Patricia Highsmash
In the Omniversal Doghouse With The Dog Knight
Travis Hedge Coke
Written by Jeremy Whitley, drawn by Bre Indigo, colored by Melissa Capriglione, The Dog Knight is a fun, easy walk into heady territory and intense emotion. Out on May 16, 2023, this TDK is the first of three lengthy comics about Frankie, a kid just working out the basics of their life, who is charged by a pawtheon of magic doggos, to be a superhero for dog and humankind.
The lettering in The Dog Knight, by artist Bre Indigo, is exceptional. The ease with which type and style are changed without ever drawing attention to themselves so perfectly complements Whitley’s delicate writing and the inventive clarity of Capriglione’s colors. These are top-shelf talent doing their absolute best to make a comic readable and to be enjoyed by almost anyone. This could be someone’s first comic, could be the third comic someone reads in a day they read five or more, in a life of having read hundreds of comics.
While many easily-parsed comics are marred by rigid grids or pedantic over-demonstration – even art and text belaboring the same point at the same time in the same panels – The Dog Knight keeps its three-tier page an atmospheric hint, a underscored rhythm. The actual arrangement of panels on each page depends on the needs of the moment, the highlight and pacing which the current situation best deserves.
It is rare, to me, to see any comic balance the needs of a digital tablet page, reading on a laptop, on a cellphone, or in print, as well as Indigo and crew accomplish it here. Brilliant, sensitive, boisterous comics. Clear, inviting artwork and deft, emotionally-layered text rolled out over each page with simplicity, purity, directness and evocative intensity that comes from social and internal conflicts which will be undoubtedly familiar to younger and older readers.
Some school library is going to be snipped at by bigots over this comic. Some uptight adult is going to rather children feel alone and ashamed than read a cool book about a protector of dogs. We live in a weird world. A world that needs nonbinary protagonists being cool and awkward in excellent comic books. A world that can use more dog knights, never less.