Dogs and Sailors #1
Primal Paper Comics
Written and Illustrated by: S. Forester
Reviewer: Robert McClelland
Summary: "Dogs and Sailors" is a detective-themed comic strip set in Norfolk, VA during World War II. Combining 1940s history with Film Noir drama, the story chronicles the adventures of two unlikely detectives: Sepherus ("Seph") Smith, an optimistic Army reject who becomes a Private Investigator, and Lylah Rosenkrantz, a cynical bar owner who joins the Navy as a mechanic.
Review: Its time to take a trip into the past of Norfolk, Virginia. Around the time of 1942 and neutrality was a thing of the past. When Private Detectives likely had more to do back then in between good drinks and getting involved with chicks who would likely get them into all kinds of trouble. Fortunately for the hero of this particular story, there's no crazy chicks around. Well the mislead ones anyway, but that's a whole other thing entirely. I like that Forester chose not to have any colors used in this comic. It really gives the title that classic Detective like feel, possibly even Noir too. But I'm not really the best to judge on that sort of thing however. Forester I felt did a very good job in making the face of each character their own. Although he seems to be a fan of round faces when it comes to women. And possibly even a fan of Pulp Fiction if my thinking is right on a particular poster that shows up during when we're first introduced to Seph, our main Detective hero. Now as for Seph, he looks like a young kid who's just now beginning the life of a Detective. Now prior to this, I have no idea how long he's been doing this but the events of what goes on in this title shows that he's got some experience under his belt. Use of a coke bottle was a very nice improv moment if I may say so.
I feel bad for Lylah though, who doubles as something of a partner for Seph, bar owner, and a mechanic. Go Woman Power! As cause you just know she's going to have some health issues later on in life with all the smoking she does! But hey, at least she's nice enough to watch out for the health of teeth in others. And I liked how she practically tells Seph as long as he's not been shot, he's basically got nothing to worry about when someone's tried to kill him. I imagine if she ever finds out what happens to him later on in the story, she'd likely want to tie him up just to keep him safe! I have to say, I admire Lylah as she's a fairly crafty strong willed woman. Seph would be smart to marry her and maybe even go into a safer line of work so he's not getting the life slapped out of him by her everytime he deals with something that may be fairly dangerous. That is, if she's willing to settle down anyway! I imagine Cherry (who helped to get things in motion due to what a friend of hers goes through) is going to feel some guilt as this case likely heads into some dangerous waters, more than what they've currently experienced so far. Forester nicely set things up for this first issue and with out the need for any real back story on the lives of the characters.
Although I get the feeling Seph is going to wind up wishing he had been able to get into the army by the time this story is finished! I have to wonder if he's going to regret not calling the cops after what happens to Keegan (One of the suspects involved in the nasty business Seph finds himself in). I found this to be a fairly enjoyable issue, and I look forward to finding out what happens next. Heck Forester even nicely gives readers a history lesson at the end of this too!
5 out of 5 Stars
Editor's Note: To get yourself a copy of this title to check out all the action, head here!
Primal Paper Comics
Written and Illustrated by: S. Forester
Reviewer: Robert McClelland
Summary: "Dogs and Sailors" is a detective-themed comic strip set in Norfolk, VA during World War II. Combining 1940s history with Film Noir drama, the story chronicles the adventures of two unlikely detectives: Sepherus ("Seph") Smith, an optimistic Army reject who becomes a Private Investigator, and Lylah Rosenkrantz, a cynical bar owner who joins the Navy as a mechanic.
Review: Its time to take a trip into the past of Norfolk, Virginia. Around the time of 1942 and neutrality was a thing of the past. When Private Detectives likely had more to do back then in between good drinks and getting involved with chicks who would likely get them into all kinds of trouble. Fortunately for the hero of this particular story, there's no crazy chicks around. Well the mislead ones anyway, but that's a whole other thing entirely. I like that Forester chose not to have any colors used in this comic. It really gives the title that classic Detective like feel, possibly even Noir too. But I'm not really the best to judge on that sort of thing however. Forester I felt did a very good job in making the face of each character their own. Although he seems to be a fan of round faces when it comes to women. And possibly even a fan of Pulp Fiction if my thinking is right on a particular poster that shows up during when we're first introduced to Seph, our main Detective hero. Now as for Seph, he looks like a young kid who's just now beginning the life of a Detective. Now prior to this, I have no idea how long he's been doing this but the events of what goes on in this title shows that he's got some experience under his belt. Use of a coke bottle was a very nice improv moment if I may say so.
I feel bad for Lylah though, who doubles as something of a partner for Seph, bar owner, and a mechanic. Go Woman Power! As cause you just know she's going to have some health issues later on in life with all the smoking she does! But hey, at least she's nice enough to watch out for the health of teeth in others. And I liked how she practically tells Seph as long as he's not been shot, he's basically got nothing to worry about when someone's tried to kill him. I imagine if she ever finds out what happens to him later on in the story, she'd likely want to tie him up just to keep him safe! I have to say, I admire Lylah as she's a fairly crafty strong willed woman. Seph would be smart to marry her and maybe even go into a safer line of work so he's not getting the life slapped out of him by her everytime he deals with something that may be fairly dangerous. That is, if she's willing to settle down anyway! I imagine Cherry (who helped to get things in motion due to what a friend of hers goes through) is going to feel some guilt as this case likely heads into some dangerous waters, more than what they've currently experienced so far. Forester nicely set things up for this first issue and with out the need for any real back story on the lives of the characters.
Although I get the feeling Seph is going to wind up wishing he had been able to get into the army by the time this story is finished! I have to wonder if he's going to regret not calling the cops after what happens to Keegan (One of the suspects involved in the nasty business Seph finds himself in). I found this to be a fairly enjoyable issue, and I look forward to finding out what happens next. Heck Forester even nicely gives readers a history lesson at the end of this too!
5 out of 5 Stars
Editor's Note: To get yourself a copy of this title to check out all the action, head here!