4. Rover Red Charlie #3 by Garth Ennis and Michael Dipascale (Avatar)
Set in Garth Ennis' Crossed world where a kind of zombie apocalypse has happened, this series follows three canine pals Rover, Red and Charlie as they look for safety, food, and feeders (humans) amidst the chaos. Having left the doomed city behind them and escaped the crazy cat gang, our heroes' quest sees them appear at an abandoned chicken farm but a terrifying new villain is on their trail, threatening to kill them all: Hermann the giant bulldog! Forget that this is a series about talking animals, Ennis reminds readers this story is a million miles away from the Animals of Farthing Wood with this issue as things get darker still. Ennis clearly has a thing for bulldogs like Terror from The Boys to Hermann in this story, I think to him they're quite human-like in terms of spirit. Hermann is a classic Ennis villain whose sybaritic appetites matches his brutality I won't give away Hermann's deranged companion but it's definitely disturbing, especially in one panel (you'll know it when you see it!). The comic still retains its sense of playfulness in other scenes though with Ennis making the chickens speak but only with the words "sh*t!" and "what's this!" over and over. Rover gets into it with the chickens who frighten him and it's a really funny moment as the chickens are squawking "sh*t!" and "what's this!" as Rover's howling "I'm a dog! I'm a dog!" over and over. Wonderfully expressive, colourful art from Michael Dipascale and an imaginative, clever script from Ennis, as usual, makes Rover Red Charlie #3 a great comic. Definitely check this series out if you're an Ennis fan!