Red Dog #3 Review
Written by Rob Cohen
Illustrated by Alex Cormack
Coloured by John Rauch
Lettered by Taylor Esposito
Reviewed by Lorna Maltman (maltmanlorna@gmail.com)
My dog is, as I suspect most dogs are, ruled by his stomach to the point where I once made the mistake of leaving the butter dish on the table after a family meal only to come back to find the entire new block of butter was gone and a small white Tintin “Snowy” lookalike licking his lips. In this issue Kyle’s dogs also get him into some trouble, but it is slightly more dire then having to go out and buy a new pack of butter.
The council decides at the start that Kyle can keep his robot dogs, but in exchange Kyle now has to get to work with his father. Whilst Kyle takes a break from work and plays fetch, our original dog, formerly known as Q but now the titular Red, runs off and causes Kyle to go outside the base. Cohen continues to do a tremendous job of capturing a child’s voice and wonderment, making you root for Kyle to find and save Red, especially now that Red looks more dog than robot dog. Cohen also builds on the established father-son relationship, which, in previous issues, has showed strains, but this issue highlights the care and light hearted nature between Kyle and his dad. The deep bond between the two is believable and feels like it truly comes from a place of love for one another. This is relationship writing that just happens to be a sci-fi story.
Cormack’s art echoes the previous issues, whilst doing good world-building with the alien scenes and some great facial expressions and details in the scenery that make his work a step up from the prior issues in the series. Rauch’s pastel colours are put to good use, but the standout is the scene of Kyle waking up with the black and blue tint.
Verdict:
Buy. This series has been solid, but this issue is where I feel confident to recommend this mini-series. The relationships and dialogue are genuine, and the aliens are very intriguing and cool – I mean, they look like they are from Fifth Element, so it’s worth checking out at the very least.
