Pre-Order Pick for July 2019: GRUMBLE VOLUME ONE

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Month Three of the revised feature titled PRE-ORDER PICKS. I will recommend books that I know are really good because I’ve either read an advanced review copy of a single issue - - or I’ve read all the individual issues that comprise a new trade paperback or hardcover being offered.

With all of these PRE-ORDER PICKS keep in mind - - if you are interested, don’t take a chance on the store having a copy. Make sure by pre-ordering. Your local comic shop will thank you. Guaranteed sales help make them profitable. Please place your order before Wednesday, MAY 22 - - which is the cut-off date.

My plans for this feature call for me to post a review of everything that I’ve recommended for pre-order. It’s been hard for me to do so, and I’m often posting my picks very close to the deadline, and without a full review. So, I’m starting earlier with my picks this month because there are lots to recommend. Here’s recommendation #2 . . . . . .

GRUMBLE VOLUME 1: YOU’RE THE DOG MAN NOW Trade Paperback $17.99 (Albatross Funny Books, Preview Order #MAY191328, due in shops July 17) Writer: Rafer Roberts. Artist: Mike Norton. Color Artist: Marissa Louise. Letterer: Crank! Reprints Grumble #1-5.

If you’re a little bit tired of the constant universe-threatening epics in your major super-hero titles (War of the Realms, DCeased, etc) and their oh-so-serious nature, then expand your reading a bit this month. Put those dull titles aside and check out what Flying Albatross Funny Books has to offer you - - engaging storylines, a lot of humor, and intriguing art that recalls the best of the older funny books (Mad magazine, etc). I can’t think of a better place to start than right here with GRUMBLE VOLUME 1.

Check out the upright-walking, clothes-dressing animals mixing it up with lizard-men, demons, aliens and sorcerers in a mix mash of genres in a buddy-movie setting with the most unlikely of couples.

One of the dysfunctional duo is teenager Tala Palacio, a third generation half-demon (mom married a demon, grandpa is pure demon). She’s got the ability to manipulate and influence the minds of anyone who comes into contact with her. She honed her skills working cons for a living with her mom. (We don’t learn these background details until the flashback sequences in Issue #5). Tala lives in the aftermath of a magical war between two realities. Apparently, her family played a pivotal part in that war, and the inter-dimensional S’taera race are on the hunt for them and out for revenge. Tala gets separated from her family during the conflict and has nowhere to turn but the one person she’s been warned to avoid (but has no other choice).

The other half of this duo is Eddie Endino, a human magic user, con artist and card shark in deep debt to the criminal organization run by a troll called The Imp. He may or may not be the father of Tala, since he was romantically involved with her mother at one time. Tala finds him in a bar frequented by monsters and magicians and rescues him after Eddie is caught cheating at cards with The Imp.

With animalistic gangsters in pursuit, Eddie takes a potion to disguise himself, turning into a talking dog. However the S”taera show up in pursuit of fugitive six twenty six dash nine (Tala, apparently) and during a magical battle Eddie is bound to dog form by the aliens.

The first five issues detail the duo’s flight from both the Imp’s gang and the S’taera without any resolution other than temporary escape. There is obviously more to come in future issues (Issue #7 just came out in May). The fun is in journeying through this wacky alternate landscape and enjoying the many amusing moments.

A talking dog with magical abilities doesn’t seem that far-fetched once you become immersed in the series, along with all the other animal characters who speak, walk upright and dress sharply. There’s a top cat enforcer for The Imp named Simon, a cynical witch in Old Town (an alternate earlier version of Baltimore), and a bird-like Pandorian bounty hunter.

Mike Norton illustrates Rafer Robert’s wild tale is great supporting fashion. He excels at action scenes and overlays the entire proceedings with an eye-appealing whimsical approach. It’s fun to spot the funny names of several restaurants and storefronts throughout the series, such as a pet boutique called Bitch, Please and The Dante Moving Company, whose slogan is “because moving is hell.”