REVIEWS // 11.07.02

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The Cloud Dog Agency • Herobear and the Kid • Paradigm

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THE CLOUD DOG AGENCY
by Malkie Duff
Zum Comics
UK 1.50

I picked this up at Comics 2002 along with Duff's equally splendid EYEBALL ON WINDSHIELD but unfortunately, only got round to reading it recently. Which is my own damn fault, as this is a quietly wonderful little comic.

Redemption is something that rarely gets dealt with in a remotely adult way in comics. In a medium predicated on 'WHY STORM! WHY DID YOU KILL THAT BUSLOAD OF NUNS?!' style front covers, a serious look at what it means to be given a second chance is a rare thing indeed. It's even rarer when it involves dogs.

Duff's story is simple to the point of elegance, and has a surreal streak a mile wide. Jim and Bob work for the Cloud Dog Agency, a group of people who travel the world in trucks equipped with special dog deployment equipment. If they see someone whose sad,
or needs cheering up, they deploy a dog. Poodles for children, rottweilers for punks, that kind of thing. Jim and Bob have that rarest of jobs, one that makes people feel better.

Except, of course, Jim has a haunted past...

Without giving too much away, Jim made a horrible error of judgment that is simultaneously funny and utterly horrible. Duff's distorted, almost caricature style
allows him to handle moments like this with both genuine emotion and genuine unease. Just as EYEBALL ON THE WINDSHIELD combined moments of horror with laugh out loud comedy, this mixes comedy with tragedy to great effect.

It's also done with tongue more than firmly in cheek. The way in which Jim reacts to his mistake and the interplay between him and Bob is distinctly reminiscent of American cop movies. One's the stolid, compassionate partner and the other the dangerous
loose cannon who can't outrun his past. Riggs and Murtaugh never looked like this, or had this much of a tea fixation.

Ultimately though, what makes CLOUD DOG AGENCY shine is the simple compassion behind it. Jim and Bob are nice men doing a good job and Jim is being far too hard on himself. There's no ringing of hands, no colossal operatic moment of redemption, just the
simple truth delivered in the only way Jim will understand. It's a funny, poignant moment in a funny, poignant comic. Put simply, it's wonderful.

(Alasdair Stuart)

HERO BEAR AND THE KID #5
Mike Kunkel
Astonish Comics
US $3.50

I'm no fan of late books. By my notes, this issue was originally solicited for a December 2001 street date. I can't in good conscience review this book without mentioning that its production schedule is a major sticking point for its success and a stumbling block to retailers, distributors, and fans who want to support it.

But I also can't, in good conscience, let the troubling business practices overwhelm the artistic and creative content of one of the most enjoyable comics I've encountered in the last several years.

Hero Bear and the Kid is the story of a young boy who inherits from his grandfather a small stuffed bear toy that comes to life, a broken watch that shows if someone is good or evil, and a host of unanswered questions about why all this is happening.

To say that this is a power fantasy super hero book is flat out wrong. This is a book about hope, belief, and pureness of spirit. The sincerity of these emotions are bled onto every page through Kunkel's amazing pencil art (colored only with appropriate red highlights) and his wonderfully literate script.

This issue wraps up a lot of the questions raised over the first four issues (that have been published intermittently since 1998), and while normally learning the hows and whys of backstory is boring and unentertaining, Kunkel here presents philosophical discussions a la Bill Watterstein's Calvin and Hobbes or the theology of Peanuts, all against a backdrop of startling yet logical revelations about "The Kid's" mysterious grandfather and the origins of Hero Bear.

Honestly, HERO BEAR AND THE KID is one of those works of entertainment that if you can't enjoy it, you are truly dead inside. Disney tries to do stories like this and turns out predictable, corporate approved crap. Kunkel gives us a wonderful treat for the soul.

I couldn't be more pleased this is finally out. After the election results yesterday, I needed a boost. Thanks Mike, and I hope it doesn't take over a year for issue #6!

(Dave Potter)

PARADIGM # 2
by Matthew Cashel & Jeremy Haun
Image Comics
US $3.50

I love being confused. Seriously I do. Nothing pleases me more than getting halfway through a book or film and having NO idea how this is going to pan out in the slightest. SE7EN did it, USUAL SUSPECTS did it and Iain Banks novels do it on a regular basis. As long as all becomes clear by the end, then I'm happy.

PARADIGM looks set to make me very happy indeed. Cashel and Haun's story of sit-com induced paranoia and exactly what we think reality is lies somewhere between THE INVISIBLES and THE X-FILES, grabbing the metaphysics of one, the dense plotting of the other and dodging the fact that both became all but impossible to follow. This is willfully, almost defiantly intelligent comic writing and as a result is not for the faint of heart.

PARADIGM issue 2 continues from the series opener and actually does a very good job of explaining what's going on. Chris Howells has stepped into another world, via his girlfriend's shower, and there he begins to discover the true nature both of the world
and himself. It appears, judging by this issue, that Chris is far more important than he first appeared and his role in the great scheme of things looks significantly beefed up by the end of the issue. Likewise, Detective Dreiser finds out a little more about what's going on and Zeke Moore writes some incredibly pretentious prose. Oh and there's a gun battle.

With gorgeous, early Bendis style art and a fine ear for dialogue, this is one of the smartest books out there. However, where far too many stories of this type vanish into themselves at a rate of knots, PARADIGM is becoming a little more clear with every
issue. Not everything makes sense yet but by splitting the story between the three leads of Howells, Dreiser and Moore the creative team can effectively tell the story from three different angles. It's densely plotted and difficult to follow at times but if I'm right, then everything will click together perfectly and elegantly.

The bottom line is this; Anyone bemoaning the lack of good comics at Image isn't looking at what they actually publish. This is one of the smartest, most demanding and original comics I've read in a very long time. Like the man says, Fight for the Sit-Com.

(Alasdair Stuart)