Joey Fly, Private Eye in Creepy Crawly Crime

Joey Fly, Private Eye is a spoof of private eye movies for children, which is an odd idea when you think about it: How many kids have read Mickey Spillane novels or seen The Maltese Falcon? Do they get the clichés that are being parodied? Do they even know how the dial phone on Joey Fly's desk works? The kids who read it may not get the references, but they will probably like this book, which delivers both a good mystery and a good laugh. The plot is pretty straightforward. After a bit of business in which Joey hires a clumsy scorpion, Sammy Stingtail, as his assistant, the requisite lovely lady comes into the office and hires Joey to find her missing diamond pencil box. Delilah, a swallowtail butterfly, fingers a ladybug friend, Gloria, for the crime. It's kind of amazing that it takes 96 pages to figure out that the thief is in fact Delilah herself, since her story is fishy from the get-go (and everyone who has seen a noir movie knows that the beautiful dame with the long legs is nothing but trouble). And that's the one rap on Joey Fly: The story moves very slowly. We follow the detectives as they visit the scene of the crime and interview all the principals, then finally bring them all together for the big reveal, but the pacing is very slow and starts to seem repetitive after a while. On the plus side, the book has lots of humor, both verbal and slapstick. Sammy's tail is a running joke, as is Delilah's dumbness. The voiceover, provided in text boxes, not only keeps the story on track but supplies a steady stream of bug-themed wisecracks: "The facts were starting to line up like centipedes at a shoe sale." "I was putting the pieces together faster than a silkworm at a quilting bee." You get the idea. The art is straightforward and easy to read, but the artists have also put enough details in the background to entertain the careful reader. The creators have dreamed up a clever bug world that mixes natural and urban elements, and their bug-people always look natural despite having four arms and a proboscis instead of a nose. Most of the panels are monochrome, but the color scheme switches for different episodes--blue-violet in Joey Fly's office, dull red when they are questioning a suspect, bright yellow for flashbacks of the party where the box was stolen. This not only provides variety but makes it easier for readers to follow the story. The artist also uses bright red to highlight one key clue, a dropped pencil The mystery in Joey Fly, Private Eye may be a no-brainer, but private-eye movies are all about the quest. With lively characters, a moody atmosphere, and witty writing, Joey Fly has a lot to offer, even for kids who aren't fans of Dashiell Hammet. -- Brigid Alverson

Joey Fly was a private eye and living in the city he had plenty of business because as he claimed, "Crime sticks to this city like a one-winged fly on a fifty-cent swatter." He was lounging in his office waiting for another chump to show up and hand him a case (for a price that is), when all of a sudden unexpected guest burst through his door. It was a kid named Sammy Stingtail. He was a "crusty arachnid type" scorpion who was "young, barely hatched" and looking for work. He looked like a royal pain and as green as they come, but Fly figured he might as well give him a chance. Fly had "more cases than a flea has dogs" and before you know it a swallowtail butterfly came through the door with a case. She was a great looking dame named Delilah AND was missing a diamond pencil box. He could see she was "one ant short of a picnic," but a client was a client and he was going to take the case. "Give me the long and short of it." She accused Gloria, a ladybug, of stealing it because she had "always been jealous of it." Between his clumsy assistant, who seemed to wreck everything in sight with his tail, and this dame he had his work cut out for him. It was time to gather some evidence. Flittany, Delilah's best friend had been talking to Gloria all night at the party . . . Graphic novels are difficult to judge. Some you think young people will grab and rave over, sit on the shelves while others WOW them. This story of Joey Fly and his young assistant was absolutely hysterical. There were numerous lines that had funny little twists to them that appeared to be takeoffs on old television detective shows like Dragnet. "The facts were starting to line up like centipedes at a shoe sale." The panels tended to stick to one color and then change when there was a flashback or total change in the plot. This book was like a modern day "pulp" in a graphic novel format. I really enjoyed it and had several guffaw moments, but I haven't got a clue as to what any other reader will think. Maybe we should hire Joey Fly, PI, to figure that one out!