It’s true: readers of American superhero comics often look at manga with disdain. They roll their eyes and pick up their single issues, snubbing black and white volumes, intentionally avoiding what has somehow become a ‘teen market’. But, surprise: not all manga is about magical schoolgirls traveling through sparkly dimensions! Manga is just the Japanese word for comic. And remember how pissed off you get when people think of American comics as cheesy fairy tales about men wearing tights?

Every month, I’ll be laying a new series upon you, my lovely, single-issue-reading, Batman-loving Meltdown-goers, as proof that Japanese comics can kick just as much ass as Aquaman has been doing lately.

This month: Shiro Miwa’s DOGS.

One thing that American comic book fans love is an assembly of great characters—each with his or her own unique abilities. I mean… Justice League, The Avengers, even less mainstream ventures like Umbrella Academy and Doom Patrol. There’s something really exciting about teaming up all that power and watching it crack down on whatever force is threatening the universe.

The four main characters in DOGS are assassins, and although not a traditional ‘team’ per se, fulfill different thematic purposes: an old man who lost everything to leave his gang but hasn’t lost his hitman skills, a one-eyed tabloid photographer who goes homicidal when he doesn’t get a smoke, a quiet (but lethal) swordswoman covered in scars and regret, and a white-haired, quick-healing, dog-collared meta-human called Heine. Get these four together in the same book and it’s like watching a great ensemble heist film—with a little more genetic mutation, psychological trauma, and decapitations involved. There’s a reason each volume is marked with a Parental Advisory label. The manic gun battles and shakingly violent combat found in DOGS make the Suicide Squad seem like a bunch of pussies.

This is also not your average doe-eyed manga artwork. Miwa paints his characters with savage lines, sharp teeth, and crazed, shadowy eyes. The action sequences cut across the page without heed to a ‘grid’ format. The conspiracies run so deep that each volume demands a reread, since no panel has been left untouched by stylistic plot devices. Heine, Naoto, Badou, and Mihai each have their reasons for becoming ‘stray dogs’ (there’s a Volume 0 with character introductions, but it’s not a necessary read for understanding their current exploits), and I guarantee they are as mythological as any superhero origin story.

Don’t let these sleeping dogs lie. Grab Volume 1 at Meltdown and get 10% off your entire purchase. Your gunplay skills will thank you.

For more (possibly less formal) thoughts, follow my twitter @junkstory. #comicgeeksagainstmangadiscrimination