Naked lady storyteller? Check. Villainous baby harp seal? Check. Vengeful man aided by expressive oversized pug? Oh, yes. The absurdity of Battlepug makes it very entertaining to read. ( )

3 stars for the writing, 4 stars for the illustrations, 5 stars for pugs.

A crazy take on Conan - with dogs!!! I found Volume 2 on the New shelf at my local library (gotta love the library!) and after getting a few pages in realized that I had to read Volume 1 first. The story (as anyone familiar with Conan will tell you) begins when The Warrior is a young boy. That is where the similarity bends and the oddness begins - with a giant baby harp seal. The Warrior grows in the fighting pits (similar to Conan), and soon begins his reign of vengeance.

Volume 2 picks up where Volume 1 leaves off, after finding a chest of 'treasure'. But for now, I'll leave it at that. Definitely something to read at least once, but also for the above 18 crowd. ( )

Deliberately Silly, Sword & Sorcery Done Right.
As a Sword & Sorcery fan and pug owner, I read this with great scrutiny. I love both the genre and breed. Truth is, when it comes to dark fantasy, diehards want it delivered one of two ways: 1) seriously done or 2) professionally campy. Many movies appear neither seriously produced nor well done satire (Conan 2011 for instance). This comic does it right. It delivers an entertaining adventure, a well-designed, cheesy story that is really entertaining. Its appeal should extend beyond that of adolescent teens, aging fantasy folk, and pug owners. There is great fun in this book, and there is more to come with Vol.2 in the works. So inspired, I have already begun calling my snorty, over-excitable, comical ball-of-fur "battlepug" when she begins to show her true powers. ( )

I have always suspected that baby harp seals were capable of a vicious brutality that certainly merited clubbing. Those big black eyes are pools of pure evil. Battlepug has proven my suspicions correct as it is a giant baby seal that merrily lays waste to an entire Arctic village, leaving only one survivor: a child hellbent on revenge against this monstrous beast. The child grows into a warrior and, as all warriors need a noble steed, it is not long before he discovers the brave animal who will carry him into battle: a giant, wheezing, perpetually happy pug.

This is just a taste of the weirdness that awaits you in Mike Norton's Battlepug. While Norton is best known for more standard comic book fare, this story of a Conan-like warrior carried on his quest for revenge by a battle ready pug is just pure fun. The bizarre and colorful illustrations are often hilarious and always beautiful as they parody comic book stereotypes (such as the muscled and stoic barbarian, the ridiculously buxom and inexplicably nude woman, the mastermind villain whose identity has not yet been discovered by the hero) while simultaneously creating an inventive and imaginative storyline that stands on its own.

So many comic books take their characters and their stories so seriously these days that it's nice to be reminded of what joy can be found in an unbridled imagination. ( )