Hondle: Special Edition

HONDLE: SPECIAL EDITION

"Thanks for making me cry, Matthew.
You bastard."
Shawn Hoke, SIZE MATTERS Minicomic Reviews
"There's a real love here. It's in every page, and a true sense of loss pervades the second half of the narrative."
Douglas Noble, TSR2@BugPowder
"It's full of moments of delight and happiness, but all along it's obvious that this is written in the past tense and Hondle is nothing more than a much loved and deeply missed memory at this stage...make sure you settle down somewhere warm and cosy to read Hondle. That one's very special."
Richard Bruton, ForbiddenPlanet.co.uk

NEW PRINTING! COLOUR COVER!

Hondle is the life story of a small brown dog with dubious personal habits and a boundless zest for life. And toes.

A true story, Hondle is the first original graphic novella by Matthew Craig. Originally published online, the Special Edition features remastered art and new dialogue.

A labour of love, Hondle is 24 pages of black-and-white bow wow goodness for readers of all ages.

Good dog.


Click Thumbnails To Enlarge

All images © Matthew Craig

Reviewed by Shawn Hoke (includes extra preview pages):

"...[Matthew] Craig has totally pulled the gloves off.

"If you've let an animal into your life, you've got similar stories. We all do. I don't give a fuck what scientists and experts say, animals have personalities.

"Never at any point do you feel like Craig is trying to tug on your heartstrings.

"Thanks for making me cry, Matthew. You bastard."

Reviewed by Douglas Noble:

"...arguably this is the most important title in [Craig's] library.

"There's no pretence that this is a full biography, but the events that are shown serve as signposts to what is left out, leading us to fill in the parts that we missed for ourselves.

"There's a real love here. It's in every page, and a true sense of loss pervades the second half of the narrative. This comic-length look at the life of his dog, the eponymous Hondle, echoes throughout the rest of [Craig's] work, either directly, as in the further adventures of the canine in Experihondle, or indirectly in stories like War Dog.

"Craig's art here will still not be to all tastes, but there's enough depth in the writing to more than make up for any technical inadequacies."

Reviewed by Richard Bruton

In telling us the story of Hondle, Matthew has captured all of the joy and heartbreak that owning a much loved pet can bring. In Hondle Matthew delivers every morsel of love, devotion, sadness and great loss that you feel when you watch your pet grow from tiny puppy to old friend and then suffer that intense grief of seeing the thing you love most in your young life grow old and die.

"It's full of moments of delight and happiness, but all along it's obvious that this is written in the past tense and Hondle is nothing more than a much loved and deeply missed memory at this stage. Matthew manages very simply to transmit his great loss and his heartfelt sadness at the death of his best friend onto each page. Every happy moment is tinged with a heavy sense of foreboding, as we all know how this one's going to end.

"I even sat down with Molly, 8 years old and desperate to have a dog. By about halfway through she cuddled up tight and started wiping the tears away and by the end she was sobbing. It made her remember our own much loved cat with the same mix of happy memories and great sadness and just goes to show what a powerful piece of writing Matthew has managed in Hondle.

"...make sure you settle down somewhere warm and cosy to read Hondle. That one's very special."

DISSECTING WORLDS BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL 2012