I just loved how the life-story of Shepherd Book was structured - starting from the moment of his death (on planet Haven, as we well know from the movie Serenity) and going backwards to the unknown parts of his life, unto his childhood...
The fifth volume of Buffy Season Eight is patched up from several different short stories, collated together to illustrate a world where vampires are the latest-hottest trend, all thanks to the most clueless...
Picture the following: A thick white winter covers the Northlands wilderness once again, with unbearable cold...
The fifth installment of Fables serves as a restful pause in-between two climactic volumes...
Here's another slightly incoherent, nevertheless endearing volume of Buffy Season Eight...
This one is a little hard to describe, nevertheless I will try to. It is a short story, taking upon an unconventional theme, conveying one or two not-very-shallow - dare I even say - profound ideas.
The most dominant part of this comic is the sub-text: Innocence. Given power. Given knowledge. Learn new words. Obey. Kill. Forget. Set free. Run away. Power unleashed. Kill. Understand BAD. Want to be GUD. Remember. Home.
No! It's not the story of humanity falling out of grace and rise to consciousness! It's the story of WE3, a dog, a cat and a rabbit - the three main characters of this graphic story.
And here are the hard facts and small details, for you readers to decide whether it is your cup of comics: In a military base somewhere, a secret project aiming to turn animals into bio-weapons-slave-soldiers had been proven successful. The prototype team known as WE3, whose members are the former house pets known as 1 (Dog!) 2 (Cat!) and 3 (Rabbit!), are about to be decommissioned - permanently. At this point, they run away, with a little help from their trainer, Doctor Roseanne Berry.
Fully fledged with their artificial strength and built-in armory, they bash and kill everything in their way in a bloody rampage. They don't mean to though, they are just not aware yet. Running from the men who used to be "boss" and now hunt them, they are searching for a new "boss" and "home", where they can be "Gud dog".
Don't be mistaken to think this is a sci-fi comic; it's more about the evolution of its mammal characters. Also, the comic is not as strong on the story side. The plot is somehow secondary, to the ideas that the authors wished to convey. Luckily, it is short enough to be interesting, and also short enough not to be bothered by the lack of. The uniqueness of the theme and some funny scripting from the non-human characters, make it worth a read.
Another plus side is the art. It is detailed (like when they show the apartments of the former pet owners, with all the small personal possessions of their habitants), Expressive (especially the face of cute "1-DOG") and accurate, showing beautiful frames from interesting perspectives.
So... IS GUD DOG? My verdict is: unique with some highlights, but not exactly my first choice of reading. Though, it did got me thinking. Which is good. GUD DOG.
