Sometimes a comic appears and has such a good plot that you wonder how nobody else thought of it first. So it is with Strayed, a Dark Horse comic written by Carlos Giffoni, drawn and colored by Juan Doe, with lettering from Matt Krotzer. The idea is simple: a military scientist creates a device that allows for communication with non-speaking animals and discovers that her cat is somehow capable of astral projection. The device is immediately utilized by the military for nefarious purposes, specifically inter-galactic conquest. With vivid imagery and a heavy dose of animal appreciation, Strayed drags you deep into the far future, where humanity seeks to dominate the galaxy through any means possible, including a cuddly cat named Lou and his strange ability to travel to various unknown worlds.
Strayed brings a refreshing twist on colonization
Immediately we’re introduced to Lou, a cat flying through uncharted space, traveling to various worlds, looking for a specific one. Text bubbles let us know that Lou and his owner, Dr. Kiara Rodriguez, are working under duress for the military, which is a rough position to be in. Lou finds what he’s looking for and heads back to the space station, where Rodriguez and her overseer reside. Lou gives coordinates to the planet and does adorable nuzzling with Rodriguez, which is half the appeal of Strayed anyway; cats doing cat things will always enrapture a certain kind of audience. We then learn that Lou and Rodriguez are kept apart by military orders, so we get an inkling of how oppressive this future army actually is.
Alien species speak through dreams
Rodriguez’s boss, Robert, reports to an evil-looking leader, Premier Peely, who orders the colonization of the planet Lou found. Because of this the aliens are killed off; Strayed pulls no punches with the social commentary here. Lou is reached in a dream by the aliens and told he has the power to stop this from happening. Then the dream turns into a nightmare when Premier Peely shows up, demanding the deaths of all the aliens. Then Lou has a flashback to his earliest memories, which conveniently explains much of his backstory. He wakes and we learn that the military has been keeping them apart for weeks at a time, which is having depressing effects on Dr. Rodriguez.
Strayed really wants you to hate this future army
After finding out that she can’t take Lou with her if she leaves, Rodriguez is strong-armed into continuing her work. We learn that the military has modified the device Rodriguez created to allow for communication with different animals. Robert says the planet Lou found contains an energy source the military desires, and that Lou and Rodriguez have more to do. What jerks. The art is stunning, the plot is genius, the colors are phantasmic, and that’s really all there is to say. Highly recommended.
[…] (BTW, if you’re into outer space science stuff and animals, check out Dark Horse’s Strayed.) Vess does a passable job and Johnny is psyched to be in a new body, until Vess knocks him over […]
[…] the end of the last issue, Lou and his owner, Kiara, were at the mercy of the government, who had plans to use them to find […]