Review: Animal Pound #1 (of 4)

I am a sucker for any story involving animals. Over the last couple of years animal fans have enjoyed Stray Dogs and who can forget Krypto’s influence on the regular Supergirl book and of course the excellent Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow from Tom King. Imagine then my interest when I heard that Tom King, of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow fame (amongst other books), was taking a dip into Orwellian territory with Animal Pound from Boom! Studios.

In the pound, there are a semi-diverse cast of animals. Dogs, cats and rabbits live under the heel of man’s greatest power; doors! From this caged, concrete world there are only two means of escape; picked out by the “generosity” of men or death. Lucky, a dog in the autumn of his life, faces the latter and besieges upon his feline friend that all animals are equal and that only together can they throw of the yolk of men. Thus begins the “Remember Lucky” refrain that starts the animals bid for freedom!

Tom King is writer who tends to generate a bi-polar reaction from me. On one hand, I dislike his Batman stuff including the yawn inducing Batman Catwoman opus, yet his aforementioned Supergirl was fantastic and his Wonder Woman is off to a great start. This book sits somewhere in the middle. His writing of the animals thoughts and feelings whilst in the pound are heartbreaking, with clever nuances of the differences between cats and dogs thrown in for good measure. Set as an allegory for 21st century living, King mines Animal Farm in parts, asking the question that since the writing of the George Orwell classic, has society changed at all? The comparisons are more likely to be evident in future issues as the animals look to establish their own hierarchy, their own society. They may consider themselves equal at the moment, but every society features those that have, those that have not and those that want to have.

The art is sublime, provided by Peter Gross in that he manages to catch the emotions of various would-not-be-pets. Gross demonstrates fine line pencils whether it be the muscular dogs or the furry softness of the cats. The animals are all drawn with an incredible amount of consistency, along with the personality of the major players fully realised. When you consider some big two artists can’t seem to get facial elements right for the mass media characters, Gross’s attention to detail and total thoroughness of art add a level of realism and depth to the book. Gross is ably assisted by the excellent parred down, almost faded colors of Tamra Bonvillain, accentuating the feeling of the animals. Clayton Cowles delivers his usual excellent lettering, mixing up fonts to differentiate the various animalistic points of view. There are a raft of covers available; it is truly buyers choice, though Bill Sienkiewicz and Skottie Young’s both work for me in different ways, the latter showing that cats and dogs are created equal, though one created more equal, a thought that may have legs further down the line of this series.

Over the last 14 years, I have had rescue cats; one that supposedly hated people, but really didn’t, and one who seemingly chose me. I have seen the first hand nature of the hopeful looks, the desperate looks and the resigned looks from the animals that exist in such places. Using the pound as a setting gives the book an instantly recognisable authoritarian element. The influences that shape this book are very clear; your enjoyment of the book may depend on how you feel about homages as a whole.

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 4.5 Stars

Co-created & written by; Tom King
Co-created & art by; Peter Gross
Colors by; Tamra Bonvillain
Letters by; Clayton Cowles
Published by; BOOM! Studios

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network