'Cat Ninja: Time Heist' by Matthew Cody with art by Chad Thomas and Warren Wucinich is a graphic novel for younger readers about the secret life of animals.

Cat Ninja fights various criminals that are other animals with his hamster sidekick. When they find a baby owl, then that baby exhibits some superpowers, they set out to find out where the baby owl is from and that may lead them in to the future and some deceptive enemies.

This was my first introduction to Ninja Cat, er Cat Ninja, and it's a fun series. The characters are well rounded, the action is good and there is some heart to the story. The art works really well and is also fun.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Fun middle grade graphic novel that gets into some wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff but doesn't make your head hurt with the timeline shenanigans. Dynamic, bright art, fun characters, and some good lessons about right and wrong.

1st Line: " 'Be free, my fishy comrades.' "

Prose (Story): Volume two in the epic Epic! Cat Ninja graphic novel series finds the gang perplexed when Leon brings home an egg to babysit for school ... and out pops what appears to be a high-energy baby owl that may also bear some super powers! The newest member of the crime-fighting team - or a possible link to a nefarious new villain on the horizon, out to get Cat Ninja for good via the ability to seemingly manipulate time? Even as Master Hamster begins trying to find out an answer to such questions, both Cat Ninja and Metro City find their hands full, and time literally running out!

Don's (Review): I LOVED the first Cat Ninja book; from the hilarious characters and sardonic humor, to the positive messages about family and solving problems together, and to Chad Thomas's art that compliments author Matthew Cody's inventive storyline - it was a winner. So imagine my thrill when this sequel, Time Heist, easily matches (if not surpasses) the original! In true superhero style, both the danger and the stakes to our heroes are ratcheted up here, and the resolution of the mystery behind the new, feathery member of the team is not just satisfying but also funny and - dare I say it? - even gives you an attack of the warm fuzzies. The villains are upgraded, as well, causing a real threat to the city and our heroes - while at the same time, just like book one, the humor is perfect at both breaking the tension and winking at the adults, in a few cases with a line that might otherwise go over a kid's head. Which is one of the things I love most about this series (this one such a fast read, when done I turned back to the front and read it again), and why I will read ANYTHING with Cat Ninja (not Ninja Cat, mind you, but Cat Ninja) on the cover: you don't have to be a kid to enjoy all the pulp in this fiction. Onward, volume three! (Available November 23) 4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Five more comic episodes featuring the ninja cat that everybody calls Cat Ninja. A whole story arc threaded through things concerns the birth of a hatchling bird both he and his hamster nemesis have to look after, and for once this story more than engages and stops this being a series of one-shots to become a proper, combined book. Before then things brighten up whenever a new baddy appears – with the Combat Wombat a clear best (at least until Elan Mollusk turns up). It's bright and breezy, it's got the intellectual level of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, and it should go down well as a bit of exuberant entertainment – it's certainly, in the finish, a lot less disposable than first appearances suggest.

Cat ninja once again has his hands - um - paws full with bad guys in this second installment! A fun super hero tale with an emphasis on cooperation and the importance of family.