Back in 2012, online comedian, artist, and philanthropist, Matthew Inman, perhaps better know as The Oatmeal, published a comic, "
My Dog: The Paradox". It's not the first animal-related comic he's done, with cats and bears in particular making regular appearances, nor is it the only time his adorable dog, Rambo, has been featured.
Something about this particular comic really resonated with me though. I'm not known for my emotional displays, usually hiding behind my mask of awesomeness, but I do have feelings, and I love dogs. If you're ever around me having just read/
watched/heard something sentimental about dogs, you'll likely see my guard drop a little. Dogs have that effect on people, it's their super power. Feeling sad? HAVE A PUPPY FOR INSTANT HAPPINESS!! Lonely? DOGGY CUDDLES ARE FRIENDLY!! Main character in a movie dies? Pssh... Dog in a movie dies? SADDEST THING EVER!! I don't care if you're not a dog person, I dare you to disagree with me. Dogs are emotions wrapped up in fur with a tail as indicator (usually happy...or hungry). My Dog: The Paradox, was such a popular comic, that The Oatmeal re-drew it in colour and published it as a little book, which came out in May 2013. I didn't buy it straight away, as there's
many things I want, so everything just gets added to a list until such time as I deem appropriate to buy it.
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Fluffiness is proportional to happiness.
Bonus points for long ears and puppy-dog eyes. |
That's my dog (family dog), Stella, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. We got her when I was 10, so I grew up with her. Just before last Christmas (2013), we had to put her down (nearly 14 years old). I've never been through something like that before. Our previous dog died naturally of old age (I was 8 at the time), and it was during the night once I had gone to bed, so it wasn't something I actually experienced as such. Being quite young, I was sad, but I didn't really understand fully, and I don't really have many memories of her (but I do remember she was a loveable little Miniature Dachshund, Shasa - no, not Sasha). But back to Stella, in 2008 I think it was, she had to have one of her hind legs amputated due to cancer in the knee. That didn't stop her trying to run around like she still had 4 legs, and for the next couple years it didn't seem to impair her too much. But as she started getting older, she developed arthritis, which only made it ever harder to move, as her single back leg started to struggle more and more with supporting her. To cut a long (and not too happy) story short, her leg deteriorated so much that it got to a point where she could hardly move or even stand. Even sleeping had become uncomfortable for her and in the end we had to make the hard decision.
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One of the last photos of Stella.
The carpet strips you see were placed around the house as "runways" to help her get around. |
As most dog owners will confirm, dogs love chewing things, and one of Stella's favourite things to do was to unwrap presents. She didn't chew the boxes or whatever was inside, she just liked to tear the paper off. So Christmas was a dream come true for her. That Christmas, was therefore quite sad, not having our little doggy to run around share the happiness. I used to come from uni and she would greet me with a happy woof (I was usually the first one home for the day if everyone was out), then we'd go and study in my room. She particularly like exam periods as I was home much more and she'd spend the whole day with me, After she died, it took me while to get used to not having her there any more. I'd get home from uni and go to let her out, only she wasn't there.
Stella would stalk flies, but should they ever turn around she'd run and hide. She wasn't too keen on baths, but loved getting dried and brushed afterwards. She was terrified of other dogs, regardless of their size or age (I always wondered if she realised she was a dog herself), yet would try to befriend every person she came across. If something was out of place or unusual, she'd sniff it and/or bark at it, because it was different. On two separate occasions she got stung by a scorpion when she sniffed it too close, and on many occasions she got absolutely no response from a plastic bag that had been left on the floor. I could keep going on about how crazy-yet-normal she was, and The Oatmeal's book draws very similar comparisons about his dog. This post wasn't meant to be all emotional, the idea was to review the book, however I felt it required a bit of a back story and some personal anecdotes. But now we can go back to happy (if you need help, grab the nearest dog - even if it's not yours).
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| The now famous pet of The Oatmeal, Rambo |
My Dog: The Paradox, perfectly describes dogs, and is a great sentiment about them. Whilst it is written simply as a fun book about one man's love for his dog and how happy and crazy dogs can be, it is a great keepsake type book for all dog owners and lovers. Whether your dog may have died and you get it in memory of them, or you simply find the book interesting and funny, the book relates to all dogs and reflects common feelings towards them. The book features an introduction by Matthew, before it get's into the comic, where he talks about his inspiration for the comic/book and dedicates it to all the dogs he's owned and lived with. The coloured version of the comic is a really nice touch, made extra bright being printed on glossy paper. It reinforces the happiness of the comic, which whilst is a little moving in parts, is mostly a celebration of dogs and our relationship with them. It's quite short compared to his previous books, consisting of only the single comic rather than a collection of them, but there are a couple extra bonus artworks. Also it's hardcover, which helps keep it in good condition, plus allows you to stand it up should you wish to display it.
I bought the book recently when The Oatmeal celebrated 5 years by having sale in the website's merch shop. I didn't buy just the book though, that would be silly. If you're going to the effort of buying something, you might as well buy other things too (this applies to internet shopping and real-life shopping), especially if you have to pay for shipping. So I took the opportunity to get a couple other things - but what? I want The Oatmeal's other books as well, although I didn't want to just get books, and they make good presents too (for any family members reading if you're ever not sure what to get me...). There's some cool shirts which I'd like to add to my
collection as well, but in the end, I opted for some prints. I'm a fan of wall art, however it gets to a stage in every mans' life when posters of your favourite bands and/or movies just don't work any more, and you need something a little more... appropriate?
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| Kate-Lyn said I could. |
Enter, "Wookiee Jesus", and "There's a Duck in My Coffee". Quirky enough to be cool and keep your inner child at peace, yet colourful and classy enough to be suitable as home decoration and keep your significant other at peace. And they're both signed, so that adds artistic value. Wookiee Jesus is from another
comic (speaking of significant others...), and features a Wookiee (let's call him Chewbacca, cos he's the best), holding a crucifix-styled lightsabre, with a Death Star in the background in place of the moon. I'm by no means religious (though should Jedi ever be accepted as a religion, then sign me up!), but you can't deny it's an aweosme print, and it allows be to display my affection for Star Wars without putting up possibly non-significant-other-worthy movie posters (though I have them as well). As for the Duck, it's kinda weird, but in a cool way, and makes for an awesome piece of art. It's not from any of The Oatmeal's comics, just a stand alone drawing, though it does have a partner, "There's a Polar Bear in My Coffee", which is available as t-shirt.
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| If only it came in a print as well. |
I've wanted to feature The Oatmeal for a while (back when I was posting on the old version of the blog), and I finally had the opportunity. If you haven't heard of his work before, go check it out. Some of the comics are educational, some cute, some rude, all aweosme. He also does a lot of charity work, including for animals and wildlife, cancer research, and building a
Goddamn Tesla Museum!
That's all for now, I'll leave you with a couple extra dog comics from some of my other favourite comic artists:
Chris
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