Image Comics releases a graphic novel about a barbarian who is fighting alongside his best friend which is a dog in Battlepug: War on Christmas.

From what I’ve seen in some of the medieval times when warriors get to ride along with a horse, birds, dragons and now dogs which something that I can relate to. However this story can take you in a scenery of revenge as a barbarian and became the berserker, but making a story in a part about Christmas is a different thing than anything else right now. The story is written and drawn by Mike Norton, he’s a veteran comic book creator which he became influenced in comics since his childhood, such as the other comic book artists in the 80s and 90s. And just before he made a career decision to make comics, he played a band once in high school and he once tried to considered his career in music and veterinary medicine, but his desire to be a comic artist is actually the biggest decision he ever made. Well, that’s enough with the history lesson, let’s get to the story.

The front cover of the comic shows an interesting concept between the warrior riding with a pug. Beside Korra and her polar dog Naga, it’s very rare to see a warrior riding with a dog while he’s facing action around the battlefield. Speaking of, the background seemed to be all white, and done some penciling and failed to have some color, but it’s the front cover, what else it should have? So, the plot of the story goes that a warrior of the Last Kinmundian clan is seeking revenge against the evil wizard Catwulf who actually murdered his own people and probably possessed abilities to tame a wild beast, however, in some coincidence a battlepug joined him and his own quest for revenge, and somehow destroyed the Catwulf. But THIS story is quite different because this comic will focus on another party led to the same warrior and the battlepug who defeated the Catwulf ventures around the world and to help those who need it. The warrior and his party reached to Ashkum and encountered by some strange looking Donald Trump sock puppet which is Covfefe, by chopping off his arm for knowing that he would be elected for governor. Seriously? Dude, is this comic is showing a Donald Trump reference? Well, I guess he tweeted too much as the author decided to have a puppet show out of him. So anyway, the reason that they came to that town is that the Kingdom of Leamhan has summoned them and gave the warrior a sealed letter of a candy cane. However, the story goes that so far to introduce Santa Claus in this comic who portrays himself as the King of the Northland Elves, which the Kinmundian was a pet to torture a slave and he became strong later on in his life. The most epic adventure of the warrior, the pug, and his party is about to triumph Christmas.

The weirdest thing about this comic is that the Kinmundian and his party are facing some of the strangest foes along the way, including the Donald Trump looking sock puppet, the naughty elves, battle horses who apparently became the Nobody’s Ponies, and of course the queen of the elves herself. And all for that is to get the pug back to its rightful owner. The story is quite interesting if you’re interested in hearing some Christmas stories of a war with the hero and his dog. The story is more extraordinary to be told because all of this is almost based on imagination, like watching the whole first season of Axe Cop. However, there are a lot of references to be filled in one fantasy genre book. The art is a no brainer to have the dog drawn in real life, and the creatures are like you’re seeing Godzilla all over again because there are some different mutations between humans and animals. This is more like to be seen on your child’s doodle drawings, and his parent illustrates out of the children’s imaginations. It’s epic somehow, and it intriguing. If you rather want to read another one of the epic tales of a hero and his best friend, then this is for you.

By Kevin Bermeo

I'm a New Yorker Artist, and I traveled a lot. I enjoy making comics, illustrations, paintings, and digital art. Besides drawing, I'm also a writer, I used to be a Gamer, and I love adventures, food, and dragons.