Beasts of Burden

Publishing history

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.

In 2009 the characters appeared in their own four-issue miniseries. The following year the characters appeared alongside [Hellboy in a one-shot crossover issue titled Hellboy/Beasts of Burden: Sacrifice. Three new Beasts of Burden short stories appeared in the fourth, sixth, and eighth issues of the relaunched Dark Horse Presents series during 2011 and 2012, all of which were later reprinted in the Beasts of Burden: Neighborhood Watch one-shot. The publishing schedule slowed down after that with only two issues from 2013 to 2017.

Late 2017, Dorkin wrote on his blog that Thompson was almost finished with the first issue of a two-part story, The Presence of Others, and artist Benjamin Dewey was working on a four-issue story titled Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men. Dorkin confirmed on his Twitter account that more stories were planned for both Thompson and Dewey. In 2019, The Presence of Others was published with Jill Thompson on the first issue and Benjamin Dewey on the second, and the Occupied Territory four-issue miniseries with Benjamin Dewey was published in 2021.

Characters

The Apprentices

• Ace, a Husky, courageous and bitten by a werewolf in "A Boy and His Dog"
• Jack, a Beagle, has some sensitivity to the paranormal
• Pugsley, a Pug, who is outspoken, snarky and cynical, often gets told to shut up by the others
• Rex, a Doberman, who is often afraid
• The Orphan, a male orange tabby cat who is ownerless. He is the only non-canine to attend dog funeral services. He possesses street smarts.
• Whitey, a Jack Russell Terrier who has a tendency to vomit or wet himself when frightened
• Dymphna, a former witch's familiar introduced in The Unfamiliar
• Miranda, a black dog who can cast spells

The Swifties

A gang of neighbourhood cats that work with the apprentices introduced in "Something Whiskered This Way Comes" and as allies in "The Presence of Others".

• The Get Away Kid, ownerless tuxedo cat with a reputation for escape
• Muggsy, a calico cat who is a "first lifer" (a cat that hasn't used up any of its nine lives)
• Sleeping Bob
• Johnny Whiskers

Wise Dogs

• Cian
• Emrys, an Old English Sheepdog
• Lundy, a Scottish Terrier
• Dempsey
• Brigid

Other characters

• Red, a dog
• Holstein, a cat

Comics

Collected editions

Film

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

In April 2021, Evan Dorkin revealed that this adaptation never moved beyond pre-production and that he was not a fan of the script that would have been used. No further adaptation plans have been announced.

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
• 2011 National Cartoonist Society: Won Best Comic Book Artist (Jill Thompson)
• 2011 Anthony Awards: Nominated for Best Graphic Novel
• 2011 Eisner Awards: Nominated for Best Graphic Album - Reprint
• 2011 Harvey Awards: Won for Best Graphic Album Previously Published
• 2015 Eisner Awards: Won Best Single Issue/One-Shot (for Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers)
• 2017 Eisner Awards: Won Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior Art)
• 2017 Eisner Awards: Won Best Single Issue/One-Shot (for Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In)

References

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.
4. Manning, Shaun. (April 20, 2010). "C2E2 Exclusive: "Beasts of Burden/Hellboy"". Comic Book Resources.
5. (May 10, 2011). "Beasts of Burden Returns in Dark Horse Presents #4". Dark Horse.
6. (March 5, 2014). "Dorkin Discusses "Beasts of Burden," Bids Farewell to "The Eltingville Club"".
7. "Still Here, Still Doing Stuff".
8. Dorkin, Evan. (May 16, 2018). "This brings you up to date about the BEASTS OF BURDEN comic series, at least all that I can talk about. More stories are planned and more art is coming from co-creator @thejillthompson and from @BenjaminDewey -- I hope we can do this for some time until the stories are all told.".
9. Dorkin, Evan. (February 7, 2019). "Here's where we are w/BEASTS OF BURDEN: THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS is a two-parter, part 1 w/art by series co-creator @thejillthompson. Part 2 w/art by WISE DOGS collab @BenjaminDewey. Both lettered by @blambot. This arc will finish up the long-awaited 2nd Burden Hill collection. (1)".
10. Dorkin, Evan. (February 7, 2019). "@thejillthompson @BenjaminDewey @blambot @colorkitten After THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS, me, @colorkitten, @BenjaminDewey and @blambot will be doing a new WISE DOGS mini-series. Three of the four scripts are completed. And after that, hopefully a series of Burden Hill stand-alone stories. We'll see how things go. Thx for reading BoB. (5)".
11. "The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings". Dark Horse Comics.
12. "The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft". Dark Horse Comics.
13. "The Dark Horse Book of the Dead". Dark Horse Comics.
14. "The Dark Horse Book of Monsters". Dark Horse Comics.
15. "Beasts of Burden #1". Dark Horse Comics.
16. "Beasts of Burden #2". Dark Horse Comics.
17. "Beasts of Burden #3". Dark Horse Comics.
18. "Beasts of Burden #4". Dark Horse Comics.
19. "Hellboy/Beasts of Burden". Dark Horse Comics.
20. "Dark Horse Presents #4". Dark Horse Comics.
21. "Dark Horse Presents #6". Dark Horse Comics.
22. "Dark Horse Presents #8". Dark Horse Comics.
23. "Beasts of Burden: Neighborhood Watch".
24. "Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers".
25. "Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In".
26. (April 17, 2018). "Beasts of Burden returns for a new horror adventure in this exclusive preview".
27. "Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men #2". Dark Horse Comics.
28. "Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men #3". Dark Horse Comics.
29. "Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men #4". Dark Horse Comics.
30. "Dark Horse's Beasts of Burden Saga Continues with The Presence of Others".
31. (January 21, 2021). "Dark Horse Returns to Beasts of Burden in April With New Miniseries (Exclusive)".
32. "Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites (HC)". Dark Horse Comics.
33. "Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites (TPB)". Dark Horse Comics.
34. "Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men (HC)". Dark Horse Comics.
35. "Beasts of Burden: Neighborhood Watch (HC)". Dark Horse Comics.
36. "Beasts of Burden Omnibus TPB".
37. (June 13, 2011). "BEASTS OF BURDEN HEADED TO HOLLYWOOD!". [[Dark Horse Comics]].
38. Kit, Borys. (June 28, 2011). "Comic Adaptation 'Beasts of Burden' Taps 'Jack the Giant Killer' Writer". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
39. (February 20, 2013). "Shane Acker to Direct Beasts of Burden". ComingSoon.net.
40. (April 7, 2021). "Evan Dorkin on the legacy and adventure of 'Beasts of Burden' • AIPT".
41. [http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_2010win.html "2010 Harvey Awards"] {{webarchive. link. (July 20, 2012 , [[Harvey Awards]], 2010)
42. (October 2016)
43. [http://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/414/beasts-burden-nominated-2011-anthony-award "Beasts of Burden nominated for 2011 Anthony Award"], [[Dark Horse Comics]], May 19, 2011
44. "2011 Eisner Awards Nominess". Comic-con.org.
45. "2011 Harvey Awards". Harveyawards.org.