Iggy the Stray Dog

Iggy the Stray Dog (野良犬イギー) is a short story written by Otsuichi for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's 35th Anniversary.

It was published in JOJO magazine 2022 SPRING and released on March 19, 2022. A hardcover novelization of the story was released on May 19, 2022. It is a prequel of Stardust Crusaders set in 1980's Downtown New York City and features the battle between Iggy and Muhammad Avdol.

Summary
Arriving at the in New York, Muhammad Avdol collects his bags and enters a taxi to the Speedwagon Foundation building located in Midtown Manhattan. While in the taxi, Avdol notices the driver using his wipers to remove sand from the windshield and that sand was covering the backseat window. Glancing at him through the rear-view mirror, the driver explains that yellow sand has been blowing through New York for almost six months. After learning that Avdol is from Egypt, the driver tells him that the song is very popular in the US these days. However, Avdol responds saying that he had never heard of the song before.

The driver never would've guessed that the tourist's purpose for visiting the country was to capture a stray dog. According to a report by the Speedwagon Foundation, a small dog (later identified as a ) who likes eating coffee-flavored chewing gum was first spotted ransacking a small corner store in the city. When the owner went to remove the dog from the store, it jumped on their head, biting out their hair before finally farting in their face. Since then, there had been numerous incidents of stray dogs resembling a Boston Terriers spotted targeting stores that sell gum within Manhattan. There have even been reports of tourists having gum snatched out their hands. Due to the many complaints that the city received, several exterminators were hired to eradicate the problem. However, the Boston Terrier would always escape as sand would get in the eyes of the men as they tried to capture it. Another sand-related incident occurred during a gunfight between rival mobsters that broke out in upper Manhattan. A single shot was fired, however, no subsequent shots were heard as all the mafia members' guns were mysteriously clogged with sand. As it turns out, a Boston Terrier was spotted peacefully napping nearby.

After reading the report at the Speedwagon Foundation, Avdol comes to the conclusion that the dog must have the ability to manipulate the sand.

Trivia

 * The novelization refers to the title as "Stray Dog the Iggy" on both the cover and title page.