Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home

oh h*ck.

(Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review. Trigger warning for allusions to rape, child abuse, domestic violence, animal abuse, alcoholism, self-harm, and suicidal ideation.)

I first discovered Nicole Georges's artwork nestled within the pages of Bitch Magazine. Instantaneously smitten, my adoration only grew when I learned that Georges was a vegan who referred to her furry sidekick Beija as her "canine life partner." Her 2010 Invincible Summer Queer Animal Odyssey calendar still rests in the plastic protective covering it arrived in. (Don't worry, I take it out every once in awhile for much-deserved admiration.) I enjoyed her debut graphic novel, Invincible Summer: An Anthology, well enough, though haven't show more quite gotten around to reading Calling Dr. Laura. Even so, I can say with 99.9% certainty that Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home is her best work yet.



For my Noodle, Mags.
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At the tender age of sixteen, Georges adopted a dog as a gift for her then-boyfriend and first love, Tom. The ensuing back-and-forth demonstrates why you should never give a dog as a gift: despite clearing it ahead of time with Tom's mother, Tom's stepfather did not sign off on the deal. Nicole's mom reluctantly allowed her to keep the dog, but Beija's many behavioral problems quickly wore her patience thin.

Beija harbored an intense dislike/fear of men, children, and veterinarians; did not enjoy being picked up or touched on her sides; did not suffer invasions of space lightly; and frequently antagonized/was victimized by other dogs. She was temperamental and required patience, compassion, and understanding - much like her new human.

And so, in a situation so weird and improbable that it seems like the plot of a bad Fox sitcom, you have both sets of parents conspiring to push their teenagers out of the nest and into a seedy apartment, just so they could have a Beija-free home: "Starting now, this gift would change the course of both our lives. [...] All of this in order to keep the dog. As if we'd had a teen pregnancy."

While Nicole's relationship with Tom would soon implode, her partnership with Bejia proved to be for keeps. Through unhealthy relationships, annoying roommates, professional upheavals, and the trials and tribulations of growing up and discovering oneself, there was one constant in Nicole life. And if she just so happened to have four legs, a soft tummy, and spoke in a series of barks, whimpers, and tail wags, so what? Family is what you make of it.



Fetch is Rennie-approved.
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Most of the blurbs I've read so far focus on the coming-of-age aspect of Fetch (e.g., it's not "just" a book about a dog). And while it is indeed that - after all, at the time of her death, Beija had lived with Nicole for almost exactly half of Nicole's life - to me Fetch is, above all else, a love letter to and everlasting celebration of a best friend. A soul mate. A patronus, to quote Georges. (A daemon, in my vocab.) The dogs, they will always come first. PRIORITIES.

There's this one Mutts comic I love: It's a lovely day, and Ozzie is walking Earl on a long leash. A little heart bobs in a thought bubble above the human's head. To the right is a quote by one W.R. Purche: "Everyone thinks they have the best dog. And none of them are wrong."

To borrow a phrase from an online friend (Marji Beach, who works at another awesome animal sanctuary called Animal Place), it's clear that Nicole considers Beija the best worst dog ever. Their love for one another shines through every panel and page, making the inevitable goodbye that much more heartbreaking. It took me a full week to read the book, just because I couldn't bear to face the last forty pages.

I think it's safe to say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, especially when it comes to Fetch, and animal lovers will take something a little extra special away from their experience. When I say "animal lovers," I mean both in the conventional sense - i.e., those who care for culturally appropriate animals, such as dogs, cats, horses, and rabbits - as well as those of use who extend that circle of compassion to all nonhumans. There are precious few comic books that I could call overtly vegan - only two come to mind, namely Matt Miner's Liberator and The Animal Man by Grant Morrison - and I'm happy to add Fetch to the list. While Georges only drops the v*-word (vegetarian or vegan) a handful of times, she does introduce readers to animal rights issues in a gentle, subtle way. If you're not on the lookout (and I always am!), you might just miss it.

Though all the better to sneak into your subconscious, worming and niggling and prodding you to think about the face on your plate or the skin on your back ... to see them as someones rather than somethings, more alike than different from the dog snuggled up next to you or fast asleep at your feet.



Full disclosure: In between bites of spider trappings, Rennie assisted me in writing this review.
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I especially loved Bejia's manifesto, "I am not a stuffed animal," which surreptitiously introduces readers to the idea of intersectionality: "It's kind of like feminism, but for dogs." That line (along with countless others) literally had me squealing for joy. Little Beija-Boo - is she a shar pei-doxy mix? corgi and beagle? who knows! - is adorable and tubby, even as she's telling you to back the fuck off.

I could go on and on - about the many weird parallels between Georges's life and mine; about how I see pieces of Bejia in my own dogs; about the many ways, both large and small, that my loved ones and I have adapted our everyday routines and very existences to better accommodate our four-legged family members - but suffice it to say that Fetch is a must-read for anyone who's ever loved (and lost) a dog (though you may want to wait until the loss isn't quite so fresh - the ending is freaking brutal).

Ditto: anyone who just likes good storytelling or quirky artwork. I know I've focused on the nonhumans for most of my review - hey, that's how I do - but even those rare scenes sans doggos are beautifully rendered and engaging.

In summary: Fetch is easily my favorite book of 2017 thus far, graphic novel or no.

Aaaaand just in case the previous 1,000 words didn't convince you, here are a few of my favorite panels to help seal the deal.

(That last one? So charming that it displaced foster doggy as the background on my desktop. Temporarily, but still.)

























http://www.easyvegan.info/2017/07/18/fetch-by-nicole-j-georges/ show less

314 pages to belabor the adage that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners? Not for me. I get the love a person can have for a dog, but the rest of the bizarre choices and experiences of this author and her dog are so alien to me as to be off-putting.

A big problem in the book is the lack of flow in the pages. Poor placement of word balloons and mostly the captions (which are almost randomly placed at the top, bottom and sides of panels - sometimes all three in a single panel) often left me reading things in the wrong order. The thick black borders placed around almost all captions and panels may have contributed to this, making my mind split a caption apart from the panel it was supposed to be in. And while it was at least legible, I show more found the hand lettering to be distracting in its inconsistent size and alignment of letters and words in their assigned spaces, again possibly because those thick black borders drew such attention to the captions and how the words floated in them. show less

graphic memoir. A teen adopts a "problem" dog from a Kansas City shelter that would be a lifelong companion (for the next 16 years) as she moves to Portland, becomes an artist/musician, comes out as bisexual/lesbian, and deals with depression.

Heartfelt story with lovely black/white ink + wash-type illustrations, recommended for any dog- and animal-lover.

Sweet. Sad. Complicated.

Georges's memoir is certain to tug at the heart of anyone who has given their heart to a pet, especially a dog, not to mention a dog who doesn't always seem lovable. The story is touching and complicated as it skips back and forth in time through her life - pay attention.

Lovingly evokes the intense relationship between person and dog,. Especially when that relationship is anxious human managing anxious dog interactions with neurotypical society. Sketchy art except when dogs are illustrated. Contains: emotionally abusive childhood, animal harm, the dog dies.

Sweet coming of age with a dog story. I did not know to expect the coming out plotline! I was pleasantly surprised! Many resonant anecdotes about being young and not knowing how to do things and figuring that out.