Stray Dogs #1 Review

by Carlos R. on February 24, 2021

Stray Dogs #1 Cover Image
Written by: Tony Fleecs
Art by: Trish Forstner
Colors by: Brad Simpson
Layouts by: Tone Rodriguez
Flatter: Lauren Perry
Logo/Design by: Lauren Herda
Pre-press: Gabriela Downie
Publisher: Image Comics

First off, what a pitch! Lady and the Tramp meets Silence of the Lambs. You have to be sold right away, right? I mean, I was, and boy does this book deliver on all fronts!

The story opens with Sophie at the vet with her lady, nervous for her Bordetella shot and, according to her lady, always afraid. Fleecs does an excellent job of setting the ambience of the story in the opening pages, everything is seemingly harmless, but there’s an uneasiness to the world. It then jumps over to Sophie being brought into a new home where she meets lots of seemingly friendly pups. They welcome her in and show her around her new home. Sophie’s memory is hazy, and flashes come back to her causing her to panic and wonder where her lady went. I’m loving this book, I came into it guarded because of the synopsis, I don’t know who to trust or where the book is going even though everything appears to be peachy keen. I was impressed by Fleecs dialogue for the pups, it genuinely sounds like what I imagine dog speech to be.

Fleecs and the art team create such a unique and unsettling book. The dogs aren’t wholly fleshed out yet, but we do get a fair sense of everyone’s character by their concerns, their greeting of Sophie, and how they defend each other. Forstner’s art comes off a bit toonish, but that adds to the suspense, you know better than to drop your guard. Simpson’s colors appear soft and create serene images, but the shadows come off harsh and the shifts to red cause whiplash and work well to put readers into Sophie’s shoes. Forstner also keeps the humans’ faces out of sight in a Charlie Brown manner that adds to the uneasiness of this book by being unable to read the expressions of the people around Sophie.

If you’re in the market for a new suspense book, Stray Dogs is the book for you, it's a fantastic premise and the art is gorgeous and adds so much weight to the thrill of the story. Plus there are some amazing variant covers, like the Blair Witch and Silence of the Lamb homages that you should definitely check out.
 

Our Score:

9/10

A Look Inside