Don't let the lovely artwork and funny talking animals fool you. This isn't a book to give to children. And something to warn animal lovers about before they read it. It's one of those stories that be a mixed bag for most animal lovers, such as movies like Old Yeller or Eight Below. The animals are cute and brave and all but some meet tragic ends.
Review
Evan Dorkin's Beasts of Burden is an interesting collection of a motley crew of dogs and a cat who keep stumbling into paranormal happenings in their neighborhood until they become members of a secret society of dogs dedicated to fighting these terrors. Many would think these themes wouldn't mix with cute talking animals but here Dorkin makes the dialogue fun but not as cheesy as most talking animal content these days. The readers are also given some moving moments of the animals seeing and doing things the humans can not in order to protect their home such as infiltrating a coven of witches by pretending to be one of their cats or a haunted doghouse or a runaway youth who can actually communicate with the animals. The book ends with some loose ends but the story is continued in one-shots, including a team-up with Hellboy, that will hopefully be collected as well soon.
Jill Thompson's art is beautiful water colors that make the animals look realistic but a mix of some subtle animated expressions when needed. As mentioned before there is some violence and death that happens rather frequently in this book and Thompson can illustrate them is very creepy yet gorgeous ways. The most chilling story probably being the issue searching for missing puppies giving a good, uncomfortable feelings of tragedy. Then there's the gruesome gore of a pack of zombie dogs. Either one will give you chills, but don't worry there's some laughs in there too.
Recommendations:
The book's moments of animals and humans being harmed can make it a hard read for some but still it can be a good read for the older YA crowd however I'd play it safe and shelve it with the adult books given how dark the content can get. Again, don't let the beautiful art and funny talking animals make you think it's okay for children.
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