GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ Comic Review (ARC): Beasts of Burden: Neighborhood Watch | I Smell Sheep

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Comic Review (ARC): Beasts of Burden: Neighborhood Watch

Beasts of Burden: Neighborhood Watch
Writer: Evan Dorkin
Artist: Jill Thompson
Cover Artist: Jill Thompson
Genre: Horror, Action/Adventure
Publication Date: August 01, 2012
Format: FC, 32 pages
Price: $3.50
UPC: 7 61568 18921 6 00111
Preview


Adventure, mystery, horror, and humor thrive on every page of the Eisner Award–winning Beasts of Burden. The four-legged occult-investigating team—a heroic gang of dogs and one cat—are doing their best to protect their home, Burden Hill, from a chicken-stealing goblin, a frightful basilisk, and a strange lost herd of sheep!

* This special one-shot reprints three stories from Dark Horse Presents!

* Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson return to the characters that won them the 2005 Eisner Award for Best Short Story!

Gosh, I just love Dark Horse. They bring the crazy like no one’s business with a comic about a group of dogs and one cat that protect their neighborhood from supernatural threats. I think any dog lover is going to enjoy this comic. There are three creative stories combining my favorite elements: horror and humor. This is a one shot comic, which I feel works best for this subject. I think the novelty of dog vigilantes would lose its appeal if this was a series.

The comic works well visually. The artwork has a soft watercolor feel and the animal's facial expressions add to the humor. I liked how the artist used a monochromatic color scheme to set the mood for the ghost story portion. The panel layout is appealing with some cool variation and the dialogue is easy to read and well written.

My favorite of the three stories was A View From the Hill. A flock of sheep (oh,yeah!) and their dog guardian wandered near town and the dog gang has gone to investigate. There is something very wrong about the sheep and only Jack, the Beagle, seems to know, but he has fainted. The last page of this story is priceless and had me rolling and snorting, but I can’t share it with you cause that would be spoiling the surprise. I also enjoyed Story Time. An Old English Sheep dog teaches a litter of Golden puppies a lesson through a ghost story. I wouldn’t give this comic to your doggie loving 5 year old, though, since it's classified as horror. I would compare it to a borderline PG-13 movie.

At the end of the comic is a three page preview of Billy the Kid’s Old Time Oddities and the Orm of Lock Ness. A new comic releasing Oct. 17, 2012. Lovely art work, but not quite sure what it is about. Maybe a collection of stories like Uncle Creepy, but with Billy the Kid instead…


I enjoyed reading Beasts of Burden. It is worth the read for a smile.

4 “well done” Sheep




SharonS (edit by BAK)

2 comments:

  1. Heh. Love it Sharon! Plus a kitty involved?! Sounds like a fun little read :) Thanks for sharing!

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    Replies
    1. it was fun :) Dark Horse has a big selection of awesome non traditional comics like this

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