Good Dog - Hardcover

Graham Chaffee is a professional tattoo artist and cartoonist living in Los Angeles, CA.

The good dog of the title is Ivan, a nondescript yellow pooch who lives an existence much like that of countless other strays. He chases cats, scrounges for food, urinates on trash cans, and has vivid dreams about herding sheep. Ivan’s solitary life comes to an end when he joins with a pack of other strays led by Sasha, a warrior dog descended from arctic wolves. But the much-welcome companionship isn’t without its difficulties. Ivan’s delicate social maneuverings as he struggles for acceptance by the pack are much like the tactics that characterize human relationships. Ivan thinks he might like to have an owner, but although life on the streets is harsh, he’s ambivalent about giving up his freedom. Chaffee’s artwork is bold and straightforward, and he imbues each dog with its own personality while avoiding excessive anthropomorphizing. The natural audience for this work is, of course, dog lovers, but you don’t have to be a caninophile to appreciate Chaffee’s remarkable ability to get inside the mind of man’s best friend. --Gordon Flagg