Author Guide | BookFairy
📖 About John Patrick Green
John Patrick Green is an American author, illustrator and cartoonist best known for creating InvestiGators, the bestselling children’s graphic novel series featuring two crime-fighting alligators, Mango and Brash.
His work combines energetic illustrations, fast-paced adventures, mysteries, absurd situations and an extraordinary number of visual jokes and puns.
Before the success of InvestiGators, Green created and illustrated several other graphic novels, including Hippopotamister and Kitten Construction Company. His earlier work also includes the Teen Boat! comics, created with Dave Roman.
Green has worked in comics and illustration for many years, developing a recognisable style built around expressive characters, clever visual storytelling and humour that appeals to both children and adults.
The publication of InvestiGators in 2020 introduced readers to Mango and Brash, two agents of S.U.I.T. — Special Undercover Investigation Teams — who solve crimes using imaginative gadgets, teamwork and some extremely unconventional investigative methods.
The series proved popular enough to inspire Agents of S.U.I.T., a spin-off featuring other members of the organisation. These books have involved collaborations with writers and illustrators including Christopher Hastings and Pat Lewis.
On BookFairy, I explore John Patrick Green’s books through spoiler-free reviews, recommended reading orders and personal reflections on the humour, artwork and storytelling that make his graphic novels so entertaining.
💜 Why I Read John Patrick Green
I discovered John Patrick Green through InvestiGators: Weather or Not, and it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable introduction to his work.
I have always appreciated graphic novels that understand the importance of visual storytelling. A good comic does much more than illustrate a written narrative: its drawings, timing, expressions and page layouts all contribute to the reading experience.
What immediately impressed me about Weather or Not was its humour.
The story is wonderfully ridiculous, filled with visual jokes, wordplay and entertaining situations that rarely allow the pace to slow down.
Although I entered the series with a later instalment, I never felt lost. Mango and Brash are easy to understand, their personalities are entertaining, and the adventure works well even for readers who haven’t followed every previous mission.
I particularly enjoyed how accessible the book was without feeling simplistic.
The jokes are clearly designed to appeal to younger readers, but there is enough cleverness in the writing and artwork to make adults smile as well.
For me, John Patrick Green demonstrates how effective graphic novels can be at encouraging children to read. His books are colourful, funny and approachable, but they still offer the satisfaction of following a complete adventure.
📚 Books Reviewed on BookFairy
Explore my spoiler-free review of John Patrick Green’s InvestiGators: Weather or Not, including my thoughts on its humour, illustrations, characters and appeal to younger readers.
📖 InvestiGators: Weather or Not — BookFairy Review
More reviews will be added as I explore additional volumes from the InvestiGators universe.
📖 Reading Order
John Patrick Green’s best-known books belong to the InvestiGators universe, which includes the original series and the Agents of S.U.I.T. spin-off.
For first-time readers, I recommend beginning with the main series in publication order.
🐊 InvestiGators — Complete Published Reading Order
- InvestiGators (2020)
- Take the Plunge (2020)
- Off the Hook (2021)
- Ants in Our P.A.N.T.S. (2021)
- Braver and Boulder (2022)
- Heist and Seek (2022)
- All Tide Up (2023)
- Class Action (2024)
- Case Files (2025)
- Weather or Not (2026)
The series follows Mango and Brash through increasingly unusual investigations involving criminals, mysterious inventions and an assortment of eccentric characters.
Although many adventures can be enjoyed individually, reading the books in publication order provides a better understanding of the recurring characters and ongoing jokes.
🕵️ Agents of S.U.I.T. — Spin-Off Reading Order
The Agents of S.U.I.T. series expands the InvestiGators universe by introducing other agents and their investigations.
- Agents of S.U.I.T. (2023)
- From Badger to Worse (2024)
- Wild Ghost Chase (2025)
- Sew Much Trouble (2026)
- Tomb and Gloom (forthcoming, 2027)
The spin-off has been developed with collaborators including Christopher Hastings, Zac Gorman and Pat Lewis.
Recommended reading order: Start with the original InvestiGators series before exploring the spin-off, although the Agents of S.U.I.T. books can also be enjoyed independently.
