Review: Stray Dogs #4 (of 5)

As the truth begins to eke out, the dogs face a challenge from within as Sylvia and Rusty face the ramifications of Victor’s actions. With a traitor in the pack, who will lend a paw to the misplaced pups?

Whilst Sophie and Rusty try to convince the pack of the truth, Earl has his own agenda. But with the punishment shed casting a shadow over the pound and the secrets of the master’s room tempting another visit; what lurks behind both is going to have a massive impact on all the dogs.

For a shaggy dog story that I dismissed as a Disney book, writer Tony Fleecs has supplanted that idea to deliver a true horror story. By having dogs as the characters, Fleecs has drilled into a mine of emotion, I mean who doesn’t love a dog? This emotion level is heightened through the dogs loss which is palpable. Throw in a psycho dude, the revelation of the punishment shed and Earl’s discovery and the book transcends into one of the best horror’s I have read. Horror is hard to do in comics, but Fleecs’ mashing the genres of cute animals, killers and true shocks delivers in spades. The dialogue works well between all the characters.

The art by Trish Forstner continues the mix ‘n’ match vibe to perfection. Cute animals and horror is a hard sell, yet Forstner manages it with aplomb. It is hard enough to convey emotion in human faces; to demonstrate this much emotion on animals is a huge skill. Granted, body language and the Hanna-Barbera style motion through the panels help, but you can see the respect that Rusty commands or the trust that Sophie has engenders from him. Forstner also has to pull double duty by showing the past lives of the dogs. This has to work well in order to start the emotion engine. Tone Rodriquez helps the pace of the book with some excellent layout work. Flatter and colorist, Lauren Perry and Brad Simpson respectively, also have to pull a switcheroo from cute to gruesome in practically two panels after some brilliant tension building panels. Again, I assume designer Lauren Herda adds the letters; whomever it was delivers an easy going font.

This book is spectacular because it works on so many different levels. The observational behaviour moments of dogs is still in plain sight, although probably in a less funny way than before. As the penultimate issue, the tension is most certainly ramped up!

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

Overall – 5 Stars

Written by; Tony Fleecs
Art by Trish Forstner
Colors by; Brad Simpson
Flatters by; Lauren Perry
Design by; Lauren Herda
Published by; Image Comics

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