Stray Dogs: Dog Days

Stray Dogs: Dog Days #0-2

by Tony Fleecs (Writer), Trish Forstner (Illustrator), Brad Simpson (Colorist)

The follow-up to 2021's surprise cartoon/horror smash hit, STRAY DOGS! In DOG DAYS, each of the Strays gets their moment to shine with a series of vicious short stories. Questions are answered, mysteries are solved, and old wounds get torn open. This genre-bending thrill ride takes the reader from the first dog the Master captured to the final moments at his house of horrors.

STRAY DOGS: DOG DAYS is a heartbreakingly adorable horror anthology by My Little Pony comic artists TONY FLEECS & TRISH FORSTNER. In this collection…every dog has its day.

"Another suspenseful and gut-wrenching journey into darkness that blends Don Bluth-inspired cuteness with Hitchcock-level terror." —Lotusland Comics

"The bold artwork combines with vivid storytelling, all of which wraps around the reader's heart and refuses to let go." —Monkeys Fighting Robots

Collects STRAY DOGS: DOG DAYS #1-2, plus the STRAY DOGS FCBD PROLOGUE

Genres: Graphic Novels, Horror, Comics, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Crime

128 pages, ebook

First published July 20, 2022

About the author

Tony Fleecs is the writer and artist of In My Lifetime, an autobiographical comic book. First published in 2006, ‘Lifetime was an immediate critical success, featured twice in Wizard Magazine, in the Comic Buyer’s Guide and on the Ain’t-It-Cool-News.

Fleecs has since been a contributor to anthologies including; Postcards: True Stories that Never Happened (nominated for the 2008 Eisner and Harvey awards for best anthology), Boom Studios’ Pulp Tales and C.B. Cebulski’s Wonderlost. He and writer, Josh Fialkov, provided the Li’l FireBreather backup stories for Phil Hester’s 2nd FireBreather series at Image Comics. Last year saw his first work for hire writing work when he scripted the comic book adaptation of the classic John Holmes film, Tell Them Johnny Wadd Is Here, widely regarded as the first comic book based on a porno to not be completely awful.

This year, Tony will co-write and illustrate the graphic novel Jeff Steinberg: Champion of Earth (again with Fialkov) for Oni Press.

His company Fleecs Design (who’s talent roster includes only himself) has a client list that features Disney, 20th Century Fox, Bongo Comics, Marvel/Rittenhouse, The Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinatti Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment, The Weinstein Company, Monster Garage, Taco John’s, major hospitals, insurance providers and banks.

His comics have been published by Random House (Villard), Image Comics, Silent Devil Productions, Boom!, IDW and Terminal Press.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

(B) 75% | More than Satisfactory
Notes: Snippet tales (most fine, some fail) and mostly all alike: fallout bleeds from killer's deeds, all bump and set and spike.

*Progress updates: Preamble ◦ Prologue ◦ Issue #1 ◦ Issue #2

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stray Dogs was one of the best comics of 2021, following a group of dogs slowly realising that their current owner was a serial killer who had killed all of their former owners. It’s a great done-in-one original horror story.

So it’s disappointing (but perhaps not unsurprising) that Image would try to cash in on that success by forcing a completely unnecessary prequel/follow-up in the form of Dog Days. Did you want to see how each of the dogs had been procured by the killer? Me neither!

The stories aren’t terrible - they’re just way too short. Because there are so many dogs, writer Tony Fleecs can only give so many pages to each one and so just as you’re getting into one story, it’s over and you’re onto the next. It’s very unsatisfying.

Trish Forstner’s Don Bluth-esque art remains delightful and the story of Victor provides a coda to the main storyline (the only one that’s not a prequel), even if it’s a pointless one. And I liked the twist in Henry’s story too.

But the overall effect is the creators trying to stretch very little material into something book length and it reads like what it is: an insubstantial, and entirely superfluous, offering. The page count is beefed up by - I’m not kidding - 40 pages of horror movie-themed variant covers!

Stray Dogs is a great comic - definitely check it out if you’ve not already - and I look forward to both creators’ next books, but don’t bother with the needless Dog Days.

[A.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty great return to the world of Stray Dogs!

I really loved the main volume, and while this is just an anthology of shorts set mostly before that, I think it does a wonderful job at what it sets out to be. The one short that was set after the main story was probably my favorite of the lot, like that damn thing made me tear up a bit. Great book and would recommend to anyone who enjoyed Stray Dogs. There isn’t a whole lot to say other than this is a great followup to that!

