The Untold Tales of Dog Mendoca and Pizza Boy

More Comics
The Untold Tales of Dog Mendoca and Pizza Boy
By Troy-Jeffrey Allen
October 24, 2012 - 23:22

Dark Horse Comics
Writer(s): Filipe Melo
Penciller(s): Juan Cavia
Colourist(s): Santiago Semedo
Letterer(s): Pedro Semedo
$2.99 US

In an effort to reach a new audience, the ongoing misadventures of Dog Mendoca and Pizza Boy has survived the trip from Portugal to our shores. This one shot collects several interconnecting short stories from the Dark Horse Presents anthology series, a previous attempt to introduce Dog and friends to those of us who weren't sharp enough to pick up Portuguese in college.

Untold Tales of Dog Mendoca and Pizza Boy brings us up to speed with a lycanthrope turned detective named Dog Mendoca. Raised in the circus during the World War II-era, Dog quickly discovers that he isn't the only living sideshow attraction roaming the Earth. After dodging persecution from Nazi occultists, Dog makes a pact with his fellow freaks to protect them from the humans (or, in some cases, visa versa). Seemingly immortal, Dog survives the years by making good on his promise with a ghouls-for-hire detective agency. Joined by a demonic six-year-old and an unpaid intern dubbed "Pizza Boy," the wolf-man maintains the balance between the humans and the supernatural...for a fee, of course.

Because Dark Horse is footing the bill, nitpick-y nerds might be quick to compare Mendoca to Dark Horse's poster-child, Hellboy. But let's not be too hasty. In actuality, some early online press describes writer Filipe Melo as a filmmaker in addition to his work inside comics. If this is true then influences from the cinema can be seen on nearly every page of Untold Tales. Those of us familiar with classic films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Freaks, or the Universal Monsters series will be very amused by Dog’s self-awareness when narrating familiar tropes. Particularly, when the hero goes meta by selling the rights to his Lon Chaney-styled life story to (you guessed it) Dark Horse Comics.

The Untold Tales of Dog Mendoca and Pizza Boy is an incredibly fertile concept with many possible avenues for high adventure and satire. Filipe Melo and artist Juan Cavia have already completed a full volume of the series for trade paperback, making this one shot a surprisingly pleasant primer for more adventures to come. With it’s constantly shifting exploits, the book has a little something for everybody, and seems more than ready to gain traction with fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

Rating: 8.5/10