Review by Booklist Review
In a city totally inhabited by insects, Joey Fly is a private eye combating crime for a fee (which for a housefly is usually crumbs). Recently, Joey reluctantly hired a junior partner, a tough but clumsy scorpion named Sammy Stingtail. Together, the two are hired by a damsel in distress, the beautiful but airheaded butterfly Delilah, to recover her diamond pencil box. Delilah suspects her former friend Gloria the ladybug, but upon further investigation, Joey and Sammy have other ideas. Young readers will be amused by this noir-type story filled with classic detective dialogue and swarms of insect humor. The plot, characters, and setting in this graphic novel are all inspired from the novels of hardboiled-detective legends Hammett and Chandler, but Reynolds expertly injects a buggy layer of hilarious high jinks. Numberman takes it one step further by using the dark color schemes most associated with film noir combined with clean, detailed art. Kids will get caught in the web of this classic mystery cleverly disguised as a simple bug's tale.--King, Kevin Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this first installment of the Joey Fly, Private Eye series, Reynolds (Buffalo Wings) and Numberman, who makes a wowser of a debut, marry the film noir spoof to the graphic novel, and the result has the sweet smell of success written all over it. The mystery takes readers to the big insect city, where most of the inhabitants are "normal everyday bugs just trying to put three feet in front of the others." But there are always a few rotten arthropods in the barrel, and keeping them in line is Joey Fly, a detective with a fedora, a sense of justice masquerading as cynicism, a flair for similes and really, really big eyes. Joey, clearly an adult, is given a sidekick, an impetuous but eager scorpion named Sammy Stingtail. The crime does get solved-it involves a stolen diamond pencil box-but like the best noirs, the particulars take a backseat to the irresistible interplay of moody visuals (Numberman wryly replicates the chiaroscuro mis-en-scene of Depression-era cinema) and hard-boiled patois ("The facts were starting to line up like centipedes at a shoe sale"). Ages 8-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Joey Fly and his bumbling scorpion assistant track down a pencil box stolen from Delilah, a gorgeous butterfly. Joey narrates the tale in classic hard-boiled style laced with plenty of insect-related puns. Dark-hued cartoon panels evoke film noir scenes. Solving the mystery isn't as important as enjoying the investigation's twists and turns. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In this graphic novel comic-drama, Joey Fly and his young assistant Sammy the scorpion solve the mystery of a missing pencil box and save a friendship gone wrong. Readers learn some tricks of the detective trade along with often-clumsy Sammy in this mock-noir satire of life in "the bug city." Sepia and blue-tinted illustrations feature exaggerated insect caricatures, ratcheting up the humor. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
What detective wouldn't benefit from being a fly on the wall? Well, Joey Fly, a cool Sam Spadeesque private eye clad in trench coat and fedora, is just that insect. After hiring the surly Sammy Stingtail, a bumbling scorpion who's all thumbser, make that tailhe finds a case knocking at their door. Delilah, a beautiful butterfly, believes that her best friend, a ladybug named Gloria, has stolen her diamond pencil box. As the two gumshoes set out to crack the case, they encounter an imaginative cadre of insect witnesses. Joey Fly tries his best to be the suave sleuth, but is often comically kept on his toes by his hot-tempered young assistant.This playful pun-a-minute comic-book mystery is sure to charm. Numberman provides detailed backgrounds set in cool blues and warm sepia tones to create a visually engaging landscape smacking of noir-lite. Included at the end is a list of items that young detectives must then page back through the art to find. An auspicious series kick-off. (Graphic novel. 7 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
