Review by Ian Keogh

For Go Pig or Go Home Rob Harrell follows the pattern established with the previous books of presenting two stories per paperback about Gary Yorkshire, ordinary teen pig with extraordinary powers. A connecting theme between them is the appearance of monsters, two actually quite friendly, while the Sqown seen on the sample art most decidedly isn’t.

It’s a magical threat manifested through Gary being too idle to do any work before a test and then relying on magical means to pass. Even when his friends point out this is cheating he won’t have it, and eventually the Sqown manifests.

The longer second story takes place at summer camp. Gary, Brook and Carl all go along, and new friends are made. Harrell writes this cleverly. Carl’s bond with new mates is instant, while Brook at first finds her room-mates more difficult. Were this a young adult offering this would lead to extended torturous scenes and a moral, but Harrell makes the point without any such trauma. Gary, though, finds it difficult seeing his friends make new mates so easily.

All that’s worth mentioning, but it shouldn’t give the impression Harrell’s in any way departed from the absurd slapstick comedy readers have enjoyed in the previous books. In fact, he’s raised his game. This is sillier, funnier and smarter than Too Pig to Fail, and Harrell even manages to throw in the surprise return of an old enemy. A further threat is Gary having to swing into action without his costume, so he suddenly no longer has a secret identity. Farrell’s way around that is hilarious and inspired.

The cartooning looks unsophisticated, but like the scripts, it takes a lot of work to make something seem so efficiently silly and simple. Harrell really understands how to convey to his audience and this third Batpig outing is even funnier than the previous two, which makes it a concern that after three books in three years there have been no further stories since 2023.