Review by Ian Keogh

Dennis Messner is the official transcriber for Pigmund, latterly of Uncle Milo’s All-Natural Petting Zoo, producer of the work that’s edited from the text and illustration he provides on paper plates. The Unpetables was hilarious, so hopes are high for Unpetable in the City.

The premise remains the same. Pigmund and his not quite as intellectually blessed best mate Lizárdo hated being petted at the petting zoo, so when they escaped and began a business as pets for hire, every contract had a no petting clause. The difference for Unpetable in the City is Pigmund and Lizárdo hooking themselves into one sweet gig early and spending the rest of the book there. They sell themselves to the manager of a cinema.

There is however, one slight problem. Until now the anarchic rampages been unstoppable, but turbaned cat Saturday Matinee, the cinema’s projectionist, is well able to deal with Pigmund. It’s not long before he’s covered in plasters and scratches. It’s love at first sight! Also formidable is Ivy, organist and daughter of the owner.

As presented, Messner’s cinema harkens back to the 1930s when much else about The Unpetables is consciously modern. It enables references to classic cinema that will fly over the heads of young readers, but they’re brilliantly conceived. Should Nosferatu in actuality be retitled Dracula Goes Bald? Or should Laurel and Hardy’s The Music Box be Two Weirdos and a Box? Messner also takes a detour into Phantom of the Opera among further movie jokes.

While the setting may have changed and a regular supporting cast introduced, there’s no further messing with success. A few thin plot threads connect the hilarity of individual episodes and the cartooning remains expressively magnificent. Maintenance Man Kenny gets his own solo chapter, and what a mighty journey he makes.

Very silly, imaginatively hilarious and utterly absorbing, The Unpetables remains great.