Sparks! Future Purrfect: A Graphic Novel

Sparks! #3

by Ian Boothby, Nina Matsumoto (Illustrations)

Charlie and August go on vacation, but trouble always finds them!

Charlie and August, the kitty duo who control the incredible Sparks costume, are exhausted. It's hard work saving people all the time! So what better way to relax than to get away to a beautiful tropical island? But when weird things start to happen and they discover that the island holds a surprising secret, they're blasted off on their craziest adventure ever. And this time they have to save themselves!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Comics, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Childrens, Animals

192 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 2022

About the author

Multiple Shuster Award, Harvey Award and Eisner Award nominee and an Eisner Award–winning comic book creator best known for his work as the lead writer on Simpsons Comics and Futurama Comics for Matt Groening's Bongo Comics. Boothby has written more Simpsons Comics issues than any other writer. He is a regular writer for MAD Magazine. He has also worked on various Canadian television series and is a well known stand-up, sketch and improv comedian working in the Vancouver area. He co-created Free Willie Shakespeare for the Vancouver Theatresports League which won the Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Excellence in Interactive Theatre.

A writer for multiple television series including CBC's Switchback, Street Cents, "Big Sound" and Popular Mechanics for Kids. He is the co-writer of the DVD film Casper's Haunted Christmas and screenwriter of the Cartoon Network special Scary Godmother: The Revenge of Jimmy.

The creator of the sketch comedy series The 11th Hour, called "The funniest sketch series since SCTV" by the National Post, as well as the creator of the TV pilots Space Arm, Vancouver PM and I Dig BC and the co-creator of Channel 92 along with Dean Haglund and Christine Lippa. Boothby founded the Canadian Comedy Award-winning sketch group Canadian Content. He currently performs with the sketch comedy group Titmouse! and "The Critical Hit Show: a Live Dungeons & Dragons Comedy Experience," writes for CBC Radio's The Irrelevant Show, and co-hosts the podcasts Sneaky Dragon, Compleatly Beatles, Totally Tintin, The Fansplainers and Full Marx - a Marx Brothers Podcast with David Dedrick. He has also written the ebook It's About Tolerance Stupid : essays on improv & how to make things better without making yourself crazy. He is the writer of Sparks! a graphic novel series for the Scholastic Corporation's Graphix line with art by Nina Matsumoto, and Exorsisters, an ongoing series from Image Comics with art by Gisele Lagace.

He also appeared in the Adam Sandler film Happy Gilmore.

Ian Boothby is married to Y The Last Man co-creator and artist Pia Guerra and regularly contributes cartoons with her to MAD Magazine and The New Yorker.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

silly silly

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cats in a superhero dog are back but desperately need a vacation. Cue time travel and potential changes to their journey. Gets very convoluted but still fun.

[bookierookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this graphic novel was such a joy! It's my first Sparks!

August and Charlie are two cats that save the world in a little dog suit, their Sparks suit. August is the smartest cat in the world and Charlie has razor sharp claws. With all of that important business, they one day decide to take a much needed holiday, urged by their friends Steve-O (a vigilante squirrel who rescues lost pets), Litter Box (a--you guessed it!--litter box) and Potato (a 'non-verbal', lump of cuteness). When they get to the island getaway that comes recommended by Steve-O, they realise its not quite as it seems.

Pteranodons and hermit crabs with strange shells abound. It turns out there are time portals opening and closing aboard the island. The cats accidentally fall through a portal into another time where they have to save themselves. Then, they venture into the recent past when August was first separated from her human--a little girl named Emma--and abducted by animal snatchers. August realises that if she resists the reality of what happened, if she messes up the timeline before her abduction, she would have never met Charlie nor become Sparks and saved the world... but it seems that fate has other plans for August, Charlie and Sparks.