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very lackluster compared to main book.

Mostly just two large issues telling the stories of how the doggies got to the farm. Some are extremely dark, some are kind of just glossed over, and one was a nice surprise. But overall, these aren't needed to really complete the story. We do get a nice farewell though and the art, as always, is excellent. A 3 out of 5.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stray Dogs was a surprise hit and this is a boring follow-up. None of this was needed or did anything exciting. It's not that it's bad but it's very much a nothing, is anyone going "oh boy I can't wait to buy a trade full of back-ups and a variant cover gallery"?

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Який же я був у захваті, що повертаюся до світу «Бродячих собак». Адже оригінальна історія мені сильно сподобалася. І яке ж розчарування було, коли я взяв читати «Бродячі собаки: Дні собачі» від Тоні Флікса, Тріш Форстнер, Бреда Сімпсона.

Я був абсолютно зачарований основним томом, і тепер, коли ця збірка коротких історій лежить перед мною, я розумію, що потрібно було відразу розглядати її, як маленький бонус. Це набір коротких коміксів (2–5 сторінок), які доповнюють оригінальну розповідь. А не якийсь повноцінний сюжет. У цій збірці коміксів читачі мають змогу зануритися в знайомий світ «Бродячих собак», де познайомляться ближче з уже знайомими героями. Більшість історій розповідає про події, що передують центральному сюжету, а саме, як собаки потрапили в будинок до жорсткого Чоловіка.

Щодо оповіді, то ці короткі комікси цілком відповідають манері оригінального коміксу. Тут теж багато гумору, який відгукнеться в кожного, хто коли-небудь мав собаку. Вроджена дурість задоволених собак часто призводить до кумедних ситуацій, додаючи нотку безтурботності в розповідь. Однак у міру того, як розгортаються історії, присутність Чоловіка стає помітнішою, натякаючи на зловісні дії, такі як вбивства та викрадення собак. Щодо художнього стилю, то він випромінює той самий чарівний «діснеєвський» шарм. Собаки мають виразні «олюднені» риси обличчя, але поводяться в справжній собачій манері.

Можливо, якщо я б розглядав це видання, як не окрему велику історію, то й післясмак був би інакшим. А так, відчувається певне розчарування, наче, мене обманули. Але якщо подивитися на це із холодною головою, то направду ці комікси чарівні, та такі ж різні, як і собаки, про яких вони розповідають. І насамперед, гарно справляються із двома речами: розповідають досить детально передісторію основного сюжету та більше знайомлять із характерами кожної із собак, що не так добре було показано в основній історії. І ще великою частиною цього видання є безліч варіантних обкладинок від різних художників, що стало хорошим бонусом після прочитання для мене. Цікаво чи авторська команда має плани на розширення цього світу, адже якусь нову історію на кілька випусків я б із радістю прочитав.

[It's just Deano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stray Dogs was probably one of my favourite books from 2021. I loved the horror atmosphere, the Don Bluth-esq artwork, and the plot was wonderfully heartfelt - the whole thing was gloriously well made.

Now, I know I'm not alone in my view of Stray Dogs so it makes perfect sense that the creators would want to keep this train moving along. However, let's not mix words here, Dog Days is nothing more than a cash in.

Let me put it this way, this trade paperback collects just two single comic issues and a third of this book is literally just bonus material - mainly the artwork for the movie poster variant covers.

All this would be insignificant if the story contributed something to follow the magic we saw in the initial story, but there isn't anything here but two-page comic strips for each of the dogs we got to know in the original book.

Overall, I'd save your money here. Despite the awesome artwork included you're definitely not missing anything at all. It's a real shame that such a genuine and credible book like Stay Dogs had to be subjected to this level of cashing in.
________________

My Score: 4/10
My Goodreads: ⭐⭐
________________

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did this really need to be collected like this, instead of thrown in with the rest of the Stray Dogs story? Probably not. But it's here, so we'll take what we can get.

This volume collects the FCBD prelude story, as well as the two issue Dog Days mini, which was an anthology of stories about all of the dogs that we met in the main book. Most of them are pretty sad. In fact, I think all of them are sad, given that we know what's going to happen to everyone involved even before we start. But that doesn't stop them being effective, even in the few pages we get to spend with each character. Some of the stories could probably have done with being a few pages longer, but none of them land poorly.

I think the main complain I'd have about this volume is that it's not overly necessary - it doesn't add anything to the main book that we didn't already get, and the added context mostly just makes things bleaker instead of happier.

