Max is a regular cat with a social media following until he eats a radioactive space meatball while trying to save his friend. Max then becomes a superhero.

I absolutely love this book so much! I am a big fan of Dog Man and Max Meow has a lot of the same type of humor. I can't wait to get this into my classroom because I think it will be a favorite. There are all kinds of silly little things like naming the city Kittyopolis and having buildings made out of twine. The art is adorable and the letters and colors are not distracting to the reader, which is good for struggling readers. There is nothing to distract from the story.

It is all the silliness that you would expect from a cat super story. At one point Max has to rescue a person stuck in a tree. There are subtle nods to the greats of superhero history like a book by Jack Kirby in one scene. This makes the book equally fun for adults as well as kids. As a teacher, I also love that they explain the big vocabulary words without talking down to students.

Excellent addition to any library no matter how old you are. 5 stars.

Creative Team:
By John Gallagher
Published by Random House

Max Meow is a perfect alternative to Dog Man for all those patrons who have already read them all 10 times. I personally enjoyed Max Meow much more than Dog Man (though I am admittedly not the intended audience for either); it was way more intelligent, while still featuring goofy humor that kids love. Highly suggested for all libraries serving middle grade populations!

Max Meow, the Cat Crusader is a fun middle grade graphic novel telling the story of Max Meow and his best friend, Mindy Microbe. Max Meow becomes the Cat Crusader and attempts to save the day while the evil Agent M attempts to foil his plans.

I can definitely see this book being popular with young fans of graphic novels. The graphics are fun and colorful and do a great job of helping to tell the story.

What a fun early reader comic! Kids in 2nd grade and up will love Cat. Crusaders colorful, delightful adventures.

If your readers like Captain Underpants and Super Chicken they will enjoy this series. Not bad, not great. Probably won’t read more than the first two.

Logan D (9 y/o) and Richard S (7 y/o) read and reviewed Max Meow Cape Crusader in Episode 10 of their Podcast: Hey! I Gotta New Book.
As big fans of Judd Winick's Hilo series and Dave Pilkey's Dog Man series these two could not wait to get their hands on John Gallagher's Max Meow and they were not disappointed.
Much like these two reviewers, Max is a podcaster, but he has taken a bite from a magic meatball from space. which has given him super powers which he must use to defend his hometown of Kittyopolis along with his scientist friend Mindy.
Logan really enjoyed how the Cape Crusader takes on the Golfasaurus Rex, while Richard enjoyed his special powers with his tail.
A graphic novel that pulled the two readers in right from the start, they sped right through and are eagerly awaiting a sequel to be released.
Both our reviewers gave this book 5-chicken nuggets out of 5.
If your 7-10 y/o child likes graphic novels and is looking for a new series to get addicted too, they will love Max Meow.

Max the cat goes to his best friend Mindy's secret science lab to interview her for his podcast. While in the lab, they're attacked by an evil robot, and Max takes a bite of the radioactive space meatball the robot was trying to steal. This giant meatball from space turns him into...a superhero! Mindy starts helping him test his powers: super strength, flying, and an electric tail! But when Max's power goes to his head, he starts neglecting Mindy. Max and Mindy have to make up and work together in order to save Kittyopolis.

The artwork in this children's graphic novel is colorful and fun, and the book is not text-heavy, making it more suitable for and appealing to kids moving out of early readers into chapter books. Great for fans of Dog Man and other Dav Pilkey books, with its silly humor and tons of action. Something special about this book is that Mindy is a scientist and a girl of color; more POC in STEM representation is always welcome!

This book was imaginative, fun, and super hilarious! It follows the adventures of Max, an ordinary cat, who gains superpowers when he eats a meatball. This book will keep readers on the tips of their toes. It is such a funny book and I really enjoyed it. This book is perfect for readers ages 5-8.

My son gives this book 2 "paws" up! He loves Dog Man series too, but always told me that cats should be the good guys since we have a cat. Finally, there is now a cat super hero graphic book too! He can't wait to read the next one.

Fantastic book, with an uncommon superhero!

