Tribes: The Dog Years
Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 1:50PM I've never been big into graphic novels; in fact, I don't think I've ever read one before. But a while back I picked up a copy of Tribes: The Dog Years on Amazon, and I finally got around to giving it a read. 
I've seen the book described as Lord of the Flies meets Mad Max, and that sums it up fairly well. It's set in a world 200 years after a nano-plague has shortened the human lifespan to just 21 years. Now, scattered tribes of people fight each other and try to survive for as long as their short lives will allow them.
Sundog, of the Sky Shadows tribe, is known for questioning the status quo, and so, when he finds Adams, one of the Ancients, it's not a hard decision for him to leave his tribe on a quest that can possibly end the plague.
Along the way, they encounter rival tribes, headhunters, Tinkers, and ancient technologies, all in the hope that the survivors will someday "be able to see their children's children for the first time."
At around 200 pages, I was able to finish it in a couple of lunch-hours, and that included taking time to really get a good look at the artwork. The quality of the art is fantastic, but even more so, it was interesting to have a visual depiction of what the settings and characters of this world really looked like.
The story wasn't bad either. Being a comic book, there was some condensing of plots and situations, but it was still very enjoyable. Like most comics, it was only the first arc of a larger storyline, so it did end fairly abruptly, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for the next part. I don't know if I'd buy a physical copy again, but they do have it available as an iPad app, so if they ever put it out on Android, I'd be sure to pick it up that way.
Reader Comments (2)
I've read a lot of graphic novels (and believe me, there are some very good comics out there that you shouldn't miss) and this one is on my amazon-wishlist for months. I think it's time to get my real copy of it. Thanks for bringing it up!
Yeah, there are definitely a lot I'd like to read, but my biggest hangup is the cost. A regular $10 novel might turn into 10 or 15 volumes of a graphic novel, each costing at least $10. And I don't like to read bits of stories at a time, so I'd have to buy all that at once.
So until they're all available at my library, or they come out in an affordable electronic format, I probably won't read many of them.
But that is one of things I hope to use my Android tablet for when I finally get one.