Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Six Pack and Dog Welder #2

By Hervé St-Louis
October 27, 2016 - 22:19

The Spectre comes to Gotham City looking for Baytor, wretched creature from Hell, bent on ruling the world and bringing the second coming of the underworld on Earth. I just made up the last blurb about hell and all! Elsewhere, John Constantine helps Dog Welder reach his full potential by teaching him how to fist a dead dog. I am not making this one up…

I still have no clue what Six pack and Dog Welder is about but my reticence to read this series is now gone with this issue. The first one was a chore. This one was quite funny, although it is clearly not intended for younger readers. Garth Ennis is back with his dark comedy routine and gross over characterization one more time.

Here, he makes fun of comics tropes by including a character he is very familiar with. His take on John Constantine, also known as Hellblazer is a good criticism of comics, specifically Vertigo Comics who keeps being changed to accommodate a more pluralist audience. In effect, what happens is that the very thing that made the comics special makes them bland once they are, dare I say, Americanized.

The humour here is dark. It’s stupid. But seeing the Spectre calling God on a cell phone reminded me of why the kind of comics that were allowed to thrive when they were not part of the DC Comics universe proper are sorely missing today. Six Pack and Dog Welder are irreverent. You feel dirty just laughing at the jokes and situations.

Russ Braun captures the spirit – pun – intended of the comic by using a realistic and rich style that still captures the slapstick moment of the story. His lines are thick and juicy and accompanied with just enough texture to make the comic a treat for fans of solid comic storytelling. It took me a while to read this comic because I was put off by the first issue. This one sold me. It’s not as nasty as it sounds.

P.S., The cover is by the recently deceased Steve Dillon.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12