Seance Dog

Seance Dog takes the form of an upright, anthropomorphic dog styled after classic mystic superheroes, his design owing a clear debt to the sorcerer archetype of comics like Doctor Strange. Fans of the series wear his likeness on T-shirts and keep action figures of him on their shelves.

As a story within the story, Seance Dog stands in for the kind of mystic adventure hero fans idolize, the sort of character readers form lasting attachments to. His pull is strong enough that Mark clings to his figure while clearing out childhood things and instantly warms to anyone who shares the fandom.

Seance Dog headlines a comic series treasured by Mark Grayson since childhood; an early scene finds Mark buried in an issue in the bathroom until his mother Debbie interrupts hunting for soap. Packing for Upstate University, he tosses most of his action figures in a dumpster but cannot bring himself to part with the Seance Dog one. That night the alien Nuolzot turned up wearing the character's shape, and a baffled, angry Mark forced him to drop the disguise. Mark later brought Amber to a comic convention and met the character's creator, Filip Schaff, who walked him through the tricks behind the cartoon. A year after the Destruction of Chicago, at William's birthday party, Mark met Amber's new boyfriend Kyle sporting a Seance Dog shirt, and the two hit it off over their shared love of the series.