ON PURPOSE

The Cat Kid Comic Club reconvenes!

When last readers saw them, Melvin and Naomi had just submitted Naomi’s comic to “that publisher lady”; the action here picks up 10 minutes later as the little frogs endure the agony of waiting for a response. Fortunately, the club’s next meeting gives them the opportunity to share Naomi’s opus, The Under Werewolves, a metrically flawless celebration of the universality of underwear. Alas, “that publisher lady” rejects it, writing, “The idea that everyone is the same fails to take into account how people are treated differently in the world.” Chagrined, Naomi gives up on comics (but not her determination to make it rich) and apologizes to two siblings she’s afraid she may have hurt with her story’s gender assumptions. Agent Melvin, on the other hand, submits two other sibling-created comics; maybe there’s an ice cream machine in the little frogs’ future after all. The drama is breathlessly reported by Dog Man regular Sarah Hatoff, who presents White (cameraman Roscoe has brown skin). Here exploring the concept of purpose, Pilkey lets characters and readers ponder its complexity—with butt jokes keeping the tone light. While its theme is not as clearly developed as the previous volume’s, this episode nevertheless presents the series’ now-trademark winning mix of sibling hijinks and club members’ comics, rendered in a variety of styles.

The next meeting can’t come soon enough.