Beasts of Burden

Beasts of Burden
Cover to Beasts of Burden #4 (Dec 2009) by Jill Thompson
Publication information
Publisher	Dark Horse Comics
Creative team
Writer(s)	Evan Dorkin
Artist(s)	Jill Thompson
Creator(s)	Evan Dorkin Jill Thompson

Beasts of Burden is a comic book series created by writer Evan Dorkin and artist Jill Thompson, and published by American company Dark Horse Comics. The title centers on an eponymous team of intelligent animals that investigate different paranormal events that occur in their small neighborhood of Burden Hill. The group consists of five dogs named Ace, Rex, Jack, Whitey, and Pugsley, and a cat named Orphan (later they are joined by another cat named Dymphna, a former witch's familiar). The group is often seen consulting with "Wise Dogs", local shaman-like elders of their community.^[1]

The characters made their first appearance in a story titled Stray (written by Evan Dorkin with art by Jill Thompson) in The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings. They made subsequent appearances in The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft, The Dark Horse Book of The Dead, and The Dark Horse Book of Monsters.

Dorkin stated that he came up with the concept after being asked by Dark Horse editor Scott Allie to write a story for the horror anthology The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings.^[2]

I wanted to write a haunted-house story, but not along traditional lines. After a few false starts I hit on the idea of a haunted doghouse, which became my pitch for Stray. Scott liked it and wanted me to draw it. I draw animals about as well as I breakdance, but Scott believed in me. Which was really nice. Luckily for us all, I convinced him to approach Jill Thompson instead.

— Evan Dorkin, 2010

In 2009 the characters appeared in their own 4-issue mini-series.^[3] In 2010 the characters appeared alongside Hellboy in a one-shot issue titled Hellboy/Beasts of Burden: Sacrifice.^[4] In 2011, three new Beasts of Burden stories appeared in the fourth, sixth and eighth issues of the relaunched Dark Horse Presents series, all of which were later reprinted in the Beasts of Burden: Neighborhood Watch one-shot.^[5]

Bibliography

Comics

Date	Story	First Appearance in...	Writer	Artist	Notes
August 27, 2003	Stray	The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings	Evan Dorkin	Jill Thompson	[6]
July 7, 2004	The Unfamiliar	The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft			[7]
June 1, 2005	Let Sleeping Dogs Lie	The Dark Horse Book of the Dead			[8]
December 13, 2006	A Dog and His Boy	The Dark Horse Book of Monsters	Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer		[9]
September 16, 2009	The Gathering Storm	Beasts of Burden #1	Evan Dorkin		[10]
October 21, 2009	Lost	Beasts of Burden #2			[11]
November 25, 2009	Something Whiskered This Way Comes	Beasts of Burden #3			[12]
December 23, 2009	Grave Happenings	Beasts of Burden #4			[13]
October 27, 2010	Sacrifice	Hellboy/Beasts of Burden	Evan Dorkin and Mike Mignola		[14]
September 21, 2011	Food Run	Dark Horse Presents #4	Evan Dorkin		[15]
November 23, 2011	Story Time	Dark Horse Presents #6			[16]
February 1, 2012	The View from the Hill	Dark Horse Presents #8			[17]
August 1, 2012	RECOLLECTS: Food Run Story Time The View from the Hill	Beasts of Burden: Neighborhood Watch			[18]
March 12, 2014	Hunters and Gatherers	Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers			[19]
May 4, 2016	What the Cat Dragged In	Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In	Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer		[20]
		Beasts of Burden: The Presence of Others #1	Evan Dorkin
		Beasts of Burden: The Presence of Others #2

Collected editions

Date	Title	Stories Collected	ISBN	Notes
June 30, 2010	Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites	Stray The Unfamiliar Let Sleeping Dogs Lie A Dog and His Boy The Gathering Storm Lost Something Whiskered This Way Comes Grave Happenings	ISBN 9781595825131	[21]

Film

A CG-animated film adaptation was announced via Reel FX Creative Studios with filmmaker Andrew Adamson scheduled to produce^[22] and writer Darren Lemke attached to write the screenplay.^[23] On February 20, 2013, it was announced that Shane Acker will direct the film, with Mike Richardson and Aron Warner joining Adamson as producers.^[24]

Awards and recognition

• 2004 Eisner Awards: Won Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior Art)
• 2005 Eisner Awards: Won Best Short Story
• 2007 Eisner Awards: Won Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior Art)
• 2010 Eisner Awards: Won Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior Art)
• 2010 Eisner Awards: Won Best Publication for Teens
• 2010 Harvey Awards: Nominated for Best Continuing or Limited Series^[25]
• 2011 National Cartoonist Society: Won Best Comic Book Artist (Jill Thompson)^[26]
• 2011 Anthony Awards: Nominated for Best Graphic Novel^[27]
• 2011 Eisner Awards: Nominated for Best Graphic Album - Reprint^[28]
• 2011 Harvey Awards: Won for Best Graphic Album Previously Published^[29]
• 2015 Eisner Awards: Won Best Single Issue (or One-Shot) (for "Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers", with Jill Thompson)

References

1. Dorkin, Evan and Jill Thompson. "Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites". Dark Horse Books, 2010.
2. Dorkin, Evan and Jill Thompson. "Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites". Dark Horse Books, 2010, p.169.
3. Manning, Shaun (July 16, 2009). "Dorkin & Thompson's 'Beasts of Burden'". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
4. Manning, Shaun (April 20, 2010). "C2E2 EXCLUSIVE: "BEASTS OF BURDEN/HELLBOY"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
5. "BEASTS OF BURDEN RETURNS IN DARK HORSE PRESENTS #4". Dark Horse. May 10, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
6. "The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
7. "The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
8. "The Dark Horse Book of the Dead". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
9. "The Dark Horse Book of Monsters". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
10. "Beasts of Burden #1". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
11. "Beasts of Burden #2". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
12. "Beasts of Burden #3". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
13. "Beasts of Burden #4". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
14. "Hellboy/Beasts of Burden". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
15. "Dark Horse Presents #4". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
16. "Dark Horse Presents #6". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
17. "Dark Horse Presents #8". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
18. "Beasts of Burden: Neighborhood Watch". Retrieved 17 February 2014.
19. "Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers". Retrieved 17 February 2014.
20. "Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In". Retrieved 30 April 2016.
21. "Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
22. "BEASTS OF BURDEN HEADED TO HOLLYWOOD!". Dark Horse Comics. June 13, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
23. Kit, Borys (June 28, 2011). "Comic Adaptation 'Beasts of Burden' Taps 'Jack the Giant Killer' Writer". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
24. "Shane Acker to Direct Beasts of Burden". ComingSoon.net. February 20, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
25. "2010 Harvey Awards" Archived July 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine., Harvey Awards, 2010
26. Gold, Mike. "National Cartoonist Society Winners Announced", ComicMix, May 29, 2011
27. "Beasts of Burden nominated for 2011 Anthony Award", Dark Horse Comics, May 19, 2011
28. "2011 Eisner Awards Nominess". Comic-con.org. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
29. "2011 Harvey Awards". Harveyawards.org. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved March 2, 2012.