In the afterword to this shaggy-haired collection of 15 years' worth of artful zines and comics, Sally notes that he had always assumed all his favorites artists had never dealt with moments of paralytic, debilitating doubt and fear. Those insecurities and worries are deeply threaded throughout this book, which reads at times like a history of psychological warfare. Sally (more known for his work with the droning lo-fi Minnesota rock band Low) tends toward richly dark, semiautobiographical, and tightly etched tales of tension and self-recrimination. Creepy dreams and images of anatomical self-analysis are recurring themes, along with the general sense of transience that marked Sally's life while relentlessly touring with Low (he quit the band in 2005 and now operates his own publishing house). At times the book—which collects his self-published zines
Recidivist 1 and
2, plus sundry other material—breaks out of that shell to address topics that are usually no lighter in tone though, as with of his excellent retelling of Dostoyevski's imprisonment, they benefit from the change in perspective. The art is equally claustrophobic when not downright disturbing. Revealing and witty, even when mired in darkness.
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“Sally's one of those artists who can convey a sense of dread or horror out of seeming thin air, and he's really been on the periphery for far too long now. Hopefully this book will thrust him into the limelight.” (
Chris Mautner - Robot 6 )
“Zak Sally's collection of his
Recidivist material and other works was positively pugilistic in nature. Of course, the battle Sally was fighting was with himself and his place in the world... It's a statement of purpose not just as an artist, but as a human being.” (
Rob Clough - High-Low )
“[
Like a Dog] makes for a compelling scrapbook collection — and a beautifully-bound one at that. ... There’s an inspiring breadth of themes and styles on display here, although ultimately they all point to an artist in the depths of an existential crisis.” (
Will Fitzpatrick - Bookmunch )
“
Like a Dog compiles several of [Zak Sally's] stories from the last 15 years in one sweet, annotated hardcover. … Sally is an intensely personal writer, and I appreciate how much he reveals about himself within these pages. His work can get a little messy sometimes, but I say that's just another reason to like it.” (
Whitney Matheson - USA TODAY )
“Zak Sally hasn’t published much in the way of indie comix, but what he has published has been collected into a career retrospective by Fantagraphics that manages to capture the angst and anomie of a then-confused twenty-something who also just happens to be a semi-famous musician.” (
Byron Kerman - PLAYBACK:stl )
“This is a gloriously rough-hewn and hands-on collection from a compulsive cartoonist and storyteller packaged with... flair and imagination ...Sally’s dedication to innovation, exploration and imagination will astound and entrance anyone who knows capital A Art when they see it.” (
Win Wiacek - Now Read This! )
“It's impossible for me to be objective about this book, as Zak is one of my closest friends, but this is a really powerful, fascinating collection of comics. Very dark, and even brutal sometimes, but bracing, and highly original.” (
John Porcellino )
“Sally is incredibly inventive; these cartoons differ in theme greatly, but all come together through his dark, foreboding illustrations. This volume is worthwhile alone for the two editions of Sally's Eisner Award nominated comic,
The Recidivist, but the additional works offer a glimpse into this talented artist's evolution (as do the copious notes included in the collection).” (
Largehearted Boy )
“[T]his shaggy-haired collection... reads at times like a history of psychological warfare. Sally... tends toward richly dark, semiautobiographical, and tightly etched tales of tension and self-recrimination. … The art is equally claustrophobic when not downright disturbing. Revealing and witty, even when mired in darkness.” (
Publishers Weekly )
“This was a stunningly honest account and collection of early work by one of the most underrated cartoonists working today. While the collected early issues of Recidivist ranged from interesting to astounding, it was Sally’s frank and emotional essay following the collection that really struck me as a statement of purpose — not just as an artist, but as a person.” (
Rob Clough - The Comics Journal )
“
Like a Dog is a compelling slab of graphic narrative. As a warts-and-then-some chronicle of one man’s navigation through the world of underground comics (not to mention his own self-sabotaging psyche), it’s downright mesmerizing. [Grade] A-.” (
The Onion A.V. Club )
“Much of [Sally's] work is a collection of personal demons—his insecurities, self-doubt, anger, pain, sadness and darkness—that are exposed in obvious and subtle ways. ... The grit of this collection lies in the sense that one has had a sideline view of an intensely cathartic therapy session.” (
Janday Wilson - two.one.five Magazine )
