Staff Picks: Spies and Espionage

In this zany secret agent adventure by the creator of Bird and Squirrel, a cat secret agent named Agent 9 and their sidekick Fin the robot fish are working to go out on missions again after a series of mishaps on the part of Agent 9. When they receive a call for super villain King Crab and their contact at the Super-Secret Spy Service goes black, they have to take matters into their own hand to stop King Crab's evil plan; using a Super Hot Heat Ray to melt the polar ice caps, flooding the world so that he can create a world-wide waterpark.

With the wacky prop comedy of Pink Panther and quips that poke fun at gerne tropes, old and new fans of secret agents romps will find something to love here.

Tayla Cardillo

In the first installment of this series, Moose is so close to solving his 100th case he can taste it, but when Camo Chameleon beats him to 100 cases solved Agent Anonymoose and his sidekick Owlfred get an invite to the celebration, and a new case to solve. They look for leads about the disappearance of Terrance Turtle at Camo's party, and meet an interesting cast of character along the way, including two parrots, a not so bright barracuda Barry and a grizzled pelican named Paula. When all the clues seem to lead them back to the party, they start to wondered if the culprit was under their nose all along.

Fans of Dogman and InvestiGators will love this straight laced sidekick and goofy secret agent duo.

Tayla Cardillo

After another perfect mission, aside from Clint being a bit grumpy, Natasha disappears. No contact for three months, and then Clint happens to see her walking through the background of a news cast, looking very different. Together Clint and Bucky do some recon and find what seems to be a very different Natasha from the one they know so well. So naturally, they're suspicious. Black Widow? Happy? Domestic? Something is horribly wrong.

As is typical with Marvel stories, there's always a little context that requires reading other volumes, but in this run of Black Widow it's not too bad, even with at least four villians who all have backstories as to why they hate her. It's absolutely worth picking this comic up if you don't already have it for your library for the excellent action scenes of Natasha in her element, the series is only three volumes long so it won't take up a ton of shelf space.

Implied (fake) violence to a child

Shannan Prukop

Roland King was once one of the greatest spies Britain ever trained, but now he's 65 and thinking back on his legacy, what it really did for the greater good. Then he gets the terrible news that he has, at best, six months to live. So naturally, he sets out to fix as many wrongs as possible with the time he has left. Mostly that means killing people who were always allowed to get away with what they wanted, but also he's hoping to repair the damage he did to his family and those he cared for.

This is a spy story so very aware of the genre it's working within; the story is both brutal and ridiculous, with preposterous gadgets, a few ridiculous deaths, and a lot of coolly walking away from something dangerous. There's some not so quiet commentary on people in the world, but mostly King of Spies is about style. This story is a perfect fit for any fans of spy media.

Mild gore, lots of blood, smoking, some nudity

Shannan Prukop

Mack Moon is a normal kid with normal problems like bullies and being bored by his school work. His pets on the other hand are anything but normal. They are actually aliens sent by an organization called Planetary Enforcement, Tactics, and Stealth (P.E.T.S.) to protect Earth. When Barbara the evil space ferret crash lands on Earth ready to cause mayhem, this team of house pets must spring into action to stop her!

Anyone who likes a story that imagines what our pets are up to while we're not paying attention will like this book.

Tayla Cardillo

It’s 1776, and Nathan Hale is about to be hanged for spying on the British. Speaking to a hangman and a British officer, Hale relates the Continental Army’s efforts--including cunning tricks and espionage--to win the Revolutionary War.

With plenty of humor and dynamic, action-packed panels, readers who enjoy humorous takes on history and/or are interested in an introduction to American history will enjoy One Dead Spy. For readers who like having a series to read through, this is the first in the Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series; the series focuses on various engaging--and sometimes gruesome--tales from American history.

Some violence--but nothing too gruesome

Megan Rupe

Twelve-year old Benjamin Ripley wants nothing more than to be a spy. When he is recruited for a secret spy academy, Ben believes he’s finally made it. However, he quickly learns he is bait in an investigation. Ben’s determined to figure it out himself...and maybe spend time with Erica, the best student in the school.

With its action-packed moments, spy gadgets, and a determined protagonist, Spy School will appeal to fans of stories with underdogs.

Megan Rupe

Two countries are at war and an expert spy, codename Twilight, is given a mission to infiltrate a fancy private school to attempt to become close with the father of children who go to this school. In order to do this, he adopts a young girl named Anya who he doesn’t know is a psychic. To appear even more normal, through a happenstance meeting asks the young woman Yor to be his wife. He also doesn’t know that she is secretly an assassin. Throw in a dog that can see the future and Twilight might have more problems on his hands than he can manage. Spy x Family shows the dynamics of this unusually formed family as Anya attends a new school and everyone has secrets to hide. Utilizing all of the exaggerated faces and and other tropes of manga, the artwork is dynamic and pulls you into each of the family member’s worlds. Equal parts spy exploits and funny family and school situations, this comic series will leave you wanting more with every volume.

Fans of spy adventures and situational comedies will love the combination of the two in Spy X Family. Due to some of the violence, it is recommended for older teens and adults.

Violence and blood

Teresa Slobuski

We follow Dietrich Bonhoeffer in this slightly fictionalized account of his life and how he ended up acting the part of spy as a piece of the failed attempt to kill Adolf Hitler. The intense teal and red art helps emphasize the seriousness of the story and the struggles Bonhoeffer experienced as he saw the Nazis escalate in their actions, how this affected his feelings towards being German and a person of faith.

While the age range for the publisher is 10 - 14, this is a wordier graphic novel so it's more likely to appeal to readers already interested in the topics covered, rather than drawing in those newer to it towards wordier works. I could see school libraries having this on their shelves to help supplement teachers' lessons and to give students more options on World War II related reading.

Shannan Prukop

The Machine Never Blinks is a somewhat chilling overview of mostly US government spying activities of citizens and residents in the county. Although a few years out of date now, the content feels quite relevant today given the debate and protests of Flock cameras, Amazon driver smart glasses, and other technological means of surveillance. Greenberg sets the stage with some ancient and historical stories or events that are the sources for language we still use today such as the Trojan horse and trojan computer viruses. The bulk of the text moves through various forms of spying in the US from runaway enslaved people through to attempts for companies like Apple and Google to provide access to data on personal devices. Due to the sometimes complicated and dense nature of the subject materials, there is a higher density of text than an average graphic novel. The text is offset with crisp black and white illustrations that often help to emphasize the more abstract parts of this history. Greenberg does have an agenda to convince readers of the dangers of both government and company access to so much personal data, but the well researched text and bibliography provide ample jumping off points for readers to do their own research on the plethora of topics covered in this book.

Teens and adults will find a lot to learn and think about in The Machine Never Blinks. People already deeply interested in the subject may not learn much as the breadth of topics doesn’t provide enough space to explore more complete details about the various events and practices, but it may provide connections between historical events and our modern existence of spycraft through technology rather than the single spy in black.

Teresa Slobuski