'In the Doghouse' by PD at first glance struck me as being done by one of those people who really can't draw and so learn to draw just one thing, as their 'party piece'. It's usually a drawing of a cartoon dog playing the piano, or something like that.
Happily 'In the Doghouse' isn't like that at all I discovered. Whilst the 'broken' strips that largely make up this 'zine, do fall under that catagory, the other story featured here 'Xilian' is actually very lovely to look at. Beautifully rendered in pencil and cross-hatching it begins the story of a suicidal young tyke who's attempted self lynching is thwarted by the arrival of a crashing space pod. No more is really given that that but this chapterlet is so nicely done, I'm curious to see how the rest of the tale unfolds.
Artist/writer PD has a talent for quirky and unusual layouts that allow the reader's eye to meander across the page rather than follow stories in a traditional panel-to-panel fashion.
It's early days and there's plenty I wasn't too crazy about, too much filler for one thing. There's 2 pages of Viz-style advert parodies which I wouldn't necessarily mind if, like the Viz ones, they were actually funny. They're not unfortunately and they give an otherwise muted and endearing comic, an annoying Rag Week vibe.
But at a 70p cover price, the minus points are minor ones.
A brief but pleasing read.
70p from
The Doghouse,
Flat 4, 24 Morris Lane,
Kirkstall, Leeds LS5 3JD
or email babyrobot16@hotmail.com