Stray Dogs Review (Tony Fleecs, Trish Forstner)

Sophie is the new dog in a house full of dogs, kept by a single owner. She doesn’t remember much about how she got there - until the scent of her former owner from an item of clothing triggers a memory. Her former owner was murdered and Sophie was stolen - is her new owner a serial killer? And if so, how can she and her fellow dogs escape and stop him from killing again?

Stray Dogs is an excellent new title from writer Tony Fleecs and artist Trish Forstner. It’s basically Stephen King’s Misery but with dogs held hostage instead of an author!

The story is well-paced with the surprises coming at a good rate so it’s never boring. The owner leaving the house leads to some really exciting and tense moments as the dogs take these opportunities to search the house, namely the room they’re not allowed into, as well as the dreaded punishment shed in the yard. And what’s buried in the crawl space under the porch… ?

Fleecs also cleverly weaves in the real fact of dogs’ poor memory as a plot device to great effect. Like most cartoon dogs, they can talk to each other but can’t be understood by humans. And Fleecs really tugs at your heartstrings too with some of the characters like poor Victor, the dog with three legs, and his fate. I absolutely loved Earl’s character arc as well - I guarantee you’ll be weeping by the end of this one.

Trish Forstner uses her talents from drawing My Little Pony over at IDW (Fleecs is also a writer on that comic) to good use here, drawing the comic in a beautiful style reminiscent of Don Bluth and classic 2D Disney animation (think 101 Dalmatians, Lady and the Tramp, etc.). It’s an interesting juxtaposition: the comic couldn’t look more family friendly but tells a very dark story.

I only really have one criticism which is that the premise never develops. Sophie figures it out at the same time we do right at the start and that’s it, basically. No surprises follow that rapid conclusion and you can pretty much easily guess how it’ll broadly play out.

Mostly though, Stray Dogs is fantastic. Fleecs and Forstner nailed it and I really enjoyed reading this comic. It’s fun, compelling, tragic, and, while the dogs in the book won’t remember their escapades, readers certainly will. Definitely one of the highlights of the year so far, Stray Dogs is highly recommended - and I’m glad to hear it got picked up for another run, coming soon.