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Poncho: Year One
Year One is a graphic novel depicting the hilarious first year of puppyhood of the acerbic, self-serving, and much put-upon Poncho from the internationally syndicated comic strip Pooch Café. Drawn from the daily strips 15-month-long storyline, (with substantial new material added to flesh out the tale), we follow Poncho from the womb (literally -- lined up in last place behind his siblings), through his introduction to hamburgers and the other wonders of the world, to dealing with his new master's betrothal to a "crazy cat lady." Ever want to know what's going on in your puppy's mind? Here are all the answers.
126 pages, Paperback
First published September 7, 2011
11 people want to read
About the author
Paul Gilligan
22 books22 followersPaul Gilligan writes and draws the syndicated comic strip Pooch Café, which has been twice nominated by the National Cartoonist Society for best strip. He’s the author/illustrator of the early-reader graphic novel series Pluto Rocket, the chapter book series King of the Mole People, and the graphic memoir Boy Vs. Shark. He lives in Toronto with his wife and kids, where he still rides his bike, and quite comfortably swims in lakes and pools, as long as nobody makes any “du-nuh” sounds.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 27, 2021
Paul Gilligan wanted to write a graphic novel. So he repurposed the Pooch Cafe daily strip into a serialized origin story for over a year, then trimmed it a bit here and there to release it in graphic novel form via this book. It's great! It's fun to see Poncho as a puppy, and fun to see the relationship between Poncho and Chazz get some room to breathe and develop. And it all remains very funny. I laughed out loud very hard a number of times. This would be a great intro to Pooch Cafe, I think.
Here's hoping Paul Gilligan comes out with another book soon!
Here's hoping Paul Gilligan comes out with another book soon!
June 21, 2018
It was alright! Underwhelming, but alright!
I liked Pooch Cafe when I was a kid, but I never looked forward to it when I picked up the Sunday Funnies. It was just . . . there. Not bad, but never really leaving an impact.
(SPOILERS, I GUESS?)
This collection is much the same way, albeit with a few new interesting ideas thrown into the mix. Poncho: Year One is an origin story for Pooch Cafe's main character, Poncho. And when I say origin story, I MEAN origin: we witness Poncho pre-life and through the process of being born. That, admittedly, is a pretty neat concept, but once born, the plot becomes fairly . . . well, fair.
Poncho gets adopted, bonds with his master, master meets a new lady-friend, they move into lady-friend's apartment, lady-friend has cats and Poncho goes insane. And those plot points happen just as quickly as that summary: no build-up, no time for development, just BAM! new plot point. Poncho goes to the Pooch Cafe to discuss his new cat problem, they hatch some plans, don some Nixon masks (I actually liked that part), and in the end Poncho learns a valuable lesson about cats. The End.
For what it is, Poncho: Year One is fine. For fan's of Pooch Cafe, I'm sure it's a perfect encapsulation of what the strip's all about. And the pre-birth/birth stuff is conceptually interesting. But I was underwhelmed. I didn't have any expectations for this thing, but it was still less than what I expected to be. A lukewarm read worth skipping.
I liked Pooch Cafe when I was a kid, but I never looked forward to it when I picked up the Sunday Funnies. It was just . . . there. Not bad, but never really leaving an impact.
(SPOILERS, I GUESS?)
This collection is much the same way, albeit with a few new interesting ideas thrown into the mix. Poncho: Year One is an origin story for Pooch Cafe's main character, Poncho. And when I say origin story, I MEAN origin: we witness Poncho pre-life and through the process of being born. That, admittedly, is a pretty neat concept, but once born, the plot becomes fairly . . . well, fair.
Poncho gets adopted, bonds with his master, master meets a new lady-friend, they move into lady-friend's apartment, lady-friend has cats and Poncho goes insane. And those plot points happen just as quickly as that summary: no build-up, no time for development, just BAM! new plot point. Poncho goes to the Pooch Cafe to discuss his new cat problem, they hatch some plans, don some Nixon masks (I actually liked that part), and in the end Poncho learns a valuable lesson about cats. The End.
For what it is, Poncho: Year One is fine. For fan's of Pooch Cafe, I'm sure it's a perfect encapsulation of what the strip's all about. And the pre-birth/birth stuff is conceptually interesting. But I was underwhelmed. I didn't have any expectations for this thing, but it was still less than what I expected to be. A lukewarm read worth skipping.