If you want more Stray Dogs, then you can have it, but be prepared to get upset going in.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

These prequel stories were mostly really unnecessary and unsatisfying. I just want to know all those very good boys and girls from the first book are okay- minus poor Earl and Victor, of course. Ugh. It was depressing to just read story after story of women being murdered and/or dogs being mistreated or slaughtered.

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

An unnecessary addition to the Stray Dogs book. I'd avoid unless you're a big fan of the artist and book.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For fans of the original Stray Dogs, this next volume is a prequel that explains how the serial killer came to acquire his dogs. We get very short stories of how some of the dogs were kidnapped after their female owners were killed. The two stories that stood out were Henry and Victor (whose story in the first volume made me tear up). There were a lot of alternate covers at the end, based on movie posters, that were filler to lengthen this graphic novel, but the art by Trish Forstner continues to be outstanding. (Actual review 3.5/5)

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the reason I wasn't a fan of these extra stories is even though we know how the main series ends, it feels more like reliving the trauma of everything the guy did rather than feeling triumphant over what happened to him. Feels backwards.

Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2

Total review score: 2.375

[Estibaliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

The doggies are back! And they are still extremely cute, but one might certainly wonder if this prequel was at all necessary.

Composed of six (I think) short stories, 'Stray Dogs: Dogs Days" focuses basically in the kidnapping of the different puppies that we got to know and love in the original graphic novel, but doesn't really add anything new to the mix.

I did enjoy the cover gallery at the end of the volume though, with lots of homages to classic movies and TV shows, such as 'Alien', 'It', 'The Walking Dead' or 'Stranger Things'.

[Isaiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

No real point. Just felt like sad things to make readers sad and then covers. There was no plot or anything that was really added.

[Jack Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly heart-wrenching companion piece that’s just as haunting as the original.

[Trevor ComicFan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unnecessary, only gets two stars because of the awesome homage covers in the back.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mostly prequel to the Stray Dogs main book. While it's nice to have the additional stories, they don't (to me) really move the main story forward.

[Jason Brown (Toastx2) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strays Dogs and Stray Dogs- Dog Days: My Little Puppy Horror/Thrillers

Trade Paperback graphic novel Stray Dogs- was brought to us by Image Comics and two of the geniuses behind the My Little Pony comics. Comic creators Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner really hit it home with this 5 part comic single compendium. Also released was a Prequel called Stray Dogs: Dog Days - A 2-shot comic of backstory singles for many of the characters plus a comic book store day exclusive (Not exclusive anymore! Hahaha.. Sorry).

The comic has a simple premise, but a deep well of emotional territory. Dogs have short memories. they remember the generalization of who their human is, the day to day and the NOW, but beyond that... Goldfish memory. They say that dogs remember the stability, but not the details. I don’t know that I agree with all that. In my experience dogs have a long memory, but are quick to forgive rather than forget.

Sophie is a tiny scared little pup. She is brought 'home' where she meets several new dogs. All of them are rescues. They are nice, varied personality, food obsessed and kind. When master comes home he brings them treats and scratches and they all sleep in his room at night as a pack.

Sophie however, can't shake the scary stress of being a 'rescue' and she doesn't remember much before arriving, until Master puts her in a warm red scarf to help her calm down and warm up. It was her Lady's scarf, and she watched Master murder her with it. Now Sophie needs to escape and save the other pups from a man whom they all look forward to seeing, and who they keep forgetting is dangerous.

The publisher and other bloggers seem to like to juxtapose this as Lady and the Tramp meets Silence of the lambs... But there is no love story here and I see only a super watery link to Lambs by polluting the plot line. Another juxtaposition was Secret Lives of Pets meets Seven (Se7en). I think this is closer (Brad Pitt: "what's in the punishment shed! WHAT'S IN THE PUNISHMENT SHED?!")

As mentioned, this Trade is only compiling the 5 issue run of comics, the first of which is available to read for free on the publisher website. This is not a bad thing, but it does men it is fast to digest.

Dog Days is also worth checking out. As mentioned, it is a related release, a series of short backstory comics. These really flesh out the offering and lessen the concern over length or speed to consume those original Trade. as it adds another 1/3 length to the series and really should be paired with the original story for all readers. Reread factor on this is middling, I can see myself rereading this 1-2 times, mainly because of the length and art. It includes a myriad of issue covers, many themed after horror movies with the dogs as the replaced main characters

Give this a look. Spend some time with your furry companion. Cover their eyes at the scary pages if they are reading over your shoulder.

[slauderdale]

Just read both Tony Fleecs' "Stray Dogs" and his followup companion piece, "Stray Dogs: Dog Days." I had figured "Stray Dogs" for some quick fun: classically cute Bluth/Disney-esque dogs in a disturbing adult story, where the joke is the contrast. It really rose above the level of a joke, though. Grimdark with animals that I was genuinely concerned about and not just reading for the yuks. Terror laced with some humor and much poignancy, where all three are peculiarly enhanced by the foibles of canine brains, because memory works differently for dogs than it does for humans.

I thought, at first, that this second volume was doing something different and better than it was: that it was functioning almost like an alternate approach to the same story. Instead of the story of the new dog who blows open a disturbing mystery-horror plot, what if we tell the story of a serial killer's career through nonlinear vignettes about each dog that he "collects" along the way? Something that both illuminates and is illumined by the first volume, yet can be read as its own work and hold together just fine. That's what I thought it was doing, but the last vignette, Victor's, really relies more on our knowledge of what happened to Victor in the previous book. And the last 39 pages was just a collection of individual issue covers for both arcs, which parks this firmly in the Bonus Features book camp rather than a complete work in its own right.

The tagline for this book is that "Every Dog Has Its Day," but there is another other reader, Blanca, who points out that we don't get Rusty's story, although he shows up in Sophie's. That's odd, because he is a dog who never remembered his person (people?) in the first book, and of course he's pretty much the male lead. DID he have anyone before the master? What is Rusty's story?

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

When at least four of the most prominent graphic novel consumers on goodreads (including yours truly) declare your new series' first book worth four stars or more (including the people who NEVER award four stars) you know you're on to a winner. How to follow it up? Probably not like this.

This wants to open the world of Stray Dogs up, and therefore starts with a huge spread of vignettes about how all the Nasty Man's dogs got captured in a Nasty way. Now, we do get lolz about them digging up inappropriate things from their yard once captured, but generally it's a spread of their 'missing mutt' posters, and the ways the Nasty Man nabbed them, through conniving visits to the local dog park or through being Lock Picking Lawyer in disguise ("number two is moulting... gotta bark out of three...").

And after that... it ends with a whole third of the book being a covers gallery. And despite the great bulk of them riffing off classic genre imagery, from Stranger Things up to The Exorcist, it's a cover gallery. That's it, no more. This then is like watching a humongous DVD extra (remember them?) to find it was extra scenes shot after the wrap party because the budget allowed, not because they were cut or were ever in any way thought essential. This is a companion, in the world where 'companion' means 'slightly flippant adjunct'.

There's one reason for this book's existence, and that's the commercial one. "Stray Dogs" was never a series, and this book, for all the tiny, tiny world building it adds to the class of before, was never really called for. Heck, it can't even obey the upper and lower case rules established last time. Two stars is generous, for this is woof.

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy companion anthology.


This softcover TPB recollects “Stray Dogs” Free Comic Book Day Prologue plus “Stray Dogs: Dog Days” #1-2.


Creative Team:

Creator & Writer: Toni Fleecs

Creator & Illustrator: Trish Forstner

Colorist: Brad Simpson


UNTOLD TALES

Due the huge success of Stray Dogs, it was only logical trying to capitalize in some way a little more of that success, and definitely it was wise and worthy to publish this two-parter comic book (along with the prologue promoted during the Free Comic Book Day), and in that way, telling short tales (each can be of a couple of pages, maybe four at best) but quit enough to tell how the most of th dogs in the original story came in possession of the terrible man.

It’s interesting that at least sometimes, the man wasn’t successful in his insidious attacks, or having to choose a different victim since the originally planned was able to repel the attack.

It’s not that solid as the first TPB, since it’s a recollection of very short separated stories, but still it’s a fair and relevant companion book to any reader that reads the first TPB and wanting to know how was the lives of the dogs before meeting the awful man…

…even there is a story telling events after the ending to the original story, so it’s quite important to read too.

