Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner will once again put household pets in terrible situations in Feral, an ongoing series coming from Image Comics next year.
This time around the Stray Dogs team will focus on cats — in particular three indoor cats who get lost outside during a rabies outbreak.
“We didn’t want to repeat ourselves with this follow up book so it really was at first, thinking about: Okay, Stray Dogs is dogs trapped in a house. So, let’s have this one be about what’s really frightening in wide open spaces. The antagonist in Stray Dogs is someone who’s evil from the inside out. So, let’s have these cats face something that’s like an infection. An external threat. The stray dogs were forgetful… So these cats remember EVERYTHING,” Fleecs told The Hollywood Reporter. “These cats hold a grudge. That’s what we did differently. But the thing we did the same way was, we tried to build the story on characters, and how they fit together and how they clash and then just… What’s the worst possible situation we can put them in?”
Here are the details from Image:
In Feral, readers are introduced to Elsie, Lord Fluffy Britches, and Patch, three indoor cats lost in the not-so-great outdoors during a nightmarish rabies outbreak. Without their humans to protect them, the cats rush to find their way home before they’re eaten by the forest full of rabid beasts on their tails. Don’t get bit. Don’t get scratched. Don’t become…FERAL.
“We are really trying to give the readers a story to remember. We’re pushing the boundaries of what we already established in our little niche of storytelling. I could have never seen myself even reading a scary story like this early on in my comics journey, but now I can’t wait to see what happens next. Every page turn is a surprise,” Forstner said.
And here’s a look at some promotional pieces and interior pages for the first issue:
Look for the first issue to arrive in stores on March 27.