Review by Ian Keogh

With the phenomenal success of Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man, a series starring a superhero cat was only a matter of time, and perhaps the only surprise is that no-one got there before John Gallagher four years later.

Max Meow is a similarly enthusiastic and sometimes surreal crime crusader, and as seen by the sample art, can have a literal attitude to taking a bite out of crime. He’s a blogger transformed into the Cat Crusader after munching on a space meatball in his scientist friend Mindy Microbe’s secret lab. Why would anyone make a space meatball? No-one knows, certainly not Mindy who’s concerned with perfecting lemonade.

Gallagher’s aiming at the younger end of the comic reading audience, breaking the story down into a dozen exciting chapters, yet each a full adventure. They involve Max in silly situations he’s not quite able to cope with at first. While a cat’s solution to rescuing a boy stuck in a tree is unconventional, it eventually gets the job done, and Max is shown very much learning on the job. This is via simple, lively and brightly coloured illustrations with people always on the move, and plenty of quirky background items.

These are occasionally used to foreshadow what will happen, although with a knowing wink, such as a reporter pointing out the presence of container trucks full of feathers. The same appealing silliness is applied to the supporting cast. Mindy displays an even greater enthusiasm than Max, while the villains are threatening enough to pose problems, but incompetency is their downfall as much as Max. Primary threat Agent M owns a miniature golf course above his secret underground lab, and when above ground masquerades as Pep Svenson, Feline Golf Pro!

Messages that it’s okay to make mistakes aren’t subtle, but they need to be obvious for a younger age group, so that’s fine. Charming, funny and energetic, kids ought to love Max Meow!, and as not everyone with bad intentions is dealt with here they’ll want Donuts and Danger to see what happens next.