After a nearly 15 year hiatus, acclaimed alternative cartoonist Graham Chaffee makes his triumphant return to comics with Good Dog. This allegorical story follows Ivan, a stay dog looking for a place to belong. We see Ivan navigate dog culture, pack mentality, and animal-human relations. Chaffee seamlessly alludes to our own struggles to understand independence, security, assimilation, loyalty, and violence all through a dog's-eye-view.
Though Chaffee took a break from comics, he did not leave the arts completely. He's been making a name for himself in the tattoo world, operating out of Purple Panther Tattoo in Hollywood, and you can find Chaffee's art tattooed on people's skin all over Los Angeles.
In celebration of Good Dog, Meltdown Comics on Sunset Blvd will be hosting a gallery exhibition and book signing with Chaffee on May 17th at 7pm. Folks can bring their books and their dogs for an autograph and a poochie treat.
Whoo'sa goo'boy?!
Good Dog
by Graham Chaffee
96-page black & white 8.25" x 10.25" hardcover • $16.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-653-9
In-Store Date: June 15, 2013 (subject to change)
Ivan, who is plagued by terrible nightmares about chickens and rabbits, is a good dog — if only someone would notice. Readers accompany the stray as he navigates dog society, weathers pack politics, and surveys canine-human interactions.
Good Dog's story and pen-and-ink art are deceptively simple, but Chaffee uses the approachability of the subject matter as a device to explore topics such as independence, security, assimilation, loyalty, and violence. Preteen-and-up dog fanciers, especially, will warm to the well-meaning Ivan and his exploits with a motley assortment of Scotties, Bulldogs, and mutts. Chaffee combines illustrative gravitas with cartooning verve and creates a richly textured, dog’s-eye view of the world. The story is a rousing Jack London-esque adventure as well as a moral parable.
Advance Praise:
"Graham Chaffee has been one of my favorite cartoonists since I fell in love with his 1997 debut graphic novel, Big Wheels. Combining tremendous empathy towards his characters, concise storytelling and exquisite detail, Chaffee's comics are sublime. I am eagerly awaiting Good Dog. I'll plan my week around reading it." – James Sturm (Market Day)
"Good Dog is a book as seemingly lost in time as its canine hero Ivan. Graham Chaffee has a real talent for charming anthropomorphic cartooning and his clean, appealing storytelling and expressive brushwork evoke the work of an alternative golden age of comics; an age perhaps in which superheroes never existed and the medium told more straightforward, poignant stories." – James Romberger (7 Miles a Second, Post York)
"Getting into the mind of a dog — that's a real trick. I know, I've tried. Getting into the whole heart and soul of a dog is another whole feat. Graham Chaffee not only does it with aplomb (he draws GREAT dogs), he gets into the whole dog's life — and so should you." – Nick Abadzis (Laika)
"I got choked up a couple of times which is the one of the best things a comic can do to me. Compliments to Mr. Graham Chaffee. Really solid storytelling and excellent art. Reminiscent the best way of Jack London's The Call of the Wild." – Farel Dalrymple (Pop Gun War)
ABOUT THE CARTOONIST: Graham Chaffee is a professional tattoo artist and cartoonist living in Los Angeles, CA. His previous books include The Most Important Thing and Other Stories (1995) and The Big Wheels (1997).
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