🐱 Kitten Construction Company
Before the publication of InvestiGators, John Patrick Green created another humorous graphic novel series featuring animals with very human responsibilities.
Kitten Construction Company follows a group of kittens determined to demonstrate that their professional abilities deserve to be taken seriously.
Complete Reading Order
- Meet the House Kittens (2018)
- A Bridge Too Fur (2019)
The books combine adorable characters, construction-related adventures and humour about appearances, teamwork and competence.
📚 Other Books by John Patrick Green
John Patrick Green’s bibliography extends beyond his two best-known animal-themed series.
📖 Hippopotamister (2016)
This standalone graphic novel follows a hippopotamus who leaves the zoo in search of a new life and discovers that finding the right job can be more complicated than expected.
It explores identity, friendship, perseverance and discovering what makes someone happy.
🚤 Teen Boat!
Created with Dave Roman, Teen Boat! combines superhero-style absurdity with a wonderfully unusual premise: a teenager who can transform into a boat.
The principal collected graphic novels are:
- Teen Boat! (2012)
- Teen Boat! The Race for Boatlantis (2015)
📕 Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden
John Patrick Green also worked on the earlier Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden comics.
Published collected volumes include:
- Borrowed Magic (2003)
- Separation Anxiety (2004)
These works form part of his earlier comics career and demonstrate the imaginative storytelling that would later become central to his children’s graphic novels.
📚 Additional InvestiGators Books
In addition to the main graphic novel series, the InvestiGators universe includes supplementary publications.
These include:
- InvestiGators: High-Rise Hijinks (2024) — World Book Day publication.
- InvestiGators: The Big Snappy Joke Book (2026) — humour collection.
- InvestiGators: Puzzle Adventures — announced for 2027.
These books are supplementary to the principal ten-volume InvestiGators sequence and should not be confused with additional numbered instalments.
🇷🇴 Romanian Translations
Although John Patrick Green’s books are available to purchase from Romanian booksellers, they have not been translated yet.
⭐ Where Should You Start?
If you’re discovering John Patrick Green for the first time, I recommend starting with InvestiGators, the opening volume of his most successful series.
It introduces Mango, Brash and the world of S.U.I.T., making it the natural entry point for readers interested in following the adventures from the beginning.
For younger readers who love colourful artwork, silly jokes, mysteries and unusual heroes, InvestiGators offers an entertaining introduction to graphic novels.
If you’re particularly fond of cats, Kitten Construction Company: Meet the House Kittens is another appealing starting point.
And if you’d prefer a standalone story, Hippopotamister offers a complete adventure without requiring any knowledge of a larger series.
💜 My Reading Experience
My introduction to John Patrick Green came through InvestiGators: Weather or Not, and I genuinely enjoyed the experience.
What I loved most was how effortlessly the book combined humour with visual storytelling.
The illustrations are full of personality, the jokes are frequent and the characters have an infectious energy that makes the adventure difficult to resist.
I also appreciated that the story was immediately accessible, even though I hadn’t read the earlier volumes.
My only reservations were relatively minor. The central mystery followed a familiar formula, and I occasionally wished the story had included a few more unexpected developments.
Even so, Weather or Not delivered exactly what I hoped for: a funny, lively and enjoyable graphic novel.
It reminded me that children’s fiction doesn’t need to be complicated to be clever, and that a well-timed visual joke can be every bit as satisfying as an elaborate plot twist.
John Patrick Green is certainly an author whose other graphic novels I’d be happy to explore.
📚 Complete John Patrick Green Bibliography
Explore the complete bibliography of John Patrick Green, including the InvestiGators, Agents of S.U.I.T., Kitten Construction Company and Teen Boat! series, alongside standalone graphic novels, early comics, collaborations and collected editions.
The bibliography includes original publication dates, recommended reading orders, supplementary publications and links to BookFairy reviews. It also clarifies the availability of Romanian translations.
📖 [Explore John Patrick Green’s Complete Bibliography](https://bookfairy.co.uk/john-patrick-green-complete-bibliography/