Six years ago, the Darlinger fight ended Jake's career, cost him his family, and put him in a downward spiral with no end in sight. Now, he's doing collections for a small-time loan shark and thinking maybe it's time he set a few things straight in the world. From award-winning writer Derek McCulloch (Displaced Persons and the Eisner-nominated Stagger Lee) and artist Greg Espinoza, Pug is an unsparing tale of a good man trapped in a life of brutality - 15-rounds of blood and bad memories!
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Editorial Reviews
Review
You might remember, long ago, I happened upon a graphic novel called Stagger Lee, by Derek McCulloch and Shepherd Hendrix, and I fell a bit in love. Pug is a new graphic novel from the same writer, and it's a completely different kind of book, which is something I love to see from creators. Hopefully you checked out the preview we ran of Pug back last month, which will give you a good feel for the story.
Some decades back, Jake was a semi-successful boxer, and was pretty well known. But unless you strike it super-rich, a man can only make a living at the sweet science for so long. His options limited, Jake ends up working for a small time hood, as muscle. The whole time, we're transported back, six years ago, where he's supposed to throw a fight. In the locker room before the fight, his wife and son come in, and she pleads him not to make a decision like that. The story simultaneously flips back and forth, and the current story, where Jake is thinking about trying to be a good man, for the love of a new woman, a stripper named Kitten Kaboodle. All along, we see the choices that Jake makes and how they affected his past and his present. It's the tale of a simple man, in a grey world, and it feels exactly like watching a movie from 50 years ago. It's about right and wrong, and finding your strength.
The structure of the story is really impressive, as we go back and explore how Jake got to where he is now. The book is broken up like a boxing match into rounds and rest periods in a really nice structural nod to a boxing match. The breaks serve as a really fun way to get in an out of scenes.
Greg Espinoza does a fine job of building Jake's world. The book is laid out in horizontal format, and the art does what it's supposed to do. It's not about flashy canted angles and crazy panel layouts. It's about the pure one-two punch of basic, useful strip layout and telling a clear cut story, which is exactly how the art should work in this story. The characters are all distinguishable from one another, and the shots of boxing reminded me of Stanley Kubrick's Killer's Kiss, in their stark black and white, as well as the time period, and that is a fine film to evoke.
If you're into classic crime, or old boxing movies, or just classic stories, give Pug a try. It feels a bit like we've unearthed some gem from the past that was made 40 years ago, but just never published. It's definitely worth a read. If my words don't do it, that cover really says everything about the book you need to know. --Josh Flanagan, IFanboy
Some decades back, Jake was a semi-successful boxer, and was pretty well known. But unless you strike it super-rich, a man can only make a living at the sweet science for so long. His options limited, Jake ends up working for a small time hood, as muscle. The whole time, we're transported back, six years ago, where he's supposed to throw a fight. In the locker room before the fight, his wife and son come in, and she pleads him not to make a decision like that. The story simultaneously flips back and forth, and the current story, where Jake is thinking about trying to be a good man, for the love of a new woman, a stripper named Kitten Kaboodle. All along, we see the choices that Jake makes and how they affected his past and his present. It's the tale of a simple man, in a grey world, and it feels exactly like watching a movie from 50 years ago. It's about right and wrong, and finding your strength.
The structure of the story is really impressive, as we go back and explore how Jake got to where he is now. The book is broken up like a boxing match into rounds and rest periods in a really nice structural nod to a boxing match. The breaks serve as a really fun way to get in an out of scenes.
Greg Espinoza does a fine job of building Jake's world. The book is laid out in horizontal format, and the art does what it's supposed to do. It's not about flashy canted angles and crazy panel layouts. It's about the pure one-two punch of basic, useful strip layout and telling a clear cut story, which is exactly how the art should work in this story. The characters are all distinguishable from one another, and the shots of boxing reminded me of Stanley Kubrick's Killer's Kiss, in their stark black and white, as well as the time period, and that is a fine film to evoke.
If you're into classic crime, or old boxing movies, or just classic stories, give Pug a try. It feels a bit like we've unearthed some gem from the past that was made 40 years ago, but just never published. It's definitely worth a read. If my words don't do it, that cover really says everything about the book you need to know. --Josh Flanagan, IFanboy
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Like a punch in the gut,
By
This review is from: Pug (Hardcover)
Derek McCulloch and Greg Espinoza's "Pug" tells the story of a washed-up boxer named Jake Mahoney who can't catch a break. You really start to feel for a guy that seems to have been life's personal punching bag. I don't want to comment on any details since they need to be discovered by the reader as they turn the pages.
I will comment on the artwork. Greg Espinoza created a very stark and gritty character. He chose to show the (slightly)happier moments of Jake's past in a lighter, cartoonier fashion and adding coarse detail to the Jake of today. It's like sitting with someone watching a movie of their life; clean and crisp on the screen, then you turn to look at them and see the wrinkles and 3-day stubble. My only complaint was the length. Jake's life was obviously a painful trip from birth to the boxing ring but we only get to see a few key moments. I want to see more of Jake's past. How did he become a boxer? How does he get out of bed every day and still try and do the right thing. There's more to Jake than meets the eye, but if Jake won't tell us what it is, then Derek McCulloch and Greg Espinoza need to.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Brutal Knockout of a Story,
By Robert Dahlen (South San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pug (Hardcover)
In Pug, a washed-up heavyweight boxer finds his already-horrible life getting worse, as he gets pushed into working for a loan shark. Derek McCulloch's script is terse and exciting, switching between boxer Jake Mahoney's troubled life and a key event that drove him down this path. Greg Espinoza scores a body blow with his excellent art, filtering classic action comic strip storytelling through modern sensibilities, making a perfect match for the story. Intense, not for the youngsters, and recommended.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic tale...,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Pug (Hardcover)
Pug is a story of a down on his luck boxer that would have made a classic film noir.
The main character is a moral man trying to live down to other peoples expectations of him. His one skill being that of a boxer, his forced associations cause misunderstandings with the people around him. He "sleeps with dogs" so people assume he has "fleas". This drives the story. The back-story is on the short side and partly inter-cut with the narrative but it makes for a quick dive into the main plot. Artistically, I really like the clever art style of the book. It evokes the retro look of the Batman Animated Series character design with the solid framing and pacing of artists like Dave Gibbons. All in all it's fast paced and just a darn good read.
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