- Graphic Novels
- Ages 7–10
- Comedy
InvestiGators
Book 1 of 9 in InvestiGatorsView the full series
Mango and Brash are alligator agents for SUIT, the Special Undercover Investigation Team, whose headquarters is in the sewers and whose gadgets are built into their actual suits. A kidnapped baker, a mystery to solve, and a pun on every page. Green's comedic timing in panel form is impeccable.
- Best for7–10
- FormatGraphic
- Length224 pp
- Read aloud~1 hr45 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Comedic
- Conversational
- Onomatopoeic
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Exciting
- Adventurous
- Absurdist
- Irreverent
- Warm
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
InvestiGators introduces Mango and Brash, two alligator special agents for SUIT (Special Undercover Investigation Team), who navigate a city's criminal underworld, quite literally, via the sewer system, to solve the case of a kidnapped baker. John Patrick Green's series is built on a single irresistible structural joke that pays dividends across ten books: the agents' 'suits' are actual suits, business attire bristling with spy gadgets, and the puns radiate outward from there in every direction. The mystery_to_solve plot engine is brisk and satisfying; the panels are dense with visual gags that reward close reading. The comic_duo dynamic of Mango (enthusiastic, instinctive) and Brash (sceptical, methodical) gives the comedy its engine and the emotional notes their grounding. A comparison to Dog Man is inevitable, same publisher, same format, similar demographic, but InvestiGators plays its genre straight enough to work as an actual detective story, which Dog Man doesn't aim for. The teamwork deep theme (0.8) reflects a partnership that genuinely matters to the plot, not just the comedy. The first and best entry point for readers who want their graphic novels both very funny and slightly more plot-driven.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 7–10
- Read aloud · 6–9
- Independent · 7–11
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Reluctant readers
- Mystery fans
- Animal lovers
- Dog man fans
- Gift book
Avoid if
No common reasons to avoid this one — a rare clean sweep on the sensitivity flags.
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Struggling with reading
- Neurodiversity or learning differences
- Making friends
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A pun-filled spy-comic series — a reluctant-reader magnet and classroom-library staple.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific delight is the InvestiGators' actual suits — business attire bristling with hidden spy gadgets, the central joke that pays off on every page. A seven-year-old gets two alligator detectives, a kidnapped baker, sewer travel and a pun every panel. The kind of series that gets borrowed and never returned.
- Adventure and freedom
- Becoming invisible
- Being a detective
- Having a nemesis
- Having a secret base
Why parents love it
The InvestiGators opener — pun-density enormous, the graphic-novel format keeping it relentless. Strong reluctant-reader pull in the six-to-ten band, and the start of a ten-volume run that's set if a child loves Dog Man but wants something with actual detective work. Buy alongside Dog Man, not instead of it.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Conversation starter
In the series
InvestiGators.
9 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
John Patrick Green.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
Where you’ll find it
On these reading lists.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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