A weekly feature spotlighting new & unusual features on the GoComics A-Z roster

Feature: Bleeker: The Rechargable Dog
Creator: Jonathan Mahood
Format: strip (dailies) large format (Sunday)
Frequency: daily

The other night, I read "The Velveteen Rabbit" to my kids. In the book, a toy rabbit spends most of his existence wondering whether he'll ever be loved enough to be real. An early "Bleeker: The Rechargeable Dog" strip, in which Bleeker comes face-to-face with a real dog, reminded me of this poignant children's story. Except instead of longing to be like them, the way the rabbit does, Bleeker just scoffs and calls the dog a show-off. In spite of his quirks, bugs and occasional fried circuits, Bleeker (or BLKR501, for his IM pals) seems pretty comfortable with who he is, which is a good-natured robotic pet to a boy named Skip Smalls. "Bleeker" actually has a long history with GoComics, debuting on the site in 2006, with a five-year sabbatical from the site while it was syndicated by King Features. This January, the robo-pooch resurfaced on GoComics, and hasn't missed a beat since. Cartoonist Jonathan Mahood adds a lot of zip, movement and color to the strip, and wrings a pretty great range of expressions from the titular character. Especially fun are the new large-format Sunday strips, which feature the hapless robotic dinosaur, Refurb. Read more Bleeker: The Rechargeable Dog strips right here on GoComics.