#wild dog
Wild Dog v1
When I first reviewed this mini-series about 8 months ago, I brushed it off as nothing more than a Marvel Comics’ Punisher rip-off that was riding the coat tails of the Friday the 13th franchise in an effort to appeal to the adolescent market. The truth is, I didn’t really put in the time and effort to thoroughly research this work - and I apologize for that.
As explained by editor Mike Gold, the whole concept behind Wild Dog originated from the fact that all of the big cities in the DC Universe (i.e. Gotham City, Metropolis, Coast City, Opal City, etc) had multiple superheroes protecting them, but who was watching out for the smaller towns in America’s Heartland? Wild Dog was devised to be DC’s answer to that - he was a ‘regular joe’ who used the weapons/tools at his disposal to take down any threats within the Quad City area. Basically, a 'hero’ for small town America. Coincidentally, the creators of Wild Dog both lived in Iowa.
Fun fact: Originally Wild Dog was supposed to be named 'Red Dog’ (as per the logo on his jersey/costume), but it was discovered that one of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe characters was using the name already so a quick alteration was made.
The first issue of this mini-series was the first appearance of Wild Dog in the DC universe. How did a completely brand-new character get to headline his own mini-series without ever being introduced to the DC universe beforehand? Well, I’d wager it would have something to do with the creative team behind the character and mini-series: Max Allan Collins (writer) and Terry Beatty(artist).
If the names Max Allan CollinsandTerry Beatty don’t mean anything to you, then you probably aren’t familiar with Ms. Tree.Ms Tree was a detective-fiction comic book created by CollinsandBeatty that debuted in 1981 under the Eclipse Magazine imprint. It ran for 50 issues before being picked up by DC comics in 1989, and developed a loyal readership along the way. Collins, understudy of Mickey Spillane, was no stranger to writing detective and crime fiction - by 1988 he had already written his 19th mystery novel, had a short stint scripting the Dick Tracy newspaper strip and had a hand in re-introducing the post-Crisis Jason Todd back to DC continuity (Batman #408 to #412). Collins’ love of mystery fiction becomes apparent as you read the Wild Dog mini-series and realize that it’s set-up as a four-issue 'whodunnit’ mystery - the secret identity of Wild Dog is hinted at throughout the mini-series with clues for the reader to try to solve. Wild Dog’s secret identity and back-story is finally revealed in the final issue, but only at Collins’ insistence - editor Mike Gold originally wanted to save the big 'reveal’ for the first issue of the second mini-series (or possible ongoing series). I’m not sure why Collins was dismissive of making it a full-time project. It may have had something to do with Beatty stating, on record, that the motivation for the creation of Wild Dog (the character AND the mini-series) was to pay a few bills and keep the Ms Tree publication afloat. As previously mentioned, while critically acclaimed, Ms Tree was self-published by CollinsandBeatty and was not a very financially profitable venture.
WhileWild Dog may have embodied a lot of trending late 80s comic book elements (ex: excessive violence, a gun-toting anti-hero who doesn’t take prisoners), Collins states that Wild Dog was derived from classic crime-fiction pulp heroes (ex:Zorro, the Green Hornet,the Shadow, etc) but packaged for the GI Joe crowd. As comic books in the late 80s were synonymous with merchandising, Collins has stated that he had started to craft the idea of Wild Dog with the potential of a toy line and Saturday morning cartoon in mind, but his artistic integrity stopped him from 'selling out’ and going down that route.
I remember seeing the ads for this mini-series in several DC titles (as DC was marketing it heavily during 1987) and it really appealed to my 9 year-old self - so much so that about a decade later when I happened upon it for sale at a comic book shop I snatched it up with no delay. I do believe that CollinsandBeatty were trying to create a comic that would appeal to a pre-adolescent audience and they undoubtedly delivered on that goal. You can tell that Collins didn’t take his creation too seriously - as a character in the first issue sees Wild Dog and openly asks if he’s part of a publicity campaign for a new Friday the 13thmovie.
I was unaware of what happened to this character after this mini-series ended (it kind of ends on a cliffhanger). Had I known that it would run as a 7-page feature in Action Comics Weekly #601 to 641 (1988), I probably would’ve made greater efforts to track those issues down. My 9 year-old self still looks at Wild Dog with glee and secretly longs for his massive collection of GI Joe action figures from yesteryear.
Fun fact:Collins was not a fan of characters talking during fight scenes. He cited this as being an annoying comic book cliche and went to great efforts to omit it from his scripts (much to the dismay of DC editors).
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Safari @ Kruger Park - 03 2022
A little study into the teeth of the axehandle hound. It’s a fearsome critter, a plague upon lumberjacks that specifically only eats the wooden handles of axes. The original description of them gives them an axe-shaped snout. Which got me thinking of the proposals for Smilodon lips. Thus here we have the axehandle hound hiding two rodent-like incisors for chewing and breaking apart its wooden delicacies. Behind them they have inner teeth adapted for grinding, but are still noticeably canine. Their incisors also have high iron content like some rodents but don’t grow throughout their lives.
Originally this was just black and white, but I wanted to try my hand at coloring it. One thing most people tend to miss out on when drawing them is that, while compared to a dachshund, they’re wild dogs. So I wanted to make it look more like a coyote than a beagle. Unfortunately… coyote fur is really hard to draw. Wolves as well. They’ve got this really complex fur where there are individual strands of hair colored differently right next to each other. Which is super time-consuming to draw. I tried my best to render it without straying too far from the line-art style, but it still doesn’t look nearly as good. Oh well. For one of the TDG stories, an axehandle hound plays a central role. If only I’d get around to writing it.
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AFRICAN WILD DOG also called “Cape hunting dog or painted dog” likes to roam the open plains of Africa. They live in packs and are usually lead by one monogamous breeding couple. As very social pack animals, they like to share food, and help the ill and weak out.
One of the ways they communicate is through adorable little sneezes! It is used to vote on when to move on to the next hunt.
Unfortunately these adorable huge ear-ed doggos are continuously shrinking in population due to lost of home. (They used to roam across most of the continent!) Classified as endangered, they could benefit from some protection and support! Or just the spread of the love for these cute beasts.
>TO BUY THIS PART OF 2019 CALENDAR CLICK HERE<
For more from this series >click here<
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SUBLIME CINEMA #595 - WHITE GOD
One of Hungary’s best Cannes submissions - filled with images that stayed with me long after I saw it. Kornél Mundruczó‘s film is a gem, and Zsófia Psotta is special as Lili, her and Hagen - a stray dog - and their mutual protection of each other is the heart of the story.
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