Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men #1 Review: Special

One of the most original and fascinating comics to come out in recent years is “Beasts of Burden” written by Evan Dorkin. The story of a bunch of cats and dogs protecting forests with magic is fascinating. The most recent one, “Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men,” with art by Benjamin Dewey continues the series with yet another great tale.

A fire breaks out in the forest caused by a salamander. While the dogs do put it out, Lundy finds out that the salamander caused the fire because he was stuck in a trap that had weird runes on it. What the dogs don’t know is that this trap is just the beginning of what can be a major disaster coming to them.

This is a rather strange case since now it seems like a bunch of magic-wielding humans are starting to create traps and as the first issue goes on we see that there is a lot more to that story. This creates a huge problem that our heroes may not be able to fix since it seems like it may be too big for them to handle. The setup to this is great and the comic does a great job of creating suspense for the next issues.

Dewey’s artwork does look like the normal artwork associated with this series, but it does feel a bit lacking. Granted the dogs look great as well as the first, but there seems to be a certain charm missing that readers are used too. It’s not terrible art, in fact, it’s great, it’s just missing that one note that makes it part of the series.

“Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men” has a strong start that seems to one-up what the fans are used to in this series. The art may not have that magical other stories had, but it’s still great.