Duncan the Wonder Dog

Adam Hines's Duncan the Wonder Dog opens up new possibilities for comics as a creative medium. The content and form of the book are challenging but always rewarding, and the ranging compositional techniques are ambitious and innovative. This book presents an experience of reading unlike any I have ever encountered in comics. Adam Hines is a creator to watch.  —S. Smith

Duncan is at once a breath-taking art book, a beautifully rendered comic, and a story of the ethics of human relationships with animals. I was constantly surprised and astounded at each page: the composition, layout, drawings, and writing were so masterfully done. Reading this book makes you feel as though you are part of something important. —J. Rosello

Duncan the Wonder Dog is a visually smart book. The author’s understanding of fine art printmaking – intaglio and lithography, is apparent. Adam uses techniques that seamlessly recall these traditional forms of printmaking. Each of the 400 pages is a remarkable pastiche of techniques that are not self-conscious nor gimmicky. The drawing and printing styles are purposeful in conveying the sober content of this narrative. Duncan is not an easy book. It takes time to absorb the work, but it is time in which to savor the nuances of the book on each page. —J. Sanders

A great deal of planning and effort went into the construction of this complicated masterpiece.  It has an almost mathematical panel progression and geometric layout.  The most engaging aspects ofDuncan for me were the individual stories, woven together to build a world that is starkly realistic and personally touching. —J. Meier

The "funny animal" comic with gravitas! Duncan the Wonder Dog is an ambitious (400pages!) first novel by Adam Hines, a young writer/illustrator who through word and image manages to "frac" readers' perceptions to reveal his vision of a universe inhabited and impacted equally by human and animal kind. Hines’ rare ability to communicate a complex story through picture, texture, and word advances the possibilities of the graphic novel medium, and hence earned the award spotlight. —J. Zolten