Glork Patrol (Book Two): Glork Patrol Takes A Bath by James Kochalka is the second graphic novel released as a part of the Glork Patrol series from Top Shelf Production. The Glork Patrol series is an expansion from Kochalka’s previous work The Glorkian Warrior series of graphic novels and video games, with the Glorkian Warrior being the main character within this series as well.
In Book Two, The Glorkian Warrior must deal with his new children, Baby Gonk and Baby Quackaboodle, running amuck and making a mess when they are allowed to have ice cream for breakfast. Before he knows it, Glorkian Warrior has to get Baby Quackaboodle to take a bath, and his friend Super BackPack is taking Baby Gonk on an adventure in a robot suit made of candy wrappers.
The immediate issue with this book is whilst this book is obviously designed to appeal to a child audience, that does not give it the excuse to lack any substance. As Glork Patrol is aimed at young children, the book has the opportunity to educate their audience and instill morals into them. One may argue that it is the role of the parent to educate their children on morals and values, and while that is true it is the parents that are purchasing this book for their children, and therefore it is acting as an extension of their parenting. Parents should be able to have confidence in the media their children consume is teaching them to be responsible.
Glork Patrol, however, does not have any obvious lesson attached to its narrative. Although children do absorb more information than they’re given credit for, if Kochalka chose to include an explicit message within Glork Patrol Takes A Bath it would give kids a clear focus on what they should take away from the story. This especially feels like a missed opportunity when looking at the title: Glork Patrol Takes A Bath. The lack of an emphasis on the importance of cleanliness and its relationship to health and wellbeing feels neglectful of the story’s concept and audience.
To the book’s credit, however, Glork Patrol Takes A Bath is not entirely morally empty, there are small instances of life lessons throughout the narrative. For example, the book ends with Baby Quackaboodle having finally taken her first bath after avoiding it all day, and she realizes that she actually loves taking baths. Through this interaction, the child reader can recognize that they may be avoiding new experiences based on an unknown fear of them when they could actually be missing out on a fun activity.
Similarly, in the story’s secondary plot, Super Backpack is taking Baby Gonk on an adventure in a robot suit. On this outing, they save the character Gloo Gloo and his mother from falling into a large canyon while out on a walk. When the Gloo Gloo family asks to repay the two members of Glork Patrol they say that no payment is necessary. Through this quick exchange, Kochalka is able to express the idea that the reward for doing a good deed is the good deed itself.
Regardless of the morals and lessons portrayed within this book, it is much better to have children reading a book that is harmless and dumb fun than have them reading nothing at all. After all, the book is filled with fun hijinks that will easily keep a child entertained and absurd moments that could get a giggle or two.
Another issue that appears in this book is the art. In no way is the art poorly drawn, low quality, or any form of offensive, it’s just simply unremarkable. Although it is quirky and colorful, it isn’t memorable in any form. The characters from the Glork Patrol could just as easily be throwaway background characters from an absurdist Adult Swim cartoon.
Whilst their charming little creatures that a child can focus on and find cute they don’t necessarily have any sense of flair about their design that one would expect the main characters of a graphic novel to have and therefore don’t really draw the eye or bring any excitement.
Glork Patrol (Book Two): Glork Patrol Takes A Bath by James Kochalka is nowhere near as mindless as other pieces of children’s content, but it isn’t particularly special in any way. The story of Glork Patrol Takes A Bath feels rather bland and lacks any notable takeaway, same with its art style; Kochalka’s art skills aren’t anything close to bad, but, at the same time, it’s nothing to write home about. Whilst this is a book that children will undoubtedly enjoy and have a good laugh at while reading, it doesn’t necessarily hold any qualities that will keep children coming back to it over long periods.
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