In-Fur-Nation

Full-color funny animal silliness from Marvel Comics, collected together in one big trade paperback for your enjoyment. Spider-Man: Animal Magnetism hits the shelves this January, collecting Spider-Man: Back in Quack (a team-up with Howard the Duck which you may recall we talked about before), The Spider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special (a classic funny-animal spoof of the web slinger, complete with new material), The Ultimate Civil War Spider-Ham (don’t even ask!), and Top Dog #10 (about, you guessed it, a super-dog). Some of the guilty party include writers Stuart Moore, Tom Defalco, J. Michael Straczynski (!), Tom Peyer, and George Caragonne; along with artists Mark Brooks, Joe Suitor, Jacob Chabot, Adam Deraker, Agnes Garbowska, Joe Jusko, and Warren Kremer. The cover art was completed by the late Mike Wieringo of Tellos fame.

Sam is no ordinary sheep-dog: He has a nose for sniffing out the clues to a mystery. And Jennie is no ordinary girl, because she can read Sam’s thoughts! Together with their friend Beth, the trio seek out the answers to mysterious goings-on in their seemingly-sleepy little town of  Woodford. Their first assignment: Finding out if their weird new neighbor is in fact a vampire! It’s all in the first Sam and Friends Mystery graphic novel, coming this January from writer Mary Labatt and illustrator Jo Rioux. This black & white trade paperback is published by Kids Can Press.

Okay, try to keep up here: Mikaal Thomas — known as the superhero Starman — and Congorilla — a talking ape from Gorilla City, made famous in the pages of The Flash — team up to “unlock the secrets behind the toxic Omega Man’s dark energy, which has encased Washington, D.C.”. All righty then. In this full-color one-shot from DC Comics, our heroes — one blue, one furry — encounter several friends and foes from the DC universe, including Animal Man, Sirocco, and “a certain wonder-dog named Rex”. You can thank writer James Robinson, illustrator Brett Booth, and cover-artist Gene Ha when Starman/Congorilla hits the shelves in early January.

Many cultures in our world have a long tradition of folklore relating to the trickster spirit — a being of great power who mostly uses that power to steal food or precious possessions, cheat at games, fool the opposite sex (or sometimes the same one!), and so forth. Often enough the trickster spirit is embodied as an animal — Reynard the fox from Europe and The Monkey King from Asia are great examples. Native American cultures also have rich traditions of trickster story, whether he (or she, or both) takes the form of a raven, a rabbit, a coyote, or whatever. Now Fulcrum Publishing have brought together many of these stories in a new full-color comic trade paperback: Trickster — Native American Tales — A Graphic Anthology, edited by Matt Dembicki. More than twenty Native American story-tellers worked together with a select group of artists to bring to life stories like “Coyote and the Pebbles”, “How Wildcat Caught a Turkey” ,  “Rabbit’s Choctaw Tail Tale”, and many more. Take a look at Fulcrum’s web site for the book.

Once again BOOM! Studios have stepped up to the task of bringing the Disney Afternoon back to life.  Following on the webbed heels of their successful Darkwing Duck comic book series, now comes the full-color return of Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers, written by Ian Brill and illustrated by Leonel Castellani. You can see a preview of this new series, as well as the various alternate covers for the first issue, at BOOM! Studio’s web site.

By now you might have caught wind (or teaser trailer) of Hop, a new live action/CGI film coming next spring from Universal Pictures. If not, here’s the run-down: It seems that one day the Easter Bunny (voiced by UK comedian Russell Brand) is accidentally run-over by Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker. Now Fred is forced to keep the bunny in his home until he heals enough to complete his job — a fact that both of them find terribly annoying. The film is directed by Tim Hill, best known for Alvin and the Chipmunks, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, and Muppets from Space. The animation was created by Illumination Entertainment, who created this year’s film Despicable Me. Oh, and that trailer? You can find it on You Tube, or find out even more at Hop’s official web site, I Want Candy. Check out the film