If you haven’t checked out Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson’s title Beasts of Burden, the latest one-shot, Hunters and Gatherers, is a good place to start. The premise is clever and fun; a pack of neighborhood pets become paranormal investigators and save the local animals from monsters. The story is so well written that even if you’ve never read a single issue, you won’t have any trouble figuring out what’s going on.
But it’s Jill Thompson’s watercolor style that really caught my attention. (Not that Dorkin’s writing isn’t awesome, I just fell in love with the art.)
Beasts of Burden first appeared in Dark Horse anthologies starting in 2003, before getting their own book in 2009. Evan Dorkin said he was trying to think of unusual ghost stories, and landed on the idea of a haunted doghouse. The story of the the Burden Hill neighborhood pets grew from that.
Hunters and Gatherers begins with the team of animals discussing the latest supernatural threats to the neighborhood. They eventually set up a trap for a monster that’s already slaughtered several pets in the area. Unfortunately the plan involves using one of the dogs on the team as bait.
The story has a lot of humor, but a little bit of gore too, so it’s not for the squeamish.
I’ve been a fan of Jill Thompson for a while; Sandman fans will remember her art from Brief Lives, The Little Endless Storybook, and Death: At Death’s Door. I love how she captures the animals of Burden Hill in her art. This isn’t an anthropomorphic book (though a little anthro art can be fun, this just isn’t that kind of book.) All the animals are still animals, they still run and move like the usual four-footed variety of pet. But their expressions are hilarious, the colors are lovely, and every panel is packed with detail.
I can only post pictures from the official preview, and my favorite panels weren’t in that, but Evan Dorkin posted a great page on his tumblr, you should go check it out. Seriously, it’s adorable.
I’ve been meaning to read this title for a while; Dorkin and Thompson won an Eisner for it in 2005. Now I realize why it has such loyal fans: it’s got something for animal-lovers, paranormal fiction readers, and people who collect beautiful artwork, so there’s a lot to love.