Comic Book Review: Chicagoland Detective Agency No. 2: The Maltese Mummy written by Trina Robbins with art by Tyler Page
Things have been slow lately for Bradley, hyperintelligent canine head of the Chicagoland Detective Agency and his two friends, computer whiz Raf and poet Megan. In fact, they haven’t had a case since the one that inaugurated the agency. Not that Megan is too disappointed.
It seems that Megan has lucked into concert tickets through her journalistic connections (she’s haiku editor for the school paper) to see Sun D’Arc, the hottest new pretty boy singer on the market. Naturally, Megan immediately thought of taking along her one human friend, Raf.
The next day, new girl Jazmin tries to cozy up to Megan to pick up the spare ticket, which only enrages our heroine. Then Raf winds up with the flu, which sticks Megan with Raf’s goofball friend William as her plus one.
Things start getting weird at the concert, as Sun D’Arc and his oddly familiar manager are much more interested in meeting William than Megan, even though she’s the official reporter, or even putting on a concert. Jazmin is acting suspiciously, and what does all this have to do with a missing mummy?
Though the protagonists are in high school, this graphic novelette is aimed at kids from about fourth grade on up. Older readers will be way ahead of our heroes in figuring out what’s going on, particularly if they also read the first volume.
That said, there’s some amusing side jokes in the newspaper clippings, and the basic plot is engaging. There’s some mild scares.
Kids who liked the first volume should also enjoy this one, but it’s not necessary to have read that book to understand this one. I just hope the agency gets an actual paying case soon!
