Created and written by Nigel Lynch, Diary of the Stray Dogs (not to be confused with that other indie comic about actual stray dogs) follows the misadventures of Shani Belcourt, a caribbean-born pilot and security agent out for revenge.

I’m treading lightly with this critique because I believe The Wounded is really just a preview of a much larger, more immersive narrative.  Thereby making some of my criticism possibly obsolete.  

Layer Cake

Y’all remember that movie Smokin’ Aces? The action movie that featured a pre-Deadpool Ryan Reynolds fighting off a rogue’s gallery of Bounty Hunters in a Las Vegas Casino?  Diary of the Stray Dogs has a similar vibe but instead of Vegas we have a Blade Runner type metropolis, brilliantly rendered by artist Juan Carlos and colorist Edward “King” Bola.

Nigel’s script deftly layers a sexy urban night life on top of intrigue and gorey violence.

Dialogue is serviceable with just a  pinch of the Caribbean energy I’ve come to expect from Beyond Publishing.

Missing Ingredients

The only thing I feel is missing from Stray Dogs is the colorful world building that brought Nigel and Beyond Publishing such national acclaim.  Real talk,  the idea of a European futurescape is nowhere near as alluring as the idea of a Caribbean one.

But as I mentioned before, I believe this is all a set up for an even more exciting adventure.  I guarantee you, as fast paced as this book was, Nigel is holding on to an even bigger, more explosive story to come.