Whew! This is a brutal, emotionally wrenching and disturbing -- but ultimately very rewarding -- book. Collecting the entire Vertigo mini-series, it takes that which so many rely on for emotional succor, and especially so in these anxiety ridden times -- our pets -- and then places them directly at the center of the source of so many of our anxieties -- the high-tech amoral world of the modern American military establishment. Yet, it is a pitch perfect treatment of the theme. There is not a single false step from start to finsh, and Quitely's art is the best of his career. If you can stomach the grisly imagery this book dishes out, you'll find that it has a point to it and that the narrative makes a very strong case to back it up. Although, to be honest, as with any work of fantasy that attempts to double as a polemic, there is the inevitable bit of having your cake and eating it too; but that's all part of the pleasure, guilty though it may be.
