Ben McCoolCritiques

I usually love cat comics, but this was not my cup of tea. The artwork wasn’t particularly appealing to me, and I found the stories to be a bit repetitive and listless. Grumpy comes off as more rude and cruel than cute and sarcastic, and Pokey often feels to be more of a main character. Maybe this would appeal more to children than to adults, they might be able to just enjoy going along for the ride.

Ah, Grumpy Cat. This cat made my day and was just the sweetest thing. It was impossible to pass up a collection of this marvellous cat.

This book is enchanting and fun. It's literally everything I want in comic book. It has great pictures, it features a fun character and has a fun tale to tell. These comic strips have comedy wrapped up and will make you smile. It's not for people expecting a serious story, because it's just goofy fun with an adorable yet grumpy cat. Ah, I love it!

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

In this collection of comics, Grumpy Cat is mean, Pokey is rather lacking in common sense, and the humor falls flat.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley.

I was a bit confused at first why I imaged Grumpy Cat being voiced by Bill Murray, then I realized that this series reminded me of Garfield. With, the exception that I found Garfield much funnier. Or at least, I did when I was younger. The comics of course, not the movie. It didn't matter that Grumpy Cat apparently is a female cat. I have Bill Murray's voice in my head.

I think I'm not the right age group for this kind of comic. I wasn't particularly amused my it. Now and then there would be some almost funny oneliner like this one. But mostly I felt meh!



But for the most part, it just was very lackluster to read. The art was OK at least.



I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review.

Read this review and others on A Bookaholic Swede

I was a bit confused at first why I imaged Grumpy Cat being voiced by Bill Murray, then I realized that this series reminded me of Garfield. With, the exception that I found Garfield much funnier. Or at least, I did when I was younger. The comics of course, not the movie. It didn't matter that Grumpy Cat apparently is a female cat. I have Bill Murray's voice in my head.

I think I'm not the right age group for this kind of comic. I wasn't particularly amused my it. Now and then there would be some almost funny oneliner like this one. But mostly I felt meh!



But for the most part, it just was very lackluster to read. The art was OK at least.



I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review.

Read this review and others on A Bookaholic Swede

3 out of 5 stars!

This is a collection of comics featuring the international sensation of Grumpy Cat. Featuring a variety of authors, this colorful collection is filled with stories of animals, extraterrestrial beings, time traveling, and more. Grumpy Cat is the focused of each story, but brings her family along with her in each story.

I enjoyed the art of this colorful collection. The humor may not be to my taste, but I can still understand how funny they can be. I liked some stories more than others, but overall the whole collection is a great addition to the Grumpy Cat phenomenon.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.**

An adorable collection of short story comics featuring Grumpy and 'friends'. Perfect for any fan of Grumpy!

Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc to read and review.

This comic/graphic novel book is geared to children and middle graders. As an adult, I did not really find it amusing, but there were some parts that I thought were cute. It covers the adventures of Grumpy Cat and her brother Pokey. The illustrations are colourful, vibrant and eye catching, exactly what is needed in this type of book. Sometimes Grumpy and Pokey could be seen wearing outfits and the artwork for these elements stood out particularly well to me. There is also a scene where Grumpy pretends to be a ghost and the reader can tell it is Grumpy by the markings against the sheet, but poor Pokey doesn't realise who it is and runs scared. This comic collection reminded me of Garfield but with more adventure thrown in. A good book for a school, public and classroom library, especially for boys and reluctant readers.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This review is posted on my blog!

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley from Diamond Book Distributors, so thank you very much to them!

This was not quite what I expected, although after revisiting the NetGalley page it made more sense. It is actually classified as 'Children's Fiction'. I was expecting more of the ironic internet meme type of Grumpy cat, where this was a very juvenile, Grumpy cat who actually reminded me a lot of Garfield. There were a lot of stories in this comic and I think it would be perfect for a young reader maybe in the 8-12 range. For me, however, I found it a little bit tedious. The art was wonderful, and had so many different feels that really brought the stories to life. I probably won't continue on in this series, but I would recommend young readers consider picking this up!

Did you ever pick up a book, only to find it's geared for a completely different age group?

A great book for older kids, teens, and adults. I greatly enjoyed reading it. As a Grumpy Cat fan, I thought this had the right amount of snark and whimsy to be thoroughly enjoyable.

Advance Review Copy

Grumpy cat is super cute, she is wonderfully sarcastic and this graphic novel show that and her utter un-enjoyment of the world. Pokey on the other hand is all about finding the joy and fun in everything and the dual often get into trouble but also have fun together - well from Pokey side of it anyway.

