this has been a roller coaster ride for me, and not in the fun sense. I bought this because, like most people, the phrase "Battlepug" brings with it all kinds of wonderful images. I bought it online, so didn't realize until it arrived that a third of the cover has a random naked lady on the cover, which usually puts me off. I swallowed my pride, and read it.And it sorta sucked. The story itself is a Conan-the-Barbarian type thing which pulls all it's laughs from the horse-sized titular pug, who, besides being wonderfully drawn, has little else going for it. Even the two dogs that Moll - the inexplicably naked lady who narrates the story - is chatting to at least have the added novelty of speech. I have already forgotten our central manly heros name, which is a fair indicator of the impact he made.Naked ladies is fine. There's lots of good ones around. But if you're going to put her on the cover, there'd better be a narrative-driven reason that she's hanging around posing for the benefit of two tiny dogs. The whole thing looks and acts like a drunken frat-boy drinking game. It's a bit shit, and gives graphic novels a bad name. I would avoid. Cute idea! Barbarian rides giant pug into battle :DThe art is great and it definitely has the feel of a Conan-esque low fantasy romp, with random funny surreal stuff thrown in.What brings it down for me though is the writing. It reads like trope-tastic barbarian adventure, and doesn't wittily/lovingly subvert those tropes enough to become its own gripping or chuckle-worthy story (apart from the presence of giant animals, which is cool, but not enough on its own). Also, I'm not against the idea of sexy naked narrator lady, but at least give her a reason to be there (maybe give some hints about how she ties in with the main story or something). After one volume she kind of just comes across like they needed a sexy girl character for the cover :SI'd still recommend getting a volume for the Conan-obsessive in your life as a quirky present (or of course, for yourself) - even better if the recipient is also a dog fan - but ultimately I don't plan on buying any more of this.
What do You think about Battlepug: Volume 1 (2012)?
Cute! Simple but beautiful artwork and adorable characters.
—mormad77
C'mon. Battle Pug. The name makes you want to read it.
—Alan
Sword and sorcery perfection. Very BONE like.
—diabetico
