Two gators always together!
InvestiGators is a series of graphic novels written by John Patrick Green, creator of Kitten Construction Company and Hippopotamister.
The story revolves around a duo of alligators named Mango and Brash who work under an undercover organisation called S.U.I.T. (Special Undercover Investigation Teams) solving crime wherever they can. It has a similar style to Dog Man with its silly light-hearted humour.
It also has an interactive website
and batteryPOP shorts.
Books in the series:
- InvestiGators (2020)
- InvestiGators: Take the Plunge (2020)
- InvestiGators: Off the Hook (2021)
- InvestiGators: Ants in Our P.A.N.T.S (2021)
- InvestiGators: Braver and Boulder (2022)
- InvestiGators: Heist and Seek (2022)
- InvestiGators: All Tide Up (2023)
- InvestiGators: Class Action (2024)
Book Trailer/Theme Song, Book Trailer #2
A spin-off series titled Agents of S.U.I.T. began release in 2023. It focuses on minor characters seen in the main series.
Not to be confused with Investi-Gator: The Case of the Big Crime or BROK the InvestiGator.
This work contains examples of:
- Aborted Arc: Both Heist and Seek and All Tide Up have multiple teases towards Daryl’s return after his death in Braver and Boulder. Most significantly, the second-to-last scene in Heist and Seek has what appears to be a radioactive cracker version of Daryl. However, the following book does not pick up on this scene and continues teasing the return of Daryl throughout what seems to be a plot-point of dialogue between Mango and Brash about the possibility of Daryl returning, but it is eventually forgotten about as well.
- Acronym and Abbreviation Overload: There is a ton of it shown, especially from S.U.I.T. Examples include:
- Very Exciting Spy Technology (V.E.S.T.)
- Apparel Research and Manufacturing (A.R.M.S.)
- S.U.I.T’s Other Underground Passages (Code S.O.U.P)
- Ambiguously Gay: Daryl's vengeful obsession with Brash, especially as seen in their final scenes together in Braver and Boulder, can be seen as suspicious, especially in a pun line from Daryl in the aftermentioned book while he keeps crushing the Investi Quarters robot headquarters, "We used to be friends, Brash, but now I've got a CRUSH on you!"
- An Aesop: Off the Hook is where Mango learns that he can't always win in every scenario, and learns to make tough decisions on his own.
- Brash learns throughout the books to let go of his past mistakes and accept that his partner will never come back again.
- Art Evolution: In later volumes, the facial expressions and poses are drawn much more exaggerated compared to the stiffness of early books. The colours have also gotten more vibrant.
- Angst Coma: Near the end of Off the Hook, Brash is in a coma after almost dying inside Crackerdile/Waffledile and is sent to the hospital. He is in perfectly healthy condition but there is something blocking his mind from waking up. He then has to be replaced by a robotic copy. In Ants in Our P.A.N.T.S., Mango helps Brash wake up from his coma by overcoming his fears and forgiving himself.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The giant ants in Ants in Our P.A.N.T.S. are the result of an accidental growth ray, the Embiggener. Eventually, RoboBrash also gets accidentally zapped by the ray and defeats the ants, before attacking Mango after unlocking his memories. He is then deactivated afterwards and stays in his giant form, now being used as a building.
- Author Appeal: John likes making a lot of subtle references to Star Trek.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Off the Hook sort of ends this way. In the climax, the giant Waffledile actually eats Brash after Mango fails to save him. Brash is luckily saved in time by Hookline and Slinker just before the concrete Mango had no choice but to drop on Waffledile hardens. But now Brash is in a coma, forcing a robot replacement of him to take his place as Mango’s partner. Even more enforced for the trope, Waffledile did manage to promote T.A.I.L.Blazers team and raise awareness, as Cilantro and Maestronaut do find the flyers.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- In the ending of Off the Hook, Mango's temporary new partner is about to be revealed to him while Brash is unconscious. When the new partner appears behind him, Mango gets excited when he hears Brash's voice, only for the partner to be revealed to be RoboBrash, a robotic copy of Brash.
- In All Tide Up, when a ghost attacks the cruise line ship, Brash thinks it's the ghost of Daryl. It turns out it's actually just a ghost pirate named Willy Nilly.
- Breaking Old Trends: Ants in Our P.A.N.T.S. is so far the only book in the series without a montage, even remarked by Mango. See Rage Against the Author below.
- Call-Back: Mango brings out the 3rd book Off the Hook to recap certain moments to jog RoboBrash's memory.