[Alex Sarll]

The original Stray Dogs fused Don Bluth-style canines with a crime plot; a serial killer abducts the dogs of his victims, who seem weirdly fine with him as their new person, and only gradually get it together to bring him down. I found them very cute, obviously, but I wasn't altogether convinced by the premise. This series claims to tell us more about each of the cast, but – particularly given their brevity – the stories don't tell us much we couldn't already have inferred from the first run, and certainly don't deepen it as an exercise of this sort sometimes can. Other Henry used to live with a cat, who was beastly to him, but misses him once he's gone! Tibetan mastiff Imogene used to be small as a puppy, but is now large! Gucci was popular on Instagram! Yes, there are still some cute dogs, but that is pretty much it. As such, it's not the complaint it might have been to note that nearly a third of the volume is taken up with variant covers, some of the pastiches showing considerably more invention than the comic proper.

(Edelweiss ARC)

[Adam Rodgers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This prequel/sequel to Stray Dogs sees some of the scenes that led up the pups abductions in the main story.

This can only really be appreciated by those that have read the first excellent volume. With that in context, this is a melancholy but well told set of tales from Fleecs that adds some poignant foreshadowing, but little real backstory. Forstner delivers the same cutesy Don Bluth inspired artwork that lent itself so brilliantly to the narrative of the first book. She also produces some stunning cover artwork (all collected here) playing homage to some of the most famous horror themed films and shows of the last few decades (but with the Dog Days canine cast inserted).

While it could be seen as a bit of a cash grab, trading on the success of the earlier book, fans of the original will still get some enjoyment from this additional material, but it does very much feel as 'bonus scenes' rather than adding anything substantial to the previous collection, or a new story in its own right.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following up on last year's outstanding miniseries STRAY DOGS, the DOG DAYS collection was originally published as two individual issues.

Each of the stories in the collection focuses on a different dog featured in the main series and gives readers insight into how they each came to be where you see them in the main series.

The stories range in quality a tiny bit, with some drawing you in more than others. But for they are all pretty compelling in their own way.

Writer Tony Fleecs really hit on a great idea with STRAY DOGS, combining a cartoon art style from Trish Forstner, Brad Simpson and Tone Rodriguez with a dark kind of horror tale that might at first seem like it wouldn't work. But work it did, and in spectacular fashion.

That same feeling is threaded throughout the Dog Days stories and readers will likely find themselves missing these characters now that the story is over. But what a great ride it was!

[Raven Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is a stand alone story, it would help to read the first book. This is the story of the dogs from that graphic novel. These are the fill ins, but also a psychological thriller in itself. Little things popup (probably the doggie wasn't supposed to dig up the arm skeleton) and treats take on a new meaning, and dogs might be mans best friends but man is not theirs.

Overall the protentional for the series is why this is a four, plus the artwork is pretty far out in a cool and spooky manner (and spooky because things are so calm, ordinary, until they are not, until you realize what is around the corner or who).

The afterwards with different cover art is a riot. They are spoofs, love letters and fun nods to famous movies, novels, posters, etc. in the thriller/horror realm.

[Adelaide Metzger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished 12/29/24 - Brilliant! This short story collection's greatest strength is the visual clues in the background that tell the story the dogs cannot see or notice. This collection would not nearly as much to the reader if they don't read the main comic, but the way this short story collection wraps up the book with a moving send off to two characters from the main novel is a perfect cherry of warmth and hope on top of complex story of darkness. Also, the cover gallery in the back is very creative and fun.

[Melvin Rodríguez-Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading "Stray Dogs" I couldn't wait to get more and downloaded this volume right after (read both in a day). This companion piece shows the lives of some of the dogs before their owners met their ends, other focus on the moment the killer stroke and a few are about the story's aftermath. Overall, this collection is a little bit slight and doesn't really go that deep into the dogs lives, but it is very sad to see some of the pups really happy only to know what happens after.

[Chris Tower · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the first volume of Stray Dogs. This is just a follow up to cash in on the popularity of the first. If you liked Stray Dogs, this one will be worth it, and you will enjoy it. But it is meaningless without reading the first volume of Stray Dogs. Also, this is not a NEW story just a dog-by-dog chronicle of what was depicted in the previous.

[Mário Barbosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first book never got to convince me fully, but this prequel is sufferable. No story, no action, no development, no characters, ... just half a book of covers and drawings with balloons.
Wasn't counting on anything great, and still it managed to shatter my humble expectations.
I think it’s the first time I'm rating a comic book with 2 stars. Hope it is the last, too

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trying to milk what was a fantastic series for a few more dollars. The original miniseries was terrific. This was almost all little vignettes about each dog before they came to live on the Farm. Some of them even showing the master attacking his victims while the dogs are oblivious to what's happening. Forstner's art is still very good, but I can't say I liked the stories that much.