The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung Fu Cavemen from the Future

Plot

Their story begins with two Cavekids named Ook Schadowski and Gluk Jones who live in Caveland Ohio, 500,001 BC. The tribal leader of Caveland, Chief Goppernopper, hates them because they often ruin his chances to become a big shot, and defile his throne. He is also insulted when his henchmen keep misspelling his name. Goppernopper forces Ook's older sister Gak to marry him in order to keep Ook and Gluk from bothering him. After a brief adventure, the two Cavekids befriend a fictional dinosaur known as a Mog-Mog (after she saved them from a Gorilla) and her baby, and stop the wedding. Angered by this, Goppernopper walks away with his guards until he meets his descendant, J.P Goppernopper, who is the CEO of Goppernopper enterprises from the year 2222. The two Goppernoppers work together to steal natural resources from caveman days through time portal since all natural resources will be used up by 2222. Ex-Chief Goppernopper goes back to the past and forces every caveperson living in Caveland to become slaves for the rest of their lives, making them official property of Goppernopper enterprises, as well as injuring the mother Mog-Mog. Becoming slaves, Ook, Gluk, and the baby Mog-Mog are shoveling until the two Goppernoppers take them to 2222 to torture them, but the baby Mog-Mog follows them to help them escape. Ook, Gluk, and the Baby Mog-Mog hide in Master Wong's School of Kung-Fu. There they train and became good at kung-fu. Ook falls in love with Master Wong's daughter, Lan. She nicknames the baby Mog-Mog "Lily" after her favorite flower.

Ook and Gluk grow up, training under Master Wong, but no matter how good they are at kung-fu, Master Wong does not award them new belts as they constantly request. In order to get new belts, the cavekids have to give the right answer to Wong's question: Who is the greatest man? When it is time for Ook and Gluk to save their people, they finally answer who the greatest man is: nobody. It is the correct answer to Master Wong's question, so he finally awards them black belts, telling them that titles and trophies have no value to the man who is at peace with himself and true greatness is anonymous, therefore the greatest man is literally nobody. Ook and Gluk realize that these belts have no value since they are at peace, but they take the belts anyway.

Then Ook, Gluk, and Lily enter Goppernopper enterprises, time-travel back to caveman days, and fight the guards only to free the slaves. Then Ook's sister Gak falls in love with Gluk and calls him a hero. After that, Chief Goppernopper returns and orders his mechasaurs (A mechanical Tyranosaurus rex, a mechanical Triceratops, and a mechanical Pteranadon) to attack Ook, Gluk, and Lily. Then they spray-paint pictures of themselves on the buildings so the Mechasaurs will destroy anything that has the faces of them. They also spray-paint on the Goppernopper enterprises building so it will be destroyed, and spray-paint on an explosive tank, which also destroys the Mechasaurs themselves.

After Ook and Gluk's victory, J.P Goppernopper sends them a letter, telling them that he captured Master Wong and Lan, and that they will be executed if Ook and Gluk won't surrender. When Ook, Gluk, and Lily return to 2222, they see Master Wong and Lan tied up. As soon as the Goppernoppers are going to execute Master Wong and Lan, Ook and Gluk plead with the Goppernoppers to release them, and say they will do anything to satisfy them. The Goppernoppers agree and have Ook, Gluk, and Lily handcuffed and change their minds about releasing Master Wong and Lan, and vow to execute them all.

Ook and Gluk wonder how to free themselves, and Master Wong tells them to remember their training. Then Ook and Gluk remember all of the teachings from Master Wong and get an idea. When J.P Goppernopper prepares his ray gun to execute them, Ook and Gluk ask the Goppernoppers the question: Who is the greatest man? J.P Goppernopper answers that he is the greatest man while Chief Goppernopper answers he is the greatest man. After that, they disagree with each other and argue about who the greatest man is and get into a fight. J.P Goppernopper betrays and shoots Chief Goppernopper, killing him and accidentally erasing himself from history, as The Chief did not have children yet. The polluted world begins to be replaced with a world without the Goppernoppers. Ook, Gluk, and Lily run back to the disappearing time portal, but Ook soon returns because of his love for Lan. She agrees to be his cave-wife and they both warp back to the caveman days. The time portal, The Goppernoppers and their world from 2222 disappear. Master Wong walks home where he says there is a part of those kids still in him. A sign shows Ook and Gluk's future descendants open a business right next to Master Wong's Kung-Fu School called "Schadowski & Jones Inventors". Lily finally re-unites with Her Mother. Ook, Gluk, Lan, the mother Mog-Mog, and Lily return happily to Caveland.

Characters

Reception

The book was at #2 on the New York Times hardcover graphic novel best-sellers list its first week of release, and remained at first place for six consecutive weeks. It served 33 weeks on the list, its period on the list overlapping with the paperback edition's presence on the paperback best sellers list.

School Library Journal described the book's humor as "completely immature, and for the target audience, completely hilarious". Booklist suggested that the book would "appeal to those who like silly adventures, puke-based humor, and kung-fu fighting."

Sequel

The author plans that the sequel to The Adventures of Ook & Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future which will be titled The Adventures of Ook and Gluk Jr. Kung-Fu Cavekids in Outer Space. The book is about Ook and Gluk's kids having an adventure in space with an alien after them.