3 out of 5

This is actually 3 one shots and then a 3-parter, but since Joe’s not certain if further issues will come out (and we had to wait from between 2009 until 2014 for these issues to come out), issue 6 is obviously an attempt to wrap up as much as possible in case the team never returns to ‘Bad Dog.’  Which is part of what affects the rating, as some elements are left confusing and unresolved, but also earns incredible props, because Kelly and artist Diego Greco, if you read the issues in one sitting, kept the same vibe going throughout.  Issue 6 has the same chaotic feel as the opening issues, and actually manages to wend in an emotional component that helped bump up my rating.  The only thing that really changed was letterer Thomas Mauer’s style when the book returned in issue 5, and yes, it was a little distracting.  So next time you’re on an incredibly delayed book, Mauer, just play it cool, and stick to yer old style.  We won’t blame you for ‘not growing’.

Bad Dog is about Lou, bounty hunter and werewolf… who can control his transformations, and chooses not to return to human form.  Think Greco’s cool interpretation of Lou as massive brawler ‘wolf who walks like a human will be ruined by a ‘reveal’ of the man behind the fur?… maybe later.  Joe, smartly, tosses all that werewolf shit out the window (without even the trite “forget what you know” comments) and just lets us sit with the idea that he’s sticking as a wolf for his own reason, which will… perhaps… be revealed in time if this series ever continues.  Lou is partnered with a crass religious lawyer, Wendell, he of interesting tattoos and countless perversions, and there’s a spoken-to ‘Fear and Loathing’ vibe (as well as offering that Lou (Kelly?) sought meaning in a book where there might not have been meaning…) as the duo swear and perverse and drink over the course of the first three issues.

Werewolves aren’t the only super-real oddity, though.  Maybe there’s a talking, severed head in Lou’s fridge.  Maybe he’s obsessed with a particular missing girl who seems to be pictured on the back of every milk carton.  Maybe one of Lou’s bounties is a pack of ‘immigrant’ vampires, whom he hunts down with the local pub’s waitress’ daddy, to whom he owes some massive debt…  And in Vegas, a debauchery-filled trip to which is merited by Lou’s lingering depression triggered by events surrounding his bounty-huntin’, there would appear to be a demon inhabiting the body of a bull.  Joe is no stranger to weird, but unlike in some of his other attempts at oddity, somehow this stuff doesn’t get rubbed in your face.  By going as extreme as possible, ‘Bad Dog’ somehow ends up becoming a character book, and that is absolutely what saves it.  Because the ramp up relies on Wendell to balance out Lou’s emotional wanderings with moments of clarity / moments of incredible doofness and thus it’s hard to see things as more than just amusing with splash page attempts at thoughtful narrative dotted in.  Sometime during the break though (there was a pause between issue 3 and 4, then a massive one between 4 and 5), Kelly must’ve decided to focus on certain aspects, so Wendell’s role is reduced, and Lou’s ramblings must be dealt with via action and not narration.  Not to suggest that a return to the previous format would be undesirable, but the conclusion provided by the last two issues makes this ‘first’ arc worthwhile instead of what might’ve been a slowburn to similar revelations.  Still, there are some things that are just left lingering – the exact nature of this world with werewolves and vampires, that severed head, the exact point of the girl, that debt – and a subbish-plot of a rival bounty huntin’ firm in Vegas which is used to move Lou from drug and drink indulgences into action-with-consequence never really sinks in or gives things any more import than they already had or didn’t have.  Thus, a lot of this either boils down to symbolism or popcorn, depending on how much thought you want to put into your entertainment.  But it’s fun, and tows juuuust the right line of crudeness to be amusing to me.

Diego Greco’s art is odd, but perfect.  Painting the art and his ability to shift between more realistic settings and the drug-glasses version of Vegas give ‘Dog’ the heightened sense of realism it needs to work.  Similarly with his people – they all have a bit of comic embellishment, but the book feels grounded.  Lou always carries weight with him; characters ‘move’ with believable herks and jerks and even static images (yes, they’re all technically static, jerk, but you know what I mean) have a great sense of fluidity and motion.

So… that.  I am so happy Joe finished this book.  The way things went can’t prevent it from being slightly hampered overall, since the starting issues were setting up a lot of elements for, maybe, eventual follow-through, but when this is collected in trade, I doubt new readers will have any idea there was a pause, so that’s something for sure.  If future storylines manage to fulfill the meaning I’m putting into some of the symbols, perhaps I can return and acknowledge this as genius.  As it stands, though, it’s just quirky, oddball fun… a little stupid at times, but leaving you satisfied and yet making you believe that there’s more to the story, which means Joe created a world in six issues.  So yes, I’ll buy issue 7 even if I have to wait 3 years after that for issue 8.