Like a terrier snapping
at the heels of a badger, Dogbreath issue 36 screams 'buy me as well'
at anyone who has sampled the delights of the latest issue of Zarjaz,
coming as it does from the same stable. Unsurprisingly dedicated to
the galaxy's greatest bounty hunter, the superb exclusive cover from
comics legend Colin McNeil tells you straight away that this is a
good un.
This issue kicks off
with 'Back To Basics', from writer Daniel Whiston and fan favourite
artist David Broughton. We find Johnny hanging from the neck on a
gold mining colony, with no weapons and seemingly no hope as his air
is slowly cut off. Then he dies – the end! Nah... of course not,
but to find out what happens you'll have to read it. It's a very good
tale indeed, with a Western-y vibe that has always suited the
character and first rate art from Broughton (including the least
subtle Carlos tribute EVER). A great start.
Next up is that crazy
Scottish mutant Middenface McNulty in 'McNulty's Law'. Kev Hopgood
tells a tale of a mystery man (complete with a bag on his head) being
transported through the rad wastes. Naturally, it all goes shite
shaped, but you know that at some point someone is going to be told
'Take your lumps like a man', and that's fine by me. It's all a bit
political (possibly an accurate picture of post No Deal Britain),
with some nice art from Richard Waugh that helps carry the story. At
fourteen pages it has a strong whiff of the overlong about it but
it's well presnted and does a nice job of displaying the UK in the
time of the Stronty Dogs. One thing bugged me a bit, and that's that
McNulty does not seem remotely Scottish in anything he says –
Hopgood needs to be reprogrammed with McNulty speech patterns before
he does the character again, ye scunner!
Away from our regular
characters next, with David Fenn delivering a Strontium Dogs tale,
aided and abeted by artist Adam Caudill. It concerns the Weyland
mutant prison (although it says 'HMP WAYLAND' on a big ass sign –
woops!) and the sinister goings on within. Tobe brutally honest it's
the opposite of the previous story, with ten pages of story squeezed
into five. Caudhill does his best with a solid art style, but in the
end it's one of those stories that left me scratching my head at the
end, wondering who the characters had been and why I should care that
much.
Seasoned scripter Matt
Sharp is up next, paired with Gail Nedry for a Durham Red tale set in
Egypt, so scope for plenty of crypt action. Although Red's appearance
is limited to the end, it's a smart story that works very well.
Nedry's art (showcased well in Rogue Trooper for Zarjaz) ,is scratchy
but endearing, with a fleeting similarity to Mike McMahon in the
early days. Overall this is a really solid entry that keeps things
simple but stays smart regardless.
More Strontium Dogs
now, as Mark Keenan and Scott Twells bring back the potato headed
Spud Murphy, and yes, there is a chip pun included. In 'One Patoot,
Two Patoot', we get a slightly muddled story of murder on a patoot
farm. What's a patoot? Some sort of alien vegetable, and that's all
you get from me. It's another strip that may have benefitted from an
additional page to flech out a couple of things, but has a decent
core story and nice art from Twells.
Matt Sharp returns for
the last story, another Strontium Dogs tale 'What Goes Around', this
time assisted by artist Matt Sandbrook. Their story of a couple of
executions is a simple concept but one that's remarkably effective.
The art is really good, although the main character could have been
more distinctive, and there's very little not to enjoy here despite
the pitch black story idea (or maybe because of it).
As ever, Dogbreath is
certainly worth picking up if a little less structured than Zarjaz.
The art throughout is worthy of attention and there's decent writing
that may have flourished better in a couple of cases with an an extra
page to play with (that could have been taken from' 'Weyland' tbh).
Personally, I wanted another cool Johnny Alpha story, but that
doesn't detract from the enjoyment the stories included provide.
It can be bought from the Futurequake website
HERE
