Writer: Grant “Goddamn!” Morrison
Artist: Frank “I’ll Finish it When I’m Ready!” Quitely
Publisher: Vertigo
Plot:
Remember how Seaguy seamed to ramble from scene to scene, free- associating wildly but with no clear plan or coherent message? This book is the opposite of that. Its simple plot is so high concept it’s almost cute. See bad men kidnap cute animals. See cute animals go on a rampage (all they want is food and love). See bad men change their minds like the wimps they are. See mad scientist have her revenge.
Of interest:
This is not the muddled but pretty evocations of Seaguy. It’s not the densely surreal, paranoiac overload of the Filth. It’s more akin to the conspiracy theories and genuinely bad ideas of vile men the likes of Doom Patrol and the Invisibles used to run afoul of. Only this time our protagonists are cute and cuddly house pets. It wouldn’t work as well as it does if Grant weren’t able to give this puppy, dog and bunny distinct personalities and (literal) voices of their own, but he does manage that, with unsettling ease and finesse.
Even more interesting:
Quitely is on point here, and he sets up a gorgeous sequence of events, on par with the best of his X-men issues (such as the ‘Nuff Said issue). Things unfold visually in this story, with dialogue only where it’s needed (on less than half the pages, I’d say). Only humans need all those words to figure things out. And our anti-heroes ain’t even a little bit human. They’re sophisticated killing machines. It’s as if we’re reading a story about the Morrison/Quitely self-building multi-functional sentinels, from the perspective of the exterminating weapons.
We get a sequence of stealth stalking (think the “snake’s eye view” of a film like “Venom”), followed by some fairly standard exposition at a dastardly lab, followed by a sequence of 18-panel pages representing the unfolding story at said complex seen only through (apparently neglected) video screens, once the terminated scientist has her revenge. It’s not hard to know what’s going on (even if the camera’s aren’t quick enough to catch the pets in action), and it’s an innovative means of exploring the usual Morrisonesque awareness of surveillance, privacy, information technology that nevertheless achieves little more than a complete lack of communication and understanding.
What’s not interesting:
None of it. Oh, it’s as schematic as can be, and a clichéd oft-told story at that, but it’s not the story itself that matters so much as the way of the telling. By the end of the issue, we’re fully on the side of our cybernetic refugees, not least because of that heart-tugging cover that makes it clear who the real bad guys are. This is “Lassie Come Home” for the 21st century. “Dee-comm-ish-ond?” No, Bandit, “dog gud!”
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