Book Review: Breaking the Chain: The Guard Dog Story (Mutts) by Patrick McDonnell
Posted on January 9, 2025 at 6:33 am by Gene Ambaum
Breaking the Chain: The Guard Dog Story (Mutts) by Patrick McDonnell. Abrams ComicArts, 2024. 9781419779084. 192pp.
This is the story of the guard dog in the comic strip Mutts. It’s the beautiful “conclusion” to the story of a dog left outside that is finally forgotten, abandoned, and then saved. It’s a gift book sure to make dog lovers (and even cat lovers like me) shed tears.
The book contains some of McDonnell’s initial sketches, earlier comics featuring the guard dog, an introduction that will be especially meaningful for Peanuts fans, and a selection of quotes showing the response to the featured sequence of comic strips, which appeared in Mutts at the end of 2023. There are also dog photos and stories of dog adoptions plus a resource guide at the end.
McDonnell’s art is always amazing, and seeing it enlarged, one-panel to a page for much of the book, made me appreciate it even more. Give this book to your friends. Give it to your enemies. Read it to your kids and your four-legged pals, too.
And if somehow you’ve never heard of Mutts, or if you need to catch up, you can find it at https://mutts.com/
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