By Shirow Miwa
Viz, 208 pp.
Rating: Mature Readers

The first completed manga by Shirow Miwa, Dogs: Prelude is composed of four separate yet interconnected stories, each varying slightly in tone and each introducing a character who will presumably become a regular in the upcoming Dogs: Bullets and Carnage series.

It opens with “Weepy Old Killer” which focuses on Mihai, a former mob hitman. It’s an emotionally charged tale of love and loss as Mihai attempts to put some old ghosts to rest. This is followed by “Gun Smoker,” which shifts the focus to Badou, and information broker within the city. Tonally it’s about as far from Mihai’s story as you can get; the serious gritty feel is completely gone and in its place is a fast-paced action comedy. Badou stumbles upon a mob boss’s naughty secret and chaos and hilarity ensue. “Blade Maiden” is Naoto’s story, the sole female protagonist in the book, and it harkens back to the more serious tone of “Weepy Old Killer.” A young girl witnesses her parents’ brutal murders and then dedicates her life to avenging their deaths by training under the man who may have killed them. It’s not as quiet and contemplative as Mihai’s tale, and the action sequences are definitely ramped up a bit, but it’s far closer to Mihai’s tale than Badou’s.

“Stray Dog” rounds out the collection and introduces us to the mysterious Heine, a young man searching for something in the underground portion of the city. At first the story seems to be along the lines of Naoto’s and Mihai’s but it quickly takes a left turn into territory that hadn’t even been hinted at in the previous three tales. All of sudden this hard-boiled, contemporary, crime series is studded with weird sci-fi elements. Girls with wings, strange implants, holograms and more all turn up and all stick out like a sore thumb. The result is that Heine’s tale feels cut off and adrift from the other three, almost like it’s set in a completely different world from the rest. Personally I had a hard time reconciling it with the rest of the book, but overall all the stories were enjoyable and entertaining.

For the most part, Miwa’s artwork is engaging and his character designs are interesting and contemporary with a vague hint of industrial/goth at times. The use of heavy blacks and stark whites reminded me of MPD-Psycho’s Sho-U Tajima, though that’s about where the comparison ends. Miwa’s style is incredibly dynamic and the action sequences are fast-paced and kinetic thanks to the liberal use of extreme depth cues. The extreme depth cue is an artistic technique which basically exaggerates the sense of distance usually giving something—a fist, say—the feel of being extremely close to the reader while the rest of the person’s body looks to be far away. It’s a nice technique but I did feel that it was perhaps a bit overused here as it turns up in just about every action sequence in the book, causing it to lose a little bit of its impact. Then again maybe Miwa did it deliberately and intended it in a satirical manner, in which case it worked, as I did chuckle several times due to it.

At any rate my biggest nitpick with the artwork is actually the lack of backgrounds. On one hand, this gives the various stories a certain universal feeling, the idea that they could be set in just about any modern-day city. On the other hand it also means important setting information has to be conveyed through dialogue. For example, there’s apparently a large, thriving underground portion to the city and one entire story is set in this area. Sadly, you wouldn’t be able to tell that from the visuals as the underground sections of the city look exactly like the above ground portion.

Dogs: Prelude is an interesting book that rewards an eye for detail. Peppered throughout the volume are hints and clues as to how everything may tie together. I’m very curious to see what Miwa has planned with Dogs: Bullets and Carnage and how some of the hanging plot threads will wrap themselves up and connect. In the end it seems like an intriguing action series that I’m eager to see more of.

Volume zero of Dogs: Prelude is available now.