September 16, 2011
I read this storyline in the paper over the past year+, but it's a different experience to be able to sit down and read it all as a single story (organized by chapters). I recently attended a presentation by Paul Gilligan and he said that his intention was to make a "graphic novel" out of a story with his strip. I think that's a perfect way to describe this volume.
I like reading short, one-joke humor strips, but I love graphic novels even more. Graphic novels with jokes throughout, I love even more. Gilligan said he added many new panels (I think the book says about 150). The book makes the story so seamless, I can't honestly say I knew which were new panels. (In the back of my mind, I kept thinking that there were a few more pop culture references than I read in the paper, but I can't say for sure.) I did notice the punchlines would shift and not always end on the fourth panel in a row, so the new panels were definitely there. But it's a testament to Gilligan's "graphic novel" storytelling that one strip after the other just read as a unified story and not this endless setup-setup-setup-punch line beat.
If you didn't catch the entire storyline as it published, this is the perfect opportunity to catch up. Even if you did, take a few hours and read it in this graphic novel version. You'll be pleasantly surprised by how well the entire story flows!
SPOILERS::
I love how Poncho was a jerk right from the start. I mean, immediately. Before he's even left his mother's birth canal. I wonder if there was any temptation on Gilligan's part to make some epic, dramatic reason be behind Poncho's reprobate attitude and behavior, but I'm glad it didn't start off with him being sweet and kind. In fact, what we get instead is jerk Poncho learning from time to time to care a little bit about the needs and wants of others, even if those don't coincide with his own. Nice. I especially liked the way he sort of acknowledged a truce with Mr. Moo Mittens. (Seriously, though, Carmen, I know that's the joke, but you have worst taste in cat names! XD I think she was poised to be a crazy cat lady before she let a man and a dog into her life.)
Since they made me laugh, I definitely forgive them, but I noticed a few references to modern pop culture being uttered by dogs in what I assume is supposed to be a 1990s flashback. Then I told myself, "You just said, 'uttered by dogs.' If you can accept talking dogs, you can accept murky chronology."
I like reading short, one-joke humor strips, but I love graphic novels even more. Graphic novels with jokes throughout, I love even more. Gilligan said he added many new panels (I think the book says about 150). The book makes the story so seamless, I can't honestly say I knew which were new panels. (In the back of my mind, I kept thinking that there were a few more pop culture references than I read in the paper, but I can't say for sure.) I did notice the punchlines would shift and not always end on the fourth panel in a row, so the new panels were definitely there. But it's a testament to Gilligan's "graphic novel" storytelling that one strip after the other just read as a unified story and not this endless setup-setup-setup-punch line beat.
If you didn't catch the entire storyline as it published, this is the perfect opportunity to catch up. Even if you did, take a few hours and read it in this graphic novel version. You'll be pleasantly surprised by how well the entire story flows!
SPOILERS::
I love how Poncho was a jerk right from the start. I mean, immediately. Before he's even left his mother's birth canal. I wonder if there was any temptation on Gilligan's part to make some epic, dramatic reason be behind Poncho's reprobate attitude and behavior, but I'm glad it didn't start off with him being sweet and kind. In fact, what we get instead is jerk Poncho learning from time to time to care a little bit about the needs and wants of others, even if those don't coincide with his own. Nice. I especially liked the way he sort of acknowledged a truce with Mr. Moo Mittens. (Seriously, though, Carmen, I know that's the joke, but you have worst taste in cat names! XD I think she was poised to be a crazy cat lady before she let a man and a dog into her life.)
Since they made me laugh, I definitely forgive them, but I noticed a few references to modern pop culture being uttered by dogs in what I assume is supposed to be a 1990s flashback. Then I told myself, "You just said, 'uttered by dogs.' If you can accept talking dogs, you can accept murky chronology."
June 5, 2015
I first came across this series a few years ago. Poncho is a funny little dog, and his interactions with the humans, cats, fish, and other dogs in his life are a hoot. Creator Paul Gilligan decided to go back and explore Poncho's origins, and I'm SO glad he did. You get to see his life from just before birth until he goes to live with his pet human, Chaz. The puppy sibling relationships are a scream- loved the Goth girl pup. Great addition to my collection.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews