Pet Noir: An Anthology of Strange But True Pet Crime Stories

Edited by Shannon O'Leary

Manic D Press (December), $13.95

When the sun goes down on the naked city, it ain't the man with the gun you need to keep an eye on — it's the gerbil with the teeth. In this highly original comic anthology, San Francisco cartoonist Shannon O'Leary has assembled true crime stories that will shock and titillate you just as much as a 12-hour couch session with Court TV. The twist is that four-legged creatures are sometimes the perps (as in the local dog-mauling case) and sometimes the victims, like the bichon frisé who was pitched into traffic during a road rage incident. A posse of comic obsessives, many of them local, have produced the art and stories, and O'Leary herself has a hand in seven of the twisted tales; the result is a mix of art styles, some more polished than others. The book closes with an afterword from the Animal Legal Defense Fund (which gets a portion of the profits), but it's a jolting change in mood. Film noir doesn't preach or wag a finger, but rather lets audiences leer at a secret, seedy world. Likewise, Pet Noir is really an invitation to ponder the strange desires that dwell in the hearts of men and beasts. — Eliza Strickland