Battlepug Volume 1 Review: Wacky, But Charming

A barbarian hero with a tragic past whose tale is tale is told by a beautiful naked woman and rides along on his faithful-pug? No, it’s not am “Adult Swim” cartoon; it’s “Battlepug,” the brand new comic by Mike Norton. It’s as out there as you’d might imagine.

“Battlepug” is a story told by Moll, a naked woman who shares this story to two talking dogs, Colfax and Mingo, about a young boy from a small snow covered village that got attacked by a giant seal (yes, a giant seal.) His mother died in the attack and he vowed revenge on the seas-until he became a prisoner to an evil Santa Clause (yes), found his freedom and a giant pug companion.

Just the idea of a barbarian riding a giant pug is out there enough; once you toss in a giant killer seal and an evil Santa, then the colonel from “Monty Python” needs to step in and say, “right, stop that! Silly!” Then you realize that this is silly done right and you just throw away all sense whatsoever and just laugh.

Norton is one of those writers you put into a white room with nothing but a pencil and a pad and he’ll write something that’s so downright outrageous it’s brilliant. That’s “Battlepug” in a nutshell. The world and story makes no sense whatsoever, but it’s a riot.

The artwork matches the comic’s silly tone and is just as good. It’s a mixture of colorful and cartoony and dark and serious. The hero is the dark, “serious” character who looks like your typical beefy loincloth wearing barbarian while the pug is cute, cuddly and bright. The humans may be well designed, but the giant pug is probably the best designed character in the comic. He just acts so much like an actual pug that he’s almost real.

“Battlepug” is silly, well drawn, over the top, makes very little sense and, best of all, does not take itself that seriously. If you can get past the silliness or you enjoy these kinds of stories, then “Battlepug” is right for you. Some people may ask, “why is there a naked girl telling a story to two talking dogs?” Answer: because it’s funny. This series shows promise if it can keep its humor intact and not take itself too seriously.