If you’re a fan of odd-ball comedy when it comes to comics, then you probably already know Evan Dorkin. Dorkin is the creator of the hilarious series Milk and Cheese, which has found a cult-like following among fans, as well as an animation writer, along with Sarah Dyer, for shows like Superman, Batman Beyond, and Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast.So it may seem strange that Dorkin’s latest project is a supernatural animal adventure drawn in beautiful watercolor by Jill Thompson (Sandman, The Invisibles, Swamp Thing). But once you start reading Beasts of Burden, you’ll soon notice the subtle humor that only a writer of his caliber can bring to a series which such weight.
(You can read the first three shorts of the series here, and take a look at the first ten pages of the series here.)
A knock-out achievement in terms of style, dialogue, character development, and scenery -- it’s no wonder that the book is getting rave reviews from nearly every news source in the industry.
Dorkin recently took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions for us.
Do you have pets? If so, have they influenced you on this project?
I have two cats, Crushinto and Mimsy. The character of The Oprhan is based on Crushy, that's what we used to call him before we were able to adopt him, he was a stray that a family on our block all but abandoned. Our pets don't influence the project any further than that, really. I like dogs and would like to have one some day, I like animals quite a bit, but I haven't been sitting around trying to come up with an animal-themed series or story, and I don't observe our cats and hope they do something that will trigger an idea.
In what way is writing for animal characters different from writing for human characters?
I'm writing them as fairly human, but taking into account their alien animal qualities. They're not anthropomorphic in the sense that they walk on their hind legs, use their paws as hands, and can drive or use tools or weapons. A few of the animals have limited occult abilities, but for the most part, I'm writing “ordinary” animals caught up in extraordinary circumstances. With the contrivance that they speak to one another, they understand various animal languages and don't spend all day sleeping and chasing cars and one another. It's difficult because I have to watch the dialogue, Scott has pointed out several examples in the scripts where he questioned whether the characters would actually say the dialogue I'd written, and he was right -- it sounded off. There's certain clichés and phrases and manners of speaking which the characters would not adopt. And I try to have them toss some “animal” phrases that humans wouldn't use, references to their specific beliefs and cultures and attitudes not shared by us.
Sometimes it comes easy; sometimes it's a real pain in the ass, especially during expositional sequences. And of course, they can't use their hands, they don't read newspapers or have cell phones or go on the internet, but they're dealing with phenomena in the here and now, and so I'm very limited in how the animals can learn things, discover things, and grapple with things. They could walk right past a clue that would be obvious to a human protagonist and I can't give them that knowledge. It throws a monkey wrench into the plotting at times, but I'm getting used to figuring out organic methods for the animals to get around their limitations. The supernatural angle helps, the Wise Dog Society and animal lore and urban legends help as well. But in the second issue, they get in over their heads, so I can show that they don't always know what they're doing, and they don't always come away with a clean or clear victory over their adversaries.
Do you believe that animals have a sense of other worlds and spirits that humans don’t have?
I really don't think so. But who knows. I'm not a spiritual person, I'm not religious or a believer in the supernatural. It would be nice if there were worlds beyond ours, certainly an afterlife, especially if it was catered. We had a cat named Mr. Jinx who constantly stared up at the ceiling while remaining frozen in place; we used to say he was watching the ghosts. But, no. I think they have a sense of food and sleep, but not other worlds.
Beasts of Burden is one of the most original comics to come out in recent memory, what was the inspiration for this series?
The first story started with a haunted doghouse, and that was owing to the theme of the Book of Hauntings. I knew I wanted to do a haunted house story, because I like those, especially older creepy stories and books like The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Richard Matheson's Hell House. The doghouse concept led to the need for animal protagonists, and the biggest influence on that approach, for me, is Watership Down. I haven't gone back to the novel, but working off my memories of it, that's what's in my head as far as dealing with the different animals cultures and belief systems. The Wise Dog Society sprang up from a need for a wise man, shaman-type character, someone like The Exorcist or the psychic lady from Poltergeist. I'm seeing some folks bring up things like Ghostbusters, X-Files, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, even Scooby Doo -- I think those comparisons are all valid, but they're not direct influences.
Like most folks in comics and geek culture, I've sat myself in front of a lot of horror and monster movies, read a lot of comics and books with genre trappings, and all that becomes a mental resource you dip back into time and again when working on scripts or comics. As far as Beasts being original, the influences on the series pretty much shows this isn't really all that original a concept, I feel awkward thinking anything anybody does these days is really all that “original”, it's a jumble of things from my reading and viewing history. I just tossed it together a certain way, trying to be influenced rather than outright copy anything, putting whatever personal spin on it I am able to. I hope the take is original, I don't know. I've been asked if certain young adult or kid's books are influences, like Bunnicula, but I've never read those, and wasn't aware of them until recently. But it shows animals and the supernatural isn't all that unique. That being said, I think the series has developed pretty organically and in our own particular style, because we initially only meant to do an eight-page story, and the series just grew from there, without any real calculation. Until now, I guess.
The tales are somewhat grim and dark, what scares you when enjoying entertainment?
Besides the price . . . I'd say the idea of death and all it entails always unsettles me. Death, loss, corruption of the mind and body, chaos, loss of identity. Zombies continue to freak me out because of the notions of societal breakdown, of mindless masses that want to eat and dismember you, it's powerful stuff, and fun as well because I think many of us enjoy seeing individuals plowing through crowds with automatic weapons and vehicles. At least I do, when it's fake. Despite the glut of zombie projects, the basic premise still unnerves me. I haven't followed any of the new stuff, but I'm a sucker for the first two Romero zombie movies and all those stupid Italian zombie movies, even the older non-cannibalistic flicks like White Zombie and I Walked With a Zombie. Robotic dead humans up to no good, I'm all for it.
The only horror comics that have ever scared me, or at least unnerved me, have been Junji Ito's horror manga. And when I was young, the EC horror books upset me a lot. Comics are not a great medium for actual scaring people -- creeping people out, unnerving them, or grossing them out, that's not impossible, but actually jolting readers in a comic, it's difficult. I don't even try for that sort of thing in Beasts, I'm going for emotional moments and creepy visuals and whatnot, I'd rather have readers upset by what happens to a character or a depressing situation than try to actually frighten them. Comics don't carry that off well, in my opinion. But they have other things going for them, and that's what I'm trying to work with on Beasts.
What made you want to work with Jill Thompson on this series?
I wrote the first short story “Stray”, with Jill's artwork in mind. I just thought her art would be perfect for what I was trying to do, which was a mix of storybook, fable and horror tale. I usually don't think in terms of color, let alone watercolor, when writing, I'm a pretty traditional cartoonist, and most of my work is printed in black and white. But I had Jill in mind as the artist from the beginning, once the story shaped up and I knew what would be required. Jill also draws great animals, which I don't. She was perfect for the story and the series, and I'm very happy to be collaborating with her on these stories.
Do you have a favorite character in the pack? If so, why?
I'm fond of all of them, but I gravitate towards cats, and The Orphan's based on one of our pets. So, I'm biased towards him for that reason. Pugs and Whitey are the most fun to write. They provide comic relief and counterpoint the creepy stuff. But I like them all. Otherwise I'd have had them get eaten by a monster by now.
What first drew you into the comics industry?
Since childhood I've always been interested in a career that would leave me broke, frustrated and depressed. It was either comics, poetry or social work. I can't write poetry and can barely even read the stuff, and other people's problems don't interest me as much as the problems of Spider-Man, so I chose comics. I've been broke, frustrated and depressed ever since. It's been a dream come true.
If you were a dog, what breed would you be?
A small, loud, obnoxious mutt.