I got this primarily for my son, who is a big fan of anything written, and even more so if it has pictures!!
He has read all of the Big Nate series, Dogman, Wimpy Kid, Captain Underpants, How to Train Your Dragon... you get the idea!

He absolutely loved this, and read the entire book in under an hour!

He can't wait for the next book in the series, and - of course - I'll keep an eye out for it!

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House and John Gallagher for providing a complimentary ARC, for providing an honest review.

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's Publishing through NetGalley.
Max is the latest superhero. He eats some of a space meatball that his friend, Mindy, has in her secret lab. Adventures and misadventures occur as he seeks to defeat Agent M and his robot sidekick, Reggie. Plenty of humor for middle grade readers. They'll laugh at the antics and appreciate the trials and failures that go with the successes for the Cat Crusader.
Gallagher slips lessons on friendship and perseverance in seamlessly.

A hilarious graphic novel about a cat named Max Meow who gets superpowers from a meteoric meatball! The villain, of course, is a rodent (!) with a robot sidekick that looks a bit like Frankenstein. Max is a super confident feline who must battle the bad guys and also learn how to be a good friend. Bold and colorful panels propel the story along, an appropriate book for budding graphic novel readers and enthusiasts!

These are a great series of books for current fans and will surely bring a slew of new fans in with this super fun book. Dog man is a fam favorite around here and this was an instant love for sure!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Books for Young Readers for my ARC of Max Meow the Cat Crusader. My daughter loves graphic novels and is obsessed with cats so I knew I had to request this book. She thought it was silly and fun. She said it reminds her of Captain Underpants. I asked her what she would rate it and she gave it 5 stars. She is looking forward to the next book.

I can already see that this book is going to be a hit with many elementary-aged children. It is hilarious and very engaging for its age range. The illustrations definitely add to the story, and the story is fast-paced and action-packed. I love the friendship between Max Meow and Mindy.

As a parent and teacher, I appreciate the vocabulary that is added at the bottom of the page from time to time and the questions at the end of each chapter that guide the reader to make predictions and inferences.

This will be a great new addition to the elementary-level graphic novel field!

Capes, cats, and cooks! There are lots of things going on in this first book of the series. We have a main character cat that talks with mice and people. They dress in a cape while fighting mice. The sidekick is a WOC scientist/inventor, there is a chef cat, and a wild robot. While this is a great introduction to graphic novels, it might be more involved and longer (226 pages!) than the age range it's really suited for (6-10 year olds) is ready to tackle. (It would be a great Hi/Low offering for schools that have upper elementary or lower middle school.) Every chapter ends with a few questions that feel close to ones you might ask when doing an experiment. Illustrations are in color and are really nicely drawn. I did get a little tired of the repetitive black outlined blocks of art, as there seemed a limit number of design options were utilized, but this mostlikely was used because of introducing a younger reader to a new medium. Full color will always be a winner for the younger readers. There are instructions included in the end for learning to draw Max which my son was most interested in seeing. If you have readers who have enjoyed color version of Ricky Ricotta's Might Robot, Dog Man, or Bad Guys, they will also enjoy this series.

Review provided for an ARC from NetGalley and Random House.

Dav Pilkey....Do you hear that? It's John Gallagher taking aim at your port bow. Short of calling the book CATMAN, one could almost believe that this is actually Mr. Pilkey writing under a pseudonym. Not to say its that derivative, its just that good. Eye-poping illustrations, off-center kid humor, this is going to be a series that will find its way into many libraries throughout elementary and middle school-dom.

You might as well submit now because you will be seeing Max Meow on various shirts and lunch boxes over the coming years.


Well Done sir.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this graphic novel. First what had caught my eye was its cover - a great invitation for adventure and animal lovers, a perfect choice for heroes fans. As a graphic novel it could be recommended to reluctant readers.

My daughter has loved other similar books by this author, but could not get into Max Meow. We appreciate the opportunity for an advanced reader copy from NetGalley.

A great beginner graphic novel for elementary students. It reminds me very much of Captain Underpants and would be good for readers who like Dac Pilkey. A fun origin story for a new superhero that will engage kids.