Stray Dogs - Tony Fleecs and Trish Fornstner

 

Title: Stray Dogs

Author: Tony Fleecs and Trish Fornstner

Publisher: Image Comics, 2021 (Paperback)

Length: 144 pages

Genre: Adult; Graphic Novel, Horror

Started: December 13, 2021

Finished: December 13, 2021

Summary: 

From the back of the book:

Meet Sophie, a dog who can't remember what happened. She doesn't know how she ended up in this house. She doesn't recognize any of these other dogs. She knows something terrible happened but she just...can't...recall...Wait! Where's her lady?

A heartbreakingly adorable suspense thriller by My Little Pony comic artists Tony Fleecs and Trish Fornstner.

Review:

I first saw this recommended on TikToK a while back, and I'm always up for a gritty graphic novel that isn't superhero related. And boy, does this ever deliver on the horror and suspense. The cute art style is deceiving, this is some pretty disturbing stuff. 

The story opens with Sophie being brought by a man to a house full of dogs and she can't remember how she got there. The other dogs show her the ropes and talk of the master who saved them from their previous homes. Sophie is still on edge, and it isn't until the master wraps Sophie in a scarf that she remembers why. The master is actually a serial killer, her lady was one of his victims, and he collects his victims' dogs as trophies. The other dogs don't believe her (they also don't remember their old lives) until Sophie urges them to explore the areas of the house they aren't allowed in, where they find photos of their previous owners and other mementos from past killings. Now that the dogs know the truth, how are they going to escape from the master?

This book is a perfect example of graphic novels pushing the limits of their genre and what is typical of it. Again, the cutesy art style is deceiving here because this book is definitely not for children. It's not overly graphic or gory (in my opinion), but trigger warning: the content does show flashbacks to the murders, and some of the dogs suffer injuries and death at the hands of the master in the second half of the story, so sensitive readers are going to want to pass on this one. If you can handle the sensitive content it's a great, gripping story that does end happily for the most part, and coming from the perspective of the dogs is wonderfully creative. 

I purchased this edition, which has a gallery at the end of all the variant covers from each issue in the series.

This one is my favourite though:

Recommendation: 

If you're in the mood for something gritty and new, or if you ever wondered what would happen if Don Bluth made a horror movie, give this graphic novel a read. If you can't handle movies/stories where the dog gets hurt or dies, then you'd better pass on this. 

Thoughts on the cover:

I much prefer the original cover (image at the top of the review) to my special edition copy cover (middle image). The original is more unsettling compared to the special edition, which feels more juvenile.