This volume includes what seems like issues 1-3 of the Grumpy Cat series and the comic con issues. All the artists have done a wonderful job capturing Grumpy's likeness and the stories are cute and fun to read. I really enjoyed this volume and was happy to find bonus material as well, showcasing the issue cover variants and some sketches of Grumpy and Pokey. It was all adorable.

*I received this book from NetGalley in return for a fair review.*

Grumpy Cat, the comic, is often times cute and funny. And really really short. A lot of the stories are quick little adventures. The kind where everything is set up, certain things happen, then poof off to the next story – all seemingly within a few pages.

Some of the ideas might be interesting to have seen followed through, like detective Grumpy; haunted house Grumpy; superhero Grumpy.

Characters
Grumpy - as might be expected, the cat that became a meme on the internet for having a permanent grumpy expression (a genetic condition) is, in fact, the star of this self-titled comic series.

Pokey is a hyperactive constantly in motion, constantly wanting to play house mate of Grumpy’s. Oh, and a cat. I forgot to mention the cat part.

Others - the above are the two most common characters to appear, though occasionally others appear, like a dog, and ghosts, and . . . others.

Plot
It’s hard to discuss/describe the plot since this is a collection of many very short stories. Mind you, some authors have become super famous for writing stories so short that they can be contained on one page. So super short stories, in and of themselves, are not a ‘problem’.

It’s not always easy to see in a collected volume, but there appears to be three or four stories every 26 pages. Most of these stories are, to a certain extent, interesting. Humorous at times. The problem, as I think I’ve mentioned before, is simply the fact that the stories get me interested in a certain topic/theme then . . . that specific topic of theme is suddenly over before I could ‘get my thrill.’

Overall
I think, I’m not sure now, but I do believe that I had recommended people to try at least the first comic way back when it appeared. I don’t remember if it was cheap, free, or what my rationale was, but simply that the comic was a humorous way to spend a few moments out from the overall hard working life many people suffer. That’s harder to say in regards to a complete volume, at least in terms of talking about how ‘inexpensive’ it all is. Still, I’d recommend Grumpy the volume. As long as you like cats. And mild humor.

I did something I rarely do – I looked at some of the other reviews before I started my own review. Therefore I saw a somewhat reoccurring theme, that being ‘Garfield’. Well, sure, both involve cats. Garfield is more lazy than grumpy, though that can, at times, come across as grumpy. And both Garfield and Grumpy have somewhat annoying younger cats that they kind of dislike (I can’t recall exactly the name of the cat, Nerman? Nermal? Norman? Something like that). Though the hyperactive, always cute cat in Garfield is somewhat a rare addition to the storyline, while Pokey is in, I think, all the stories.

In looks and temperament, I might have thought of comparing Grumpy and Bucky. I could be wrong, but they might be both the same breed of cat. Though, if I recall what I’ve read in the back story to the Bucky series, the writer/author there didn’t base the cat on any specific breed/cat. While Grumpy, obviously, is based on Grumpy. In looks mostly. I’ve some vague understanding that the real Grumpy might actually be a sweet little kitty, though again, I could be wrong there.

Oh, one thing I was going to mention – I didn’t actually realize, until I saw this on Netgalley that this series was for kids. See, here I was having fun reading a comic that had mild humor and involved a cat, and suddenly I learn that it was designed for kids. Mmphs. Heh. Would this hold a kids attention? Would a kid just absolute love this collection of comics? No idea, I’m not a kid and I do not have full time responsibility for any kids, so I am not sure. Would an adult enjoy a comic designed for kids? Well, I did.

I probably would give the overall collection of comic issues, I think they collect four or five issues?, a combined score of around 3.8 out of 5.0 stars.

January 28 2016

Graphic adaptation of a famous film. Not bad, but the book hypes itself a little too much for its content. If the book is faithful to the film then I guess it has achieved its goal to promote 'Alexander Nevsky' to a wider audience.

I saw this yesterday. Read it quickly. Well, it is only about 26 or so pages. I forget how many stories there were, but I found them amusing. There's the story involving Pokey and Grumpy cat finding a treasure map and going to a haunted house. And then there's the story of Grumpy cat and Pokey as superheros.

Think dark and grimy near futuristic city, rife with corruption and full of seediness. Think bitter ex-cop with alien hand syndrome. Think super drug causes destruction in a failing city and then add a old boss who seems desperate for help and a promise of a bright future.

Planted fully in the hardboiled noir genre and splashed with science fiction and wry dark humour we get a neat story that whilst may follow standard lines is highly enjoyable. All the characters are dark, (anti-heroes and villains) but they are fun to be with and root for. It's also beautifully drawn by the iconic Ben Templesmith, his artwork a perfect fit for this dark tale.

Recommended to lovers of the genre(s) and anyone with who likes a bit of dark humour.

There is an interview with the creators here:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22208½