Review by Ian Keogh

It’s literally a dog’s life in the world in which Detectives Bergman and McBoo operate, as the entire population are humanoid dogs, expressively brought to life by Dave Shelton.

Bergman is the tough guy with the angry attitude and McBoo is the newcomer, bigger and seemingly a pushover, but with different methods that are sometimes surprisingly efficient, although he can be distracted by food. We’re introduced to them with McBoo’s arrival as a new partner, possibly straight from Monsters Inc, during the set-up for an elaborate slapstick scene taking place as Bergman attempts an arrest at the top of a high rise.

The introductory story is brief, but ‘The Golden Bone’ and ‘The Dog’s Dinner’ are both longer shaggy dog stories with Bergman and McBoo led from one destination to another. In the first they have to recover the valuable golden bone, and in the second a famous chef is abducted in front of dozens at a prestigious event.

Shelton enjoys a pun and staging the slapstick, but also has a slight fondness for the surreal. A few dogs wear clothes, but most are naked except for hats, ties, scarves and collars. While the title characters are indistinct breeds, Shelton supplies more recognisable dogs, with a chihuahua cast as a gang boss delivering a great slimy turn. There’s also the extraordinary Bartholemew, a tough flea in a bowler hat resident on McBoo, but a welcome tenant called on in sticky situations.

As with almost any graphic novel originating in The Phoenix weekly comics, standards are high and laughs are frequent. More follows in Double Identity.

The Golden Bone was previously published in hardback as Book 1, and the paperback version reformats the pages, so no longer includes the design strip at the bottom of the sample art.