- Mango: What are you talking about? Look, right here on page 155 in the last book.RoboBrash: Huh. Well obviously this historical record is inaccurate, unless there's something about these events that blocks me from accessing Brash's memories of them.
- Character Blog: There are twitter accounts for the Gators and someone called CameraBoy64.
- City with No Name: The city in which the series takes place in is never mentioned by name however it's established that it takes place somewhere in the U.S. as the General Inspector has an American flag in his office, and several characters having Brooklyn accents.
- Company Cross References: There are a few references to John's previous works shown in the books such as the lint and mismatched buttons from Hippopotamister as well as a few minor cameos here and there.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Quite a few.
- Panksy, a criminal prankster opossum, is seen on the opening monologue of book 1 with no dialogue in an alleyway of criminals. Surprisingly, he would not appear in the series in a true role until a cameo with dialogue in book 5 before finally being a key supporting character in book 6.
- Bill Plungerman, a plumber who would be a very important character in books 3, 4, and 7, is also seen from the legs part fixing a pipe below a kitchen sink in a scene in book 1.
- Bill N. Dollaz, a millionaire who is later an antagonist in book 7, appears in book 6 in one scene.
- Emotional Regression: In Ants in Our P.A.N.T.S., it's revealed that Brash had been age regressed to a 3 year old to cope with his trauma and is afraid to wake up, until Mango eventually helps him in a later chapter.
- Green Gators: The main characters are two green alligators, Mango and Brash. Brash is a lighter yellowy-green, and Mango is a darker green.
- Mind-Control Eyes: When characters are mind controlled by Slinker, their eyes become purple swirls.
- Montages: Each book tends to have at least 2 lyrical montages in them, usually showing the Gators traveling the sewers or doing an activity related to their cases like baking a cake. One of the only books so far to not include any is Ants in Our P.A.N.T.S., where even the characters comment on the lack of music.
- Pictorial Letter Substitution: InvestiGators is about a pair of alligators who solve crimes together. The title logo has a magnifying glass standing in for the "o".
- Pun-Based Title:
- The lead characters are gators who investigate things — thus, "InvestiGators".
- Cici Boringstories’ cameraman is called Cameron.
- Rage Against the Author: In Ants in Our P.A.N.T.S., The Gators get upset after realising that the book had a musical themed villian however there were no montages present.Brash: Huh. That certainly seems like a missed opportunity. I'd take it up with the author.
- Reference Overdosed: Heist and Seek is filled with tons of references to famous painters and paintings.
- Replacement Goldfish: Subverted. S.U.I.T. headquarters provides Mango a robotic copy of Brash named RoboBrash while the real one is in a coma.
- Shout-Out:
- The two lead characters, Mango and Brash, have names inspired by the Buddy cop film Tango & Cash.
- When RoboBrash is head to head with the robotic ants, Mango just suggests to let them fight.
- Shown Their Work: In All Tide Up, Mango mentions his skin getting dry from being in the ocean. as it's not like the rivers and lakes that he's used to. This makes sense as alligators are freshwater creatures.
- Show Within a Show: Mango is a fan of Cole's Law, a TV show about a crime-fighting head of lettuce. It also has a film and musical.
- Talk Like a Pirate: Every pirate in All Tide Up talks like this. Mango manages to get the hang of it but Brash still has some learning to do.
- Brash: Mr. Maykwees! Wipe her nose!Mr. Maykwees: You mean, send a shot across her bow?Brash: Look, I'm not caught up with the pirate lingo!
- Toilet Teleportation: Mango and Brash use their toilet-based travel techniques to get around town easily or to S.U.I.T. Headquarters.
- Unsound Effect: Pushing a button made a PUSH! sound effect but after realising he pressed the wrong button, Brash goes for the other one which made a CORRECT PUSH! effect.
- Unwinnable Training Simulation: Off the Hook opens with Mango performing a training simulation at S.U.I.T. in which he needs to make a tough choice between saving Brash and the people of the train or stopping Crackerdile from getting away. It is later revealed that he has attempted the simulation dozens of times due to choosing to save everyone over capturing Crackerdile, a theme about choices that goes on throughout the whole book.
- Vague Age: The Gators' ages are classified as part of being secret agents but fans are free to have them go "undercover" as whatever age they think fits them.
- Vomit Chain Reaction: Heist and Seek shows everyone puking green chunks after getting food poisoning from the hor d’oeuvres. It's quite graphic, even for a graphic novel.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Mango wears two tutus in a promo for Braver and Boulder, as the release date for that book was 02/22/22.
