Science Dog. I’m just going to put it out there that that’s probably one of the most awesome yet simplistic names for a superhero. He’s a dog who can use science! Putting two and two together we get Science Dog. It’s the type of name you want to sing to theme music. Anyway enough about the name, what’s the rest of the comic like? 

Science Dog starts off with our hero stuck on a distant planet or in another dimension; he’s not too sure, battling an evil dictator in a gladiatorial arena. Upon claiming victory Science Dog, battered and bruised, is sent back to his own planet/dimension. He just wants to take a nice long nap but, when you’re pretty much the only hero in town that’s hard to do. Science Dog’s fearsome arch nemesis…Walter, no seriously that’s his super evil villain name, is once again causing havoc in the middle of THE city. Science Dog rushes off to confront him even though he’s tired and stressed out from his last adventure. 

Maybe it’s that I’m not familiar with the Science Dog story and character, but the problem I had with this issue was that it seemed like it had been put into a generic superhero comic book creator and Science Dog was the comic that was spat out. Parts of the story, the dialogue and even the ambiguous yet familiar location seemed like it had come from a ‘how to write a superhero comic’ book. That’s not to say all of Science Dog was bad. 

There was something about its clichéd almost lame components that made it a really enjoyable comic. You recognized the beat it was treading and then, when a twist was thrown in it took you, initially, by surprise. Also I found the super villain monologue a brilliant yet so simple way of throwing in the characters origins. It was a number 1 issue so I was wondering when I’d find that sort of information out and it was a good way to do it. Plus it gave Science Dog a chance to throw in a few wisecracks, which is always nice. Science Dog’s frustrated attitude towards this supposed final confrontation was also good. As a superhero there must be days where you just can’t be bothered and want to end things as quickly as possible.  This was also where Science Dog deviated from typical superhero stories and it was a refreshing touch. 

The artwork was solid and the battle between Walter and Science Dog was pretty awesome with plenty of explosions and a real high energy. Everything was drawn really clean with defined lines and bold colors to give it that super hero feel. Science Dog also seemed to use science in the fight, which is what I was expecting although Walter didn’t quite seem as smart as he should have been. The only minor complaint with the artwork was Science Dog seemed to change color sometimes. He switched between grey and a dirty brown although this may have been the outcome of lighting on the character that I didn’t pick up. 

All in all Science Dog is a comic that fans of superhero comics will recognize and maybe even appreciate for its use of the genres conventions. The few little bits of humor and Science Dog’s frustration help to make this a worthwhile read that would have been disappointing if it played it totally straight. Fans of Image’s Invincible series  will also appreciate Science Dog getting his own comic.