A Beagle, a lizard and a Muppet fly into outer space…  Sounds like the set-up for a great joke doesn’t it?  Well it’s actually the premise for Willow’s Grove, a Science-fiction Webcomic by Karl Kleese.

On the face of it the writing seems simple and funny, but at its heart is surprisingly cleaver.  It combines a number of classic sci-fi tropes whilst coming up with something entirely original.  The humour sets you up with something familiar then the punch-line surprises you.  It’s easy to waste a few hours digging through the archives.

The artwork has a simple yet distinctive style with very clean, professional-looking line-work.  It starts in black and white, but later evolves into colour.

The story is easy to get into and guaranteed to leave you on your uppers.  It is divided into short, easily-digested story arcs as the characters go to different planets in an attempt to find their way back to Earth.  Whilst only a science-fiction fan will appreciate all the references I really can’t think of a reason why anyone couldn’t enjoy this.  Willow’s Grove is, in a word, fun.

The cleverly named ‘A Dog’s Breakfast’* is an independent comedy written, directed and starred in by David Hewlett – whom you may recognise as Dr. Rodney McKay from Stargate: Atlantis. In fact there are more than a few cameos from the Atlantis cast including Hewlett’s real-life sister Kate (Jeannie), Paul McGillion (Dr.Beckett), Christopher Judge (Teal’c) and Rachel Luttrell (Teyla) – all in different roles of course!

Hewlett plays the obsessive-compulsive Patrick who lives reclusively in the house of his birth and relies on constants in his life to remain stable; these include his dog Mars, his sister Marilyn and the spiders that live outside his sitting-room window.  When Marilyn introduces her fiancé, Ryan, Patrick becomes convinced he is trying to murder her and that the only way to stop him is to kill him first!

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