The two befriend each other, little knowing of the role they will both play in the oncoming battles. There he meets Chee, an insect from another warring faction. After tragedy strikes the cats in a battle with the neighboring dog faction's guardian, causing the death of Simon, Waffle begins blaming himself for the trouble and goes into the woods to end his own life. They were named after TenNapel's actual pet cats. The town elder sends four brave cats out to capture an enemy guardian to further defend the town. The town's only protection comes from an aged Guardian, a gigantic battle robot in disrepair.

Gear tells the story of a podunk town of squat, hominid-like cats who are bordered on all sides by bigger and more war-like animals. The Image Comics collection presents the artwork in full color. Many of its covers were photos of 3D sculptures, owing to TenNapel's affinity for stop motion animation. Gear featured black-and-white artwork mostly created with an ink brush by TenNapel. Many of the characters presented in the book were retooled for TenNapel's Nickelodeon cartoon series Catscratch. The issues were reprinted in trade paperback form by Image Comics in 2007. It was published in six issues by Fireman Press Ltd, a production company and publishing house.

(Aug.Gear is a six-issue comic book limited series written and illustrated by Doug TenNapel.

The story tries to add depth with the trope of a dead mother, but that theme doesn’t rescue it from occasional self-righteousness. What could have been a fun fantasy tale often turns preachy, and it belittles people who look different. The author also has a problem with people driving hybrids or boys having long hair. Characters are shown, and drawn, as good or bad.

Marcus wants the magical cardboard properties to himself because, well, he’s bad. Danger comes from Marcus, a boy readers are repeatedly told is rich, though apparently his parents can’t afford a dentist, and drawings concentrate on his bad teeth as if they’re a character flaw. They turn the cardboard into the shape of a man, only to have it come alive. Mike is unable to afford anything good for son Cam’s birthday, so he buys the boy only a cardboard box. This graphic novel tries to be about magic and goodness, but instead gets bogged down with creepy drawings, unfair stereotypes, and obnoxiously flat characters.

Books by doug tennapel