Another review: A Dog’s Life: No Shenanigans!!!, by Chris Otto

There’s an adage that you often hear from others (often from others who aren’t particularly creative themselves, in my experience) when you’re engaging in a creative project: “Write what you know”. Even though it’s possibly an empty cliche, it’s also often pretty decent advice. I’m sure this dictum was on the mind of creator Chris Otto when he set out to create his oft-entertaining webcomic A Dog’s Life, the first year of which (almost) is collected in this print collection.

A Dog’s Life chronicles the adventures of a chocolate labrador named Hunter S. Thompson (which makes perfect sense, trust me), his rescue sibling Gillian, and their humans. Running with the “write what you know” thing, Otto and his wife happen to have a couple of dogs: a labrador named Hunter S. Thompson and a rescue dog named Gillian. Many of the situations and stories are inspired by true-to-life events. The experience of sharing space with pets is one most of us can relate to and find humor in, making the comic exceedingly accessible to readers, even those who aren’t really “comics people”.

The strip is laid out in the traditional strip style; a couple of panels leading to a (usually) clever punchline. There are plenty of arcs running the course of several (or more) strips, including things like Hunter’s “origin” story, the process of the family’s adopting Gillian, and the two dogs’ adventures outside after escaping the yard that wasn’t quite fenced in on time.

This isn’t to say that the comic is just slice of life stuff, although that aspect is certainly a strength. The comic is primarily from the dogs’ point of view, and often veers into satisfyingly absurd territory, involving evil twin parallel universes, foster home fight clubs, and conspiracy nut squirrels. These little flights of fancy are tons of fun, really, and elevate the material above your typical decades-old syndicate newspaper strips with a decidedly modern sensibility.

Otto would be the first to tell you that he’s not the world’s greatest cartoonist (this is a common theme of his copious commentary throughout the volume); some of the early strips are pretty rough in the art department, though as the strip progresses the art gets more ambitious and confident, and develops a consistent cartoony style that works well with the material.

The writing across the volume is always at least enjoyable and often pretty clever. He’s got some great ideas throughout the strip; a favorite of mine is the clever use of the generally understood idea that dogs have absolutely no sense of time. It’s not all necessarily jokes, though. Across the larger arcs, there’s often some pretty touching stuff, particularly the way the story of Gillian’s adoption plays out. I was personally a fan of the “local color” as well. Otto, like me, resides in the Richmond metropolitan area, and plays with some local instututions, like Nutzy, the mascot of the local minor league ball team, The Flying Squirrels, who is lots of fun, but just a little bit creepy. Like my four year old daughter, Hunter and Gillian are a little wary when he makes an appearance in their back yard.

Otto’s story of simply jumping into the webcomic business with little to no art or publishing experience is actually pretty admirable: he had an idea, and he just went and did it. It’s actually one of the better examples out there of Wil Wheaton’s get excited and make things mantra. I wish more people with interesting ideas would just decide to take a chance and get them out there. I happily recommend supporting independent art like this on principle, though in this case, I can honestly say you’ll have some fun keeping up with Hunter and Gillian’s continuing adventures.