcious from the last battle with Crackerdile. Robo-Brash has all of Brash's memories but Mango soon discovers that there's a kink to that memory that is tied into the cause as to why the real Brash is still unconscious. In order to get Robo-Brash to fully function and the real Brash to wake up, Mango goes to a Miss Tick, a medium, to do a seance to bridge Mango with Brash's mind and see why Brash won't wake up. Will they be able to do all this and still save the city from the villains and their giant ants that are ravaging the city?

A good chunk of the storyline engages in trying to help Brash's subconcious deal with disappointment, fear, blame, guilt, anger from his past partner's betrayal (he went and became a traitor and bad agent), and forgiving himself for his perceived part in it too. Tied into that, Brash himself got hurt and blames Mango for not helping him either. They resolve all this through the medium and her seance that bridges Mango and Brash's minds together, which I thought was a little too much on top of all the psychoanalyzing that is done of Brash.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Cilantro explores the possibilities of going evil, she stumbles across someone doing something evil in the old opera house and quickly realizes she wants to be a heroine, not a villain. So she takes her findings back to Mango and RoboBrash. But RoboBrash has a disturbing lack on information on Crackerdile and they have to fix it inside the real Brash's mind. Meanwhile, the real Brash is dealing with his fears inside his mind and must conquer them to get out of his coma. Can they figure things out before everything falls to pieces and giant ants take over the city?

I have mixed feelings about this one. I didn't like the use of seance to get Mango into Brash's head, though it really seems like Mrs. Tick just transports Mango's mind. I did like the development of Cilantro's character, and the amount of puns was impressive if they did make me groan at times. An ok mystery adventure, just not my favorite in the series.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. There are perilous situations, but they are very cartoonish and no one is seriously hurt.

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is such a fun one, and has really settled into its niche of pun-filled adventure. I personally look forward to these books as much as my (actual target age-range) readers do! And the puns and banter come on multiple levels too, with jokes that are ones adults will probably catch first (The hole page of the embiggened gems??). Geeky, silly fun for everyone - winner in my world.

The series as a whole is pretty fast paced, with puns and plot twists coming rapid-fire. This one did have some slower stretches with some deeper trains of thought (and appropriate Character Growth), but like any good spy or secret agent story, you have to have the Tragic Backstory, right? The books do flow from one to the next, so they do need to be read in order for full appreciation. You hit the ground running right where the previous book left off.

Definitely one to recommend to my Captain Underpants crowd. And am eagerly awaiting book 5 myself!

[Bibibabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dieses Comicbuch hat meinem Kind richtig gut gefallen!
Die Geschichte ist kurzweilig, mit bunten Bildern und kurzen Texten. Die Handlung ist schräg und chaotisch, und es gibt viele lustige Situationen und Wortwitze. Mein Kind fand die vielen Abkürzungen und Kürzel sehr witzig.
Die Geschichte ist eine Fortsetzung des letzten Bandes, aber mehr oder weniger in sich abgeschlossen. Auch wenn es immer wieder auf vorherige Bände Bezug genommen wird, kann man diesen Band problemlos auch alleine lesen.
Das Buch bietet auch einen interessanten Blick auf Freundschaft und Wertschätzung, wie z.B. der Kollege Korianda, der sich den Schurken anschließen möchte, weil er bei der Arbeit immer wieder unterschätzt wird.
Am Ende des Bandes gibt es einen Cliffhanger. Wir freuen uns schon auf den nächsten Band!

[Tanya Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I'm an "older" adult that read a kids book and really liked it. Generally, I stick to older kids/young adult fiction when I need a break from reading adult literature. However, I found the title of this book interesting and signed up for the giveaway. I laughed all the way through. Great as a stand alone, would be great if you read the whole series to. Will be passing this on to a friend who is a teacher for her classroom because it is a blast to read and I want to share the fun of this book.

Really love this new cross between a comic and book that gets kids so interested in reading books. All of the pictures just make it that much better!!

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss 7 loves the InvestiGators books. They are fun and witty and she enjoys the puns. We somehow jumped from Book 1 to Book 4 but managed ok despite a few plot spoilers. We'll hopefully read Books 2 and 3 soon.

Miss 7 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this one was so emotionally mature. I love how it modeled introspection/self reflection, working through difficult memories, relying on and repairing friendships and that bravery isn’t the absence of fear. And it did all of that while being a fun and interesting story. The icing on the cake were all the puns, which my 6 & 8 year olds completely appreciated. Elliott‘s favorite was the triceratops becoming a tricera bottom.

[Elaine Esan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you good reads for this book. I won this book and promptly gave it to my Florida grandchildren. They loved the book. My grandson said that he had already read it three times! They said it was fun story with great characters. I am planning on getting the other books in the series for holiday gifts.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic Novel
RoboBrash helps Mango work to save the city from the two villains who have paired up. Cilantro the Chameleon plays a prominent role in this book.
Readers will appreciate the ridiculous premise but may not be as interested in the dream portions where Mango helps Brash face his memories. This part does offer a springboard for discussions on forgiveness and past actions.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure why my boys decided they wanted to read this one first, as opposed to book two, since we got them both from the library on the same day. It seems it is our fate to read this series entirely out of order. I think I would have enjoyed it more personally if I’d had that more linear story, since this was full of obvious spoilers for previous books. But the music puns were fun.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our family love this series. It is full of slapstick humour, puns and funny escapades without resorting to rudeness all the time as I often find the case in this age of junior fiction/cartoon (Captain Underpants and David Walliams being the obvious comparison). It is clever and endearing to please parents who have to read it outloud, but also completely silly which delights the kids.

[Heather Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very cute and fun! I love reading about Brash and Mango's adventures. In this book, we find them up against a few different villains, including Houdino!! And we meet new characters Cilantro and RoboBrash! I can't wait to see what the next book is about! What new adventure will Brash and Mango find themselves on??

[Gail Gallant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe this is my first graphic novel. Even as an older adult I found it entertaining. Youth would certainly enjoy it. Thanks for a story with a continuous story line and great illustrations. It was fun.