Book Review & Giveaway - Fish Tank Comic Series by Carl Ray

The Fish Tank comic book series were originally published as online comics. Each one is about 120 pages long, but they are really quick and funny reads. Before I give my review, let me introduce you to the three main characters.

Meet Angelo, an angelfish. Angelo isn't the brightest angelfish in the tank (even though he's the only angelfish in the tank) but he's loyal and generally willing to go along with his pal Ted's schemes.

And here's Hoover, a plecostamus. That's an algae-sucker in case you were wondering. Hoover is rather pessimistic, a little sarcastic, and generally wants nothing to do with what he considers to be Ted's hare-brained schemes.

And now there's Ted, the de facto leader of the fish tank. Ted is kind of like Brain from Pinky and the Brain. He is a genius and can McGyver his way out of every situation. Which is important since they happen to get into quite a lot of predicaments.






Carl sent me the first three comic books to review. In the first book, The Dawning of the Age of Aquariums, we are introduced to the three fish. We learn that Ted has managed to create a TV remote from inside the tank and he may have accidentally gotten Angelo and Hoover addicted to Lifetime. Ted goes on to invent a few other things which generally lead to more trouble. In Something Whiskered This Way Comes, there's trouble in the neighborhood, when the fish discover that a cat has moved into their place. They don't know where he came from, but they know that is them vs him, or her, the fish aren't really sure. Ted comes up with a series of plans and maneuvers to get rid of the cat. These include, but are not limited to a tazer, a grappeling hook, and home-made aspirin (which apparently is poison to cats, who knew?) And finally, in A Tale of Mothic Proportions, a mysterious blinding light appears which keeps the fish awake. They suspect is is something of sinister intentions and it turns out they are right. Who will win - the fish or their telepathic invaders?

These books are really funny. I found myself laughing out loud a bunch of times. You can read each book in one sitting and they don't have to be read in any particular order. The comics are simply drawn and yet very detailed. Carl obviously does a lot of research on how things are made, as evidenced by Ted's ability to create complex machinery while trapped in a fish tank. Nothing is really inappropriate in the books but the humor would appeal more to adults than kids. I recommend the book for mature pre-teens to adults. I look forward to many more adventures of Ted, Angelo, and Hoover. The books are available from Carl's website, the link is below.

About the author, Carl Ray. Carl is an Air Force veteran and computer programmer in Illinois. He is happily married with two children, two dogs, and ironically, no pet fish. I can tell you from our emails that Carl is one of the genuinely nice and funny people. He had the nicest things to say about my blog (and he wasn't even fishing [ahem] for a good review.

To win all 5 of the books in the ebook type of your choice (kindle, epub, or pdf), just go to Carl's blog and then come back and leave a comment with something that you learned or saw. Extra entries if you become a fan of Carl on goodreads and if you follow my blog.  Pin It