Meet Jake Lawrence’s ‘Teen Dog’, The Latest Weird-Cute Book From BOOM! Box
I recently became acquainted with the excellent webcomics of Jake Lawrence, an Australian cartoonist whose Timecowboy blog showcases his talents for creative character design, pixel art and of course good old fashioned cartooning. His work ranges from funny autobio to fantasy-fused action adventure.
And then there's Teen Dog.
Looking like a cross between The Simpsons' Poochy and Back To The Future's Marty McFly, Teen Dog is, essentially, a dog who is a teenager and super chill and way awesome at everything like skateboading and and gaming and watching movies and hanging out. Indeed, BOOM! promotes Teen Dog as embodying a high school experience that "didn't totally blow" but rather "totally ruled." And this September he's starring in his own eight-issue series featuring covers by Lawrence and Jen Lee.
Lawrence's work fits in well with the very animation-influenced tone and webcomics aesthetic established by Lumberjanes and Midas Flesh at BOOM! Box and the kaboom! line that includes Bee and Puppycat and the Adventure Time and Bravest Warriors series. But Teen Dog is is distinguished by a distinctly 1980s comedy vibe and a flavor of the surreal. To wit, the protagonist is an anthropomorphic dog in high school.
Here's a selection of Teen Dog strips from Lawrence's blog to give you more of an idea of what to expect from this new book.