This summer, Tasembo just wants to chill. But that's not an option when it's a scorching day on the Reservation and the Ice Cream Man is a no-show. In an attempt to impress his crush by solving the mystery, Tasembo joins forces with his neighbor, Nuseka, and his dog, Billy Jack, to take on their first case as the Rez Dog Detectives. With twists around every corner, this case won't crack itself, but when you combine Nuseka's brains, Billy Jack's loyalty, and Tasembo's . . . persistence, justice will be served. Cold, that is.
Steven Paul Judd is Kiowa and Choctaw from Oklahoma. He is a visual artist who has also written and directed film and animation. He is also co-founder of the NTVS, a Native American streetwear company. With The Rez Detectives, he adds comic book creator to that list.
Tvli Jacob is a multi-media producer, writer, and director, specializing in media content that addresses health in Native American Indian, Indigenous, and First Nations communities through community-based participatory methods. From Choctaw Nation in Southeast Oklahoma, he is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in Tulsa, and has a daughter Nuseka.
Illustrator M.K. Perker is an Eisner-nominated visual artist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Mad Magazine, Image Comics' Todd, The Ugliest Kid on Earth, Air (Vertigo/DC), and others. He is a member of the Society of Illustrators.
"It's the first day of summer on the Rez, and the Ice Cream Man is missing. That's just the type of case that calls for the skills of the Rez Dog Detective Agency, made up of two youngsters: the brash Tasembo and the brainy Nuseka, in this new middle grade graphic novel from writers Steven Paul Judd and Tvli Jacob with artist MK Parker. The vibrant and engaging colors help evoke a strong sense of place. This visually pleasing implementation of a fun and relatively low-stakes mystery provides the first visit to a locality that I hope readers will be welcomed back into again and again. 'The Rez Detectives' could be seen as a modern take on an Encyclopedia Brown or Nancy Drew type mystery, but doing so while exploring a Native American childhood experience. The quick pitch? 'Reservation Dogs' meets 'Encyclopedia Brown' with dynamic and engaging art that puts the reader right alongside the young detectives." - Matthew Price
