Apocalypse Bow Wow

October 27, 2014
In this uninhibitedly wacky collaboration by Year in the Jungle illustrator Proimos and his son, two dogs find that their owners have disappeared in a kind of Rapture moment along with all the other humans on Earth: “Clotheslines were ablaze. Humans vanished from moving automobiles. Animals were totally losing it.” Brownie and Apollo’s initial imprisonment in their own house creates a real sense of grief as readers watch the dogs realize that their owners are never coming back. But they manage to escape, as Brownie explains: “I licked our doorknob and made a deer crash through our window, and that’s how we got out.” The nearest grocery store has food, but is already claimed by animal adversaries. Fortunately, a flea who has read Sun Tzu advises Brownie, whispering military strategies in his ear: “If you don’t seek out allies and helpers, then you will be isolated and weak.” The elder Proimos’s artwork, a mix of full-page scene and panel sequences, is a potent combination of unhinged energy and poignant sentiment, giving it an off-kilter charm. Ages 8–12. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media.

October 15, 2014
It would be wrong to say that this book is Waiting for Godot with dogs, despite superficial similarities. This graphic novel isn't much like Samuel Beckett's play, although it is arranged in scenes. The main problem in Godot is existential angst. The main problem in this comic is doorknobs. Dogs can't open doors, so they have to wait for their owners to bring them food, and the wait is endless, because every human in the world seems to have disappeared after an unnamed disaster. There are lengthy, circular conversations about food: "I'm hungry." "Aren't you always hungry?" The comic book has more fight scenes than Godot, which means there are multiple appearances by the book's funniest character, a flea who's read Sun Tzu's The Art of War. He's always ready to give the dogs cryptic advice: "The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself." Unfortunately, whenever he leaves the story, the dialogue turns mundane. Here's Scene 3 in its entirety: "How come you get to lie on the couch?" Some readers will find the banality hilarious. No other post-apocalyptic novel has this many conversations about furniture. And the black-and-white artwork is endearingly primitive. The dogs are shaped like little sausages or maybe heretofore-undiscovered continents. Like Godot, this book is both comic and perplexing. Readers with an absurdist sensibility will appreciate the slow pacing. Other children may get tired of waiting. (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)

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March 1, 2015

Gr 2-5-An apocalyptic event has occurred and the only known survivors are a handful of house pets, a rat, and a Zen-wise spider who was trapped inside a copy of Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Brownie and Apollo, two dogs, are clueless as to what has happened outside their home and so set about their normal routine, first waking up and arguing over why Apollo gets to sleep on the couch, followed by Brownie looking for something to eat. After worrying about when their people will return home, the friends set out to search for food, only to walk out amid scenes of chaos and destruction, realizing that, in fact, all of the people have gone. Their search leads them to an abandoned grocery store where they make allies and come face-to-face with a rival pack who wants to overtake the store. The story is broken into 30 short, dialogue-heavy scenes. The paneled artwork has a distinctly hand-drawn quality and is printed in grayscale. This unpolished look at times makes it difficult to distinguish among characters. Despite it being the end of the world, the story feels as though it's missing an overall sense of urgency. As a result, readers may lose the gravity of the circumstances these characters live in or they may struggle to push through sets of uneventful scenes waiting for something to happen. VERDICT Though it has some quirky humorous moments, this dystopian graphic novel may struggle to find mass appeal with readers.-Matthew C. Winner, Ducketts Lane Elementary School, Elkridge, MD

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