REVIEW: 'Stray Dogs: Dog Days' #1 by Tony Fleecs, Trish Forstner, and Brad Simpson

 

STRAY DOGS: DOG DAYS #1 

Writer: Tony Fleecs

Artist: Trish Forstner, Brad Simpson

Layouts: Tone Rodriguez with Mike Vasquez

Publisher: Image Comics

Release Date: December 29, 2021

Cover Price: $4.99

Critic Reviews: 5

A series of vicious short stories howling straight out of the pages of STRAY DOGS, 2021's surprise cartoon/horror smash hit! In DOG DAYS, each stray will get their moment to shine-questions will be answered, mysteries will be solved, and old wounds will be torn open. Starting this December...every dog has its day.

REGISTER PITCH: The Lady and the Tramp meets Silence of the Lambs horror-thriller that took the industry by storm is back in this standalone spinoff.

Score: 

★★★★1/2 (4.5/5)

One of our year's Best Comics titles, 'Stray Dogs' gets a spinoff in 'Stray Dogs: Dog Days' filling in the backstories to many of the dogs from the bestselling series. Creators Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner return with colorist Brad Simpson providing their adorable unassuming cartoon style about a serial killer who keeps his victims' dogs as trophies. It's another suspenseful and gut-wrenching journey into darkness that blends Don Bluth-inspired cuteness with Hitchcock-level terror.  

After reading issue one, I wondered how this prequel would fit for new readers and those who read the series. There's enough mystery for new readers to draw them in as a precursor to the main series. It kind of works as a preview that'll inform what happens later. For fans of the series, it'll add some more heartbreak to what they already know. The dogs don't remember the circumstances that will bring them to the killer's house to live until their memories are triggered. One of the things that Forstner does so well is convey a myriad of emotions from the dogs' faces. The poor pooches witness their owner's demise and the look of utter terror will break your heart. 

Fleecs and Forstner again create an unnerving sense of fear that hangs on every page. One sequence, in particular, is pretty chilling. A woman wakes up at night to crashing noises in her home. She goes from one shadowy room to the next unsure of what she'll find. She calls out and exclaims she's called the police but no answer. It's one of the best scenes of the book. There's more to it but no spoilers. 

'Stray Dogs: Dog Days' #1 brings back the creative team of one of this year's best comics, 'Stray Dogs.' Fleecs, Forstner, and Simpson have more goosebumps to give with this chilling spinoff that gives more background on the dogs whose owners were murdered. Never violently gratuitous but thoroughly suspenseful, 'Dog Days' continues to shock readers whether new or old.