PUPPY KNIGHTS

A pair of adventurers take on a quest but begin to doubt that the prince they’re helping deserves to be in charge.

Tall, gray adventurer Sparky Muttson and his squire, a tiny yellow puppy called Pugsly, are captured and brought to Pawston City on orders of the new prince, who wants Sparky to recover the Golden Bones—for whoever possesses the bones is the rightful sovereign of the kingdom and gets to make all the rules. Readers will notice that there’s something odd about the power-hungry prince (he’s clearly a frog, while all the other characters are dogs of various breeds), and the wizard Iz convinces Sparky and Pugsly that even if they do find the bones, they shouldn’t turn them over to the prince. Madcap capers and blunders abound, and Sparky sprinkles life lessons for Pugsly throughout their journey (“You can’t fail at something if you never give up”). Although a confession from Sparky sends Pugsly off on a brief experiment with being bad, the two reunite to defeat the frog prince and help clean up the kingdom (“Being good is hard work”). Humorous quips and plenty of action may remind readers of Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man or Scott Chantler’s Squire & Knight, though the art lacks the clean clarity of either.

A fun, silly adventure.