Beasts of Burden : Hunters & Gatherers (one-shot)

Those paranormal pet detectives are back in a new thrilling one-shot. Something is killing animals the woods of Burden Hill, something large and fast. It’s up to the cats and dogs of the neighbourhood to investigate, but what they find is more terrifying then they were led to believe.
 

The Team

Written by Evan Dorkin and illustrated by Jill Thompson
 

The Pros & Cons

If you’re unfamiliar with Beasts of Burden, here’s what you need to know. The small community of Burden Hill is often plagued with weird occurrences of the unexplained and the supernatural. The humans are unaware of these threats, but their pets are not. Banding together, they deal with the situations as best as they can.

This is a series I never get tired of; it’s an original series with wonderful characters, clever dialogue and creepy stories. Don’t think for one second that just because it’s about cats and dogs, that it’s cute and all. It’s get a little bloody and violent sometimes. What’s interesting about it, is that it’s all about the animals, occasionally you’ll see some humans, but for the most part it’s just the pets.

This one-shot special has the animals deal with an unseen force terrorizing the forest, it’s not the best of BOB I’ve read, but the ending serves as a vehicle for future stories. The cats and dogs have specific rivals, who are animals as well. These animals are often seen as evil in real life, if you’ve read past stories, then you know what I’m talking about.

I like how illustrator Jill Thompson treats the drawings like a child’s picture book; lots of pastel colours, slightly faded out backgrounds and she really gives the animal’s real facial expressions that makes an emotional or suspenseful panel some depth.
 

The Outcome

Like I said, this wasn’t my favourite Beast of Burden comic, but anytime I get to visit this neighbourhood is a good time for me. I hope to see more of these in the near future.