ACW #639 – Wild Dog

Action Comics Weekly #639 (Wild Dog)
“Crack Up, Chapter 4: Rung by Rung!”
Writer – Max Collins
Pencils – Terry Beatty
Inks – John Nyberg
Colors – Carl Gafford
Letters – Tim Harkins
Editor – Brian Augustyn

I remember, oh so long ago, when I used to start off my pre-ramble for our ACW “anchor” with #TGIB: Thank Goodness it’s Blackhawk.  Well, it’s a new day (yes, it is) and still, it’s the “anchor” that I’m most looking forward to.  So, with only a couple weeks to go, #TGIW: Thank Goodness it’s Wild Dog.


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We pick up… pretty much right where we left off… only it’s a bit more fiery.  Lou Godder stands outside the burning crackhouse… and isn’t quite sure what to make of the situation.  Part of him wants to let it all play out (while snapping as many pictures as he can), but another part of him realizes that, if he doesn’t call this one in, the fire is likely to spread and cause even more damage.  Just then, Wild Dog emerges with one of the junior crackheads (or junior crack-peddlers) in tow.  After shaking the stuffing out of the lad, the Dog finds out there whereabouts of wee Willie Wallace!

Speak of the devil, our next scene takes us to wee Willie’s love shack.  He’s in bed with a girl who looks as though she could be anywhere from 12 to 45 years old.  She leaves, because she has a curfew… and doesn’t wanna get grounded.  Okay, so she’s just a rough-looking teen then?  So yeah, she leaves… Willie lights up a smoke and digs into the latest issue of Players Magazine.

Next thing we know, this poor gal is bound and gagged outside Willie’s pad.  He refers to her as “jailbait” which further assists in narrowing down her age.

So, who bounded and gagged the gal?  I’m so glad you asked… it’s the same person who just loaded Michael Jackson’s Bad into the CD Player… don’tcha just love it when a fight scene has a soundtrack?

Naturally, this home invader is our very own Wild Dog.  He confronts Willie… both about the crack, and the age of his latest “conquest”.  Man, is it just me… or does this girl look quite a bit older than she’s supposed to be?  Rough livin’, I tell ya what.  Anyhoo… Willie ain’t about to spill the beans… and so, Wild Dog proceeds to empty his pistol into Willie’s waterbed!

Willie still ain’t talking… and so, Wild Dog gets even rougher.  He slams the little dealer’s face into the water… and holds it down underwater in hopes that it loosens his lips a bit!

And Willie still ain’t talking… still.  Wild Dog promises that if he doesn’t start squawking… he will drown him in his own bed.  At this point, Willie realizes the Dog ain’t screwing around… and starts stoolin’ out his suppliers.  It was all the Jamaicans, ya see… and it just so happens that there’s going to be a big meet-up the following night!

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Same as it ever was… I love this feature!


High-intensity street-level fun.  A main character that gives “no effs” so long as he can deal out some justice.  It goes “over the top” in all the right ways.  I mean, popping a CD into the player, so the next scene can have a soundtrack?  We’ve seen that sort of thing done ironically… but, this is legit… and it’s awesome.


I like the opening scene, with Lou Godder kinda just gobsmacked that Wild Dog literally torched the crackhouse.  You gotta wonder if he feels a measure of responsibility for it… considering all the static he’d been giving Lt. Flint about Quad-Cities Finest’s inability to neutralize this threat.  I know I’d feel responsible if I raised a ruckus, and some dude in a hockey mask burnt down a building for me!


I think if I were to have any quibbles about this chapter, it would be the design of Wee Willie’s “jailbait”.  When I first saw her, I assumed she was an older woman… I’d have never guessed that she was a child.  I think if that were made clearer in the art, it’d be easier to have even more contempt for Willie.


Overall… another super-fun chapter!  Can’t wait for the next one!


Tomorrow: We close out the six-thirties!