The Mutant Mouse from Outer Space

The Mutant Mouse from Outer Space is the third book in Dom Pelletier’s “Lunch Club” series. Zaralgax and his mutant mouse sidekick are back with a new plan to destroy the Lunch Club, just in time for Christmas! A gift-wrapped package containing poison gas, a turnip-shaped spaceship with its halls completely decked, and a very thin but familiar looking Santa Claus help set the scene for this wacky misadventure. When most of the students and staff at the school are transformed into mutants, Mr. Peabody introduces Leo to the Luna Lamp, a one-time-use-device that restarts the day. Will Leo be able to go back in time and stop the gas from being released?

As I’ve come to expect with the “Lunch Club” stories, readers will get a present-day plot with some expository flashbacks linking to the main storyline. In this case, it’s the story of club founder McSticky who died heroically trying to save people from a sea monster that was protecting its alchemist master. In the present day adventure, our main characters (Tia and Leo, of course, with Mr. Peabody right beside them) don’t die, but Tia finds herself transformed by the evil, noxious cloud created by Zaralgax.

Once again, Pelletier’s illustrations are bright and entertaining, and the jokes are funny. Having read all three of these books, I am starting to see the potential for it to be an animated TV show. In particular, there is a chase scene in this book that was so detailed I could almost hear the Benny Hill music playing in the background!

There’s no guessing game as to whether or not there will be a sequel; Pelletier promises in the final pages to reveal the identity of Zaralgax’s boss in the fourth book. Fans of the “InvestiGators”, the “Bad Guys”, and the “Lunch Lady” graphic novel series will almost certainly enjoy the “Lunch Club” books.