Sparks! Future Purrfect was Purrfect in every way. It's art style is simple but expressive and the illustrations are oh so adorable! There is plenty to love about this graphic novel, from its visual gags, dynamic framing to its tender messages of love.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie and Steve-O decide August needs a vacation, well, Charlie needs one too, but August is about to seriously burn out if he doesn't take a break. Steve-O knows just the place. A nice, deserted tropical island he heard about somewhere. But wait, where did Steve-O learn about this island? Because there's some weird stuff going on here and Charlie and August soon find themselves on a wacky journey through time and space to save themselves.

August learns some important truths about hardships, overcoming, and personal growth in this wacky time travel adventure. He also gets a sweet reunion with his girl. Steve-O and Charlie have some good comedic moments, and overall this is a fun graphic novel with some great little truths woven in.

Notes on content: There are some perilous moments but everyone ends up ok.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie and Steve-O are worried that August is overworked. Trying to perfect the Sparks suit, August refuses to rest properly. The only solution is a vacation that August finally agrees to. Charlie and August take off for an island while Steve-O and Litterbox take care of things at home. But the picturesque island is more than meets the eye. Before the two cats know it, they are traveling through time and space. As they travel backward and forward in time, will the cats give in to the luring temptation to change the past?

I thoroughly enjoyed this third book in the series and loved Emma's character. Bringing her in just helped to round out August's story and background.

[Linus Spacehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very glad to see that this is now becoming a series, genuinely just as sillyfunny and emotional as the first one, I haven't got to finding the one before this but there wasn't much that I felt like I was left out on, so that's a bonus. Ultimately, an extremely great graphic novel, would love to see what happens from here, though, I'd be satisfied if this was the conclusion to Sparks

[Advit Verma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two cats in a robotic dog suit go to an island and special crabs with these cool shells make them travel through time. A bird named kip who was in the past wanted to take over the world but these two cats told kip not to do that. All the animals called kip KING KIP.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

FUN story … time travel, hero cats in dog suit, an evil budgie king.
FUN!!!

[Kay S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book but I found that it was very much written as an episode in a series. One that I haven't read yet.

[Mustafa Dar · Rating 4 out of 5]

meh. i kind of like it

[Laila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious! Now my son and I need to go back and read the first two on the series.

[Bob Mackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply the best children's graphic novel of 2022—and perhaps of all time? RUN, don't walk, to your local bookstore to buy a copy for yourself and any child in need of joy.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aubrie and I finally finished it! And I let her rate it 😁

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time travel is tricky, and some of those bits were a little funky, but the overall message and ending was fantastic. Such a sweet and vibrant series.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlie is so funny. Great sequal. Read it with my 9 year old son. He loved it.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much climate change talk in this one.

[Crystal Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good latest installment in this series. My son is eager for the next one.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keep 'em coming!

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love these comics. So fun and so cute and hilarious.

[Aarush Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Borring, sort of adventurers but all together not my type.

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 10 year old says “I liked all 3 Sparks books! I think this one was a little different, maybe because they time-traveled throughout the book. But I still loved it!”

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Sparks series! And I really like in this one, how Charlie and August travel back in time. I also liked that August got to see Emma, her owner, in the past and present.

[Jesse Baggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost made me cry.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Futuristic Book! They mix the theme of past and future perfectly. My favorite part was when the alien says that they will destroy all of earths fruit just because and apple landed on her head. For people who like time travel this is your book. Again Fantastic Book 5/5

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

So pleased to have been introduced to this funny and surprisingly heartwarming series where two cat buddies disguise themselves as a superhero dog to save the day. This is my favorite of the series so far with a nice balance of silly hijinks and emotional beats.

Even when the pair attempts a vacation, trouble manages to find them. An encounter with a time machine has them revisiting their own origin stories and having to make a big and potentially future-alternating decision.

As always Boothby manages to conjure a lot of heart without sappiness and finds a fun and refreshing way to put a spin on superhero tropes. A great choice to graduate to after Dog Man.