The Drained Brains Caper: Book 1

By Trina Robbins and Tyler Page

Raf knows Megan is trouble from the moment she steps into his mom's pet food store asking for a tarantula. But there's one thing you can count on in Chicagoland: weird things happen several times a day.

Megan is a vegetarian, manga-reading haiku writer. She definitely doesn't fit in at Stepford Academy, her new summer school. The other students are happy to be in class. Too happy. And everyone looks and acts exactly alike. That's weird.

Megan is determined to dig into Stepford's secrets, but soon she's in way too deep. Raf may be the only human being she knows who can help. But with zombified students, very mad scientists, and the school psychiatrist on their trail, they're going to need a whole lot more help.

We did say that Chicagoland is weird. . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lerner Publishing
• Release date: Jan 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781467734875

Trina Robbins

Writer and feminist herstorian Trina Robbins wrote books, comics, and graphic novels for over 40 years. Her work includes The Brinkley Girls (Fantagraphics), Forbidden City: the Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs (Hampton Press), and the three-part YA series Chicagoland Detective Agency for Graphic Universe™.

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Reviews for The Drained Brains Caper

[louisvillains · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For younger tweens. Loved the talking dog! Not enough dogs talk like Sam Spade - just saying.

[kellswitch_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was very disappointed in this, the art is engaging and the story idea quite clever but the writing was so juvenile and stilted, it felt like an adult trying to "talk" the way they think kids do and for me it came across as vaguely insulting. I realize I'm not the age group this was aimed at but it felt like it was talking down and over simplifying things. Again the art is amazing, I love the idea of a Chicago setting and there are good story ideas and potential here, sadly it was just never fully realized. Hopefully future books in the series improve and this is just a case of an author having to force to much of the exposition of the world into a short book.

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Reason for Reading: This is a Cybils '10 nominee and required reading for me as a graphic novels panelist.Honestly from the cover and title I was expecting corny and campy but what I got was an entertaining old-style private eye detective story involving a mad scientist. The plot is similar to that of Brain Camp, though this time it is a summer prep school where the students seem to all be brain washed into achieving. Add our main character, Megan Yamamura. The new kid in town, a vegan, manga reading, haiku writing girl with gusto and this book is a success. Megan carries this book and is an unforgettable character, whom one just wants to meet up with again. She is joined by Raf, a nerdy computer guy and Bradley, a special dog they rescue from an experiment lab. The story covers their first case and determines how they set up the Detective Agency which will be open for business in book 2 advertised on the last page. A funny, silly, "scoobby doo" type mystery.The art work is fantastic. Done in b/w, at first glance it may disappoint but once you start reading, I realized Megan couldn't have been depicted otherwise. Her beautiful Japanese look dressed in a combo of goth and emo style clothing perfectly suits her. The backgrounds aren't very detailed but the facial expressions are delightful and the sound effects add much to the action. An impressive story. Will look forward to book 2: The Maltese Mummy.

[ryvre_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Megan Yamamura is 13 year-old, vegetarian, haiku-spouting, manga fan. She is dismayed when she begins the term at a new school, and all the other students are so boring that something sinister must be afoot. I loved Megan from the start. Her haikus are the high point of the book. Her friend, Raf Hernandez, seems like a great character as well. I hope he is developed more in the next book.The art is utterly fantastic. It's simple, but very expressive. It falls somewhere between traditional American comic art and manga.As a bonus, it's set in Chicago! I loved seeing the Chicago sky line and the el in the background!I'd recommend this to any young adult comic fans, especially those who enjoy manga.

[vlcraven_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A romp of a book (appropriate for ages ten and up) that explains the beginning of the Chicagoland Detective Agency, which is run by a talking dog--his story is great--and his assistants, a computer whiz kid and a haiku writing vegan. This comic is great fun and I'm looking forward to the next in the series. Page Tyler's artwork is somewhere between Manga and Western style comics and is perfect for the targeted demographic.

[highvoltagegrrl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This graphic novel for kids 9-12 was a quick read for me and I can see it being a fun read for kids. This is something I think that my niece, who’s in elementary school, would get a kick out of reading. It was quirky and silly from beginning to end and it was easy to follow what was going on. The haiku writing teenager was a different twist as haiku’s showed up in different forms throughout the story. Having a genius kid as a best friend never hurts a story and who can resist a plot that contains a sweet and furry dog in it’s midst as well.As it is the first story that shows us how the detective agency is born, I can see that there could ultimately be many more volumes of this series to come. An author has a lot of room to move when a detective agency is at the base of the storyline…anything could happen. This is a great book for those reluctant readers that still want picture books or short stories but are making the transition over to more complex stories.

[krau0098 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I got a digital copy of this book through Netgalley. It looked like a fun little graphic novel and sounded like an amusing premise. When Megan walks into Raf's pet store he knows she is trouble, she is asking for a pet tarantula afterall. Megan's dad sends her to a exclusive summer prep school where she senses something is not right about the strangely monotonous children there. Will Megan and Raf be able to unravel a devious plot that is set at brainwashing a subset of the juvenile population?Mainly this book is an intro to Megan, Raf and their talking dog friend. It gets the three set up as the Chicagoland Detective Agency.There are some great things about this book. It talks about animal rights, prevention of cruelty to animals, and also touches on the value of independence and creativity. So there are definitely some good messages presented here. The illustration was also very good; it is done in kind of an Americanized Manga style and it is easy to follow and conveys the story well. I was never confused about who is who or what was going on.My biggest complaint with this graphic novel is the dialogue and the plot, both seemed a little second rate to me. The majority of the dialogue is corny and forced sounding, like it fell out of a bad 80's cartoon. I understand that this is a juvenile book, but there are lots of juvenile books out there that are easy to read but don't sound so corny. Also the plot is incredibly predictable and has been done before. Given the premise I was expecting more humor and there is some, but overall the book takes itself pretty seriously.Overall this is an okay read. It would be good for younger reluctant readers and sends some positive messages. The illustrations are spot on but the story itself is pretty corny and predictable.