Writter & Penciller: Tyler Boss / Digital Art Technician: Josie Christensen / Editors: Brett Israel, Sanjay Dharawat / Dark Horse Comics
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13th October 2021
The Pitch: Cormac Guffin has gone missing. It's been three days and no one has seen hide nor hair of her. The police have nothing, and the townsfolk are acting more like a funeral procession than a search party. If Cormac has any hope of being found, it rests on the slouching shoulders of her best friend Joe. Joe will need her wits about her though because, like any story worth hearing, nothing is what it seems. Collecting Dead Dog's Bite #1-#4, with a sketchbook section as well as all series covers, this hardcover edition is a must-own!
A good fair-play mystery will ask questions of its protagonist, but most often there are two that are most central: 'whodunnit' and 'why?' Dead Dog's Bite begins with a question I didn't expect. One posed by Thomas Pynchon's character in The Crying of Lot 49: 'Shall I Project A World?' Bite shares a little with Pynchon's novella like its Quixotic quest and its oddly named characters. And it is indeed a world projected like few others. Sure it seems like a small town, driven by a single industry... and that makes Lynchian connections in your mind. And sure, there are characters you've seen before – the Quirky Mayor, The Mysterious Heiress, The Depressed Detective... But Boss rotates these pieces on the board to create a new game, where the motive becomes the most fascinating piece.
boss’ offers you a constructed reality, rigid yet pliable with his hypnotic circles
Boss answers many questions in Bite, only you may not like the answers. He offers you a constructed reality, one whose architecture is rigid with his nine-panel grids yet pliable with his hypnotic circles, twisting away and lulling you in. You may think 'Twin Peaks' resonates through this, but it's really The Prisoner and Twilight Zone, right down to Rod Serling-style presenter who peppers each issue. Our protagonist, Josephine Bradley – actually, just call them Joe – is a depressed misanthrope, well known in a town of intimate strangers. Joe cuts an arresting figure as she searches for her missing friend, called – in Pynchon-esque fashion – Cormac Guffin. Joe's quest takes in the whole town, past and present, threatening their life and relationships. Would it be any kind of mystery if it didn't? But you begin to wonder if the quest isn't futile and pointless. If Mac doesn't want or need to be found. The biggest mystery becomes Joe's motivations. Is their depression alleviated by others' misery? Does Joe need the mystery more than the answer?
THERE’S AN ARTIFICIALITY TO PLENDER MILLS - ONE THAT’S BEEN EMBRACED BY THE LOCALS
Boss makes efficient work of the book. It's clean, formalist. The graphic design is gorgeous, like '50s public service ads you could live in. There's an artificiality to Plender Mills, the peppermint town we find ourselves in, one that's been embraced and accepted by the townsfolk. That is never in question. The reasons why are the real shock. The autumnal / winter palettes and moods that Boss creates seem cosy at first but are really a cold beating heart in the story's lean, muscular body. Both town and book are built for weirdness. Despite that rigid, graphic design look, you sense love at the core. Relationships are at the centre of the book that preaches love is love by simply doing and showing rather than telling. It also makes for a compelling case for getting involved in your community rather than just observing it. Joe is set on her angry, confused path because she isn't part of 'the system' and doesn't fully understand the benefits of joining. You may have questions by the end, but that's all part of the fun. Who wants a mystery that doesn't ask more questions than it answers?
Buy Dark Horse comics here and support The Comic Crush. Dead Dog's Bite is available from your local comic book shop. You can buy Ian Bertram’s variant of the first issue from our webshop. Get more on the latest comics in our review show on YouTube.