Jake Parker kept a smile on my face throughout every colorful page of his comically compelling Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium 3. Action, drama, suspense, danger, and a whole lot of tongue-in-cheek humor – Missile Mouse has it all. I especially enjoyed the artistically descriptive sound effects. Whack! Chack! Skrash! Fraaash! Clink. Tink. Beep.

Mighty Mouse could be Missile Mouse's long lost cousin - one with a sunnier disposition, perhaps.

In it, Missile Mouse (A character vaguely reminiscent of Mighty Mouse of my day. A hero to be reckoned with, for certain.) must defeat dreadfully deceitful Blazing Bat in order to free the mild-mannered, lime-green skinned inhabitants of  Tankium 3 – creatures who have fallen under the mind control of wicked and slovenly King Bognarsh.

Like Mighty Mouse in the days of yor, Missile Mouse saves the day, but not without paying the high price of the loss of his faithful partner in battle, Robot 44, who gives his robotic life in the line of duty. Downcast and distraught, Missile Mouse gathers the shattered shards of his faithful friend and returns to the Galactic Security Agency in the hopes that Robot 44 can be repaired. Will Robot 44 gain new life? Looks promising, but not for certain. I’ll bet Book 3 will hold the answer to that cliff-hanger.

To further enhance the reading experience Parker includes a fascinating addendum in the final section of the book – Missile Mouse: Guide to the Universe to Explore and Draw – in which he details equipment intricacies that are pertinent to the story. For a summertime ReaderKidZ Tool Box treat, I suggest that you purchase some inexpensive tracing paper and have your young reader replicate the detailed components of  Robot 44: Galactic Security Support Bot, Blazing Bat’s cool Robo-Wing Technology, or Missile Mouse’s Jet Pack and Blaster. Can’t go wrong with that, can you?

This quirky graphic novel is just plain fun to read – the perfect choice for a lazy summer afternoon. Have fun and no fear because Missile Mouse is near.

Shooooom. Fwoosh.  Ffrushhhhh…