Dastardly & Muttley #2

Written by: Garth Ennis
Art by: Mauricet
Colour by: John Kalisz
Published by: DC Comics

Last issue saw the beginning of what could only be described as a hijinks-filled comic that saw a nuclear strike produce no radiation, a drone - named War Pig One - start spreading a very strange substance with even stranger effects, and finally, one of our titular heroes, Captain Muller, wake up with a distinctly more canine head.

We kick off this issue with Lt. Col. R. Atcherly still in complete disbelief as to his current predicament: he woke up in a military hospital being questioned by a special agent who doesn’t quite seem to be on the level and now he is being taken by his co-pilot, Captain Muller, who somehow now has the head of a dog. Let’s just say, his reaction is pretty reasonable. That is to say, he is not taking his new situation too well.

The action continues as the pair start their escape from their confinement - after Atcherly decides it might be safer with Mutt than a military that just got kill orders - and this leads them to go on the run with no money and in a foreign country.

I have never read much Ennis in the past, and didn’t know that he could be this funny in his scripting. I first decided to pick up this series strictly on the promise of more Hanna-Barbera goodness from the minds at DC Comics - I have quite enjoyed each of their “remade” series - but I am now wholly on board with this series just on its own merits. I had to actually catch myself a few times as I was about to laugh out loud at some of the dialogue and situations Ennis has already concocted.

I began the review by indicating this issue is filled with hijinks that you would typically associate with Saturday-morning cartoons, and this is more than accurate as you continue to read, and visually see through Mauricet’s art, exactly what is happening to our lead characters. To wit, we have a special agent use a “toy” gun to punch literal holes in people - and they remain alive? We have shark turned into a cartoon shark. And finally, we have a punch heard around the world. Mauricet has done an excellent job at visually representing all that is happening and I like that they chose to change the style enough when the cartoony aspects are on the page. Visually, this has been an excellent series so far.