One of our most beloved comic books in recent memory is Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson. It's an adorably high concept series: a gang of plucky pets are paranormal investigators who battle unfathomably evil supernatural nasties.
And according to a press release from Dark Horse Comics, Beasts of Burden is now becoming an animated film slated for a theatrical release. The publisher is teaming up with Reelfx, the animation studio currently developing films based on Rats of NIMH and A Wrinkle in Time.
As much as we're pleased as punch to support all things Beasts of Burden, we do hope this film adaptation keeps the darkness that inflects the series. A major reason the comic is so damn good is that it juxtaposes chatty pets with creatures too horrifying for the human mind.
Furthermore, the comic is frequently downright brutal — characters (both four and two-legged) kick it rather frequently. Let's hope the filmmakers remember that Beasts of Burden is a legitimately spooky supernatural yarn (and not just Marmaduke with ghosts).