2. Rover Red Charlie #2 by Garth Ennis and Michael Dipascale (Avatar)
The end of the world has happened - some horrific disease has infected the human populace and sent them on a murderous killing rampage, tearing down civilisation. This is the story of the zombie apocalypse from the perspective of three friends who're dogs - Rover, Red and Charlie. After a cracking first issue, comics legend Garth Ennis returns with an excellent follow-up which proves humans aren't the only terrors our trio of canine heroes have to look out for - those damn cats are evil sickos too! Looking to escape Manhattan, the dogs meet a knowledgeable but evil-looking ginger cat who tells them about the bridge that'll take them out of the city - but it's a trap! The cats have formed a massive feline gang and are tricking the less smart dogs to go to the bridge and killing them for food. How will our heroes get out of this mess?! Rover Red Charlie is a concept that you wouldn't think would be so compelling but with Garth Ennis driving it, the series is a surprising, funny, and hugely enjoyable. The vernacular of the dogs is really clever - feeders = humans, the splash = the sea, and barking is "I'm a dog, I'm a dog!" - while the characters are very well defined considering this is only the second issue. Red is the big loveable lunkhead, Rover is the small but clever and funny one, and Charlie is the idealistic hero and leader, a helper dog whose training never escapes him even if there are no more humans to help. From this one issue, you get a strong impression that Garth Ennis really hates chihuahuas and cats. The chihuahuas are so dim they can only say "What About Me" over and over like they're a canine hive mind, while the cats - well, they're practically pirate-like here, and not the adorable Cap'n Jack-type either! Michael Dipascale's art is just wonderful. Despite dogs having no facial muscles, he's able to get a lot of emotion from their expressions and, if you're a dog owner like me, you'll notice he's got the body language down perfectly. Those cats too are damn scary when they're circling the dogs, though they're unintentionally cute when they're making human gestures like pointing! Rover Red Charlie #2 is fantastic - it's exciting, original, clever with great art and an enthralling story. It's not at all like Watership Down or The Animals of Farthing Wood, - it's way cooler than either - and Ennis fans won't be disappointed!