Most of my watchers know of Top Cat, but there was also a Top Dog ...and this is he (or, at least, my poor representation of).
Anyway, Top Dog is from the world of comic books ...and only comic books, insofar as I can tell; the character never had an animated incarnation (which sets the character apart from my usual genre of TV/film subjects).
I don't know anything about the character that the internet doesn't, so here's a snippet about the character from Wikipedia,
"Top Dog is a very intelligent, talking dog who befriends a human child named Joey Jordan. Top Dog goes on to live with Joey, who promises not to expose the fact that Top Dog can speak. The duo go on to have adventures involving spies, criminals and mad scientists, after it is revealed that Top Dog was formerly "Mr. X", a government agent who was valued for his intelligence, but had to disguise his canine nature with a cover ID and a full-body cloak"
Cool.
Curious, I purchased a Top Dog comic book from eBay: 'The Great Museum Mystery'. The interesting thing about this comic is it features Heathcliff. Most of my watchers know Heathcliff from the animated 'Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats' series. That said, this comic's iteration of Heathcliff is from the newspaper comic *strip.
The major difference is the comics's version of Heathcliff doesn't talk.
*well, to call 'Heathcliff' a strip may be a bit generous, as the version I'm familiar with was of the single-panel sort. ^^
Now, of course, I cannot link anyone to the comic, but I can show a spoiler-free page from it, to give the viewer a taste of the art and how the panels come together: https://sta.sh/01l4w9sia0u5
So, without further adieu, let's begin!
***SPOILERS!!!***SPOILERS!!!***SPOILERS!!!***
The story opens outside a natural history museum, which is hosting a 'pet day'. This event is just an excuse to bring Top Dog and Heathcliff together (with their respective humans Joey and Iggy, of course),
JOEY (to Top Dog): "What a great idea, Top Dog... Pet day gives us kids and our pets a great chance to meet new friends!"
TOPDOG (whispering): "Who do you think wrote the letter suggesting the idea, Joey?"
Did Top Dog do this for Joey's benefit or for the community as a whole? If the former, I'd feel kinda bad for Joey! ^^
Anyway, the museum is packed with kids and pets. Among those is Iggy Nutmeg and his cat, Heathcliff. Joey and Iggy meet and begin chatting. After introductions, the boys excuse themselves,
IGGY (to Joey): "I'm doing a report on ancient Egypt for a class project"
JOEY: "Hey, me too! Why can't we team up?"
They do, leaving their pets together in the 'pet area'.
...I hope everyone's been spayed/neutered! ...oh, wait ...Somehow, Heathcliff and Top Dog are the only pets in this room, despite the crowd from earlier (I guess the crowd vacated when they saw Heathcliff coming) ^^
Anyway, Heathcliff isn't content to hang around the pet area, but as the exit is being watched by a guard, Heathcliff cannot just slip away.
Top Dog observes Heathcliff brainstorming a plan of escape,
TOP DOG (to self): "Pace all you want to, cat! You'll never get by that guard at the door!"
Of course, guards in these kinds of stories are easily fooled by creative artifice. As this guard is no exception, Heathcliff thus takes his freedom.
Top Dog likewise baffles the guard in order to give chase to Heathcliff.
In the meanwhile, Joey and Iggy have finished their research on ancient Egypt (that was quick!). As the boys walk together towards the pet area, they hear voices from behind a door,
VOICE: "Those ancient gems are priceless! You'll never get away with this, Graves!"
Joey recognizes the voice as belonging to Mr. Sloan, the museum's curator. The kids peek inside the door. They observe Graves and his unnamed assistant placing some gems from a wall safe into a bag, as Mr. Sloan sits tied to a chair.
GRAVES (to Mr. Sloan): "Ha-ha! I am getting away with it, Sloan! You should've checked me out better before hiring me as your new assistant! ...and just to make sure we're not disturbed on our way out..."
*Graves pushes a button on the intercom"
GRAVES (intercom): "Attention! The museum will close in five minutes! Please collect your pets and proceed to the nearest exit! Thank you!"
...Does Graves really think this won't raise any red flags with the rest of the museum staff?
Anyway, in response to Graves's message, Top Dog ceases his pursuit of Heathcliff,
TOPDOG (to self): "That's all I need! Getting locked in here with Heathcliff! I'd better find Joey, and pronto!"
At the same time, the kids decide to find help for Mr. Sloan, but are apprehended by yet another of Graves's henchmen: Max ...who for some reason is disguised as a mummy. Using some bandages from Max's costume, Graves ties Iggy and Joey together so they cannot interfere.
Heathcliff rounds the corner, and sees some of Iggy's belongings on the floor. Concurrently, Heathcliff hears Graves's voice from the door,
GRAVES (to his henchmen): "Let's go, boys! Nothing can stop us from getting away with these rare jewels!"
Except, perhaps, wasting time standing around talking about it. ^^
Heathcliff enters the room and is noticed by the villains. Heathcliff manages to escape with the bag of gems, but was unable to free the kids.
As Heathcliff runs with the gems, he crashes into Top Dog. Consequently, the gems scatter from the bag and onto the floor. Heathcliff is able to mime an explanation to Top Dog, just as the villains 'round the corner, hoping to reclaim their loot.
The gems re-bag themselves (somehow) and our heroes dash away with them, intentionally activating a silent alarm as they do so.
Top Dog and Heathcliff work together to evade their common enemy (destroying a dinosaur skeleton in the process---how exciting!). In the end, through incredible luck, Heathcliff and Top Dog succeed in wrapping Graves and his henchmen up in the bindings of Max's mummy costume.
The police arrive. The criminals are collected and Mr. Sloan and the kids are freed.
MR. SLOAN (to Iggy and Joey): "Boys, the museum owes you a debt of thanks, and especially to your pets: Top Dog and ...and ....ah. Where's Heathcliff?"
Mr. Sloan and the kids follow Top Dog, on the trail of Heathcliff's scent. Heathcliff is discovered in the 'sea life' area, having harpooned a (thankfully fake) 'tunasaurus'. :P
...And here our comic ends. :3
Of course, I just ran through the story---there's much more to it in terms of action (ie., the chases, etc), but the gist remains intact. :3
I've seen (and read) stories like this before (and I'm sure many of my watchers have, too)---there's nothing new here. Even so, I like the character of Top Dog (at least in his role as a 'pet'), and one cannot go wrong with Heathcliff. The art is inconsistent, but cartoony and not too repetitive insofar as character poses and the like. Most of the complaints I have are nit-picky and therefore not deleterious to the story or to the experience of reading it. Some pages could have been managed better, as there are panels that seem wasted or unnecessary, yet (again) this didn't detract from my reading and viewing pleasures. :3
I'll be honest I've never heard of this comic before. You learn something new everyday lol. He is a cute character :3 And it looks like an interesting comic series. But anyways, nice job as always lol
I'll be honest I've never heard of this comic before. You learn something new everyday lol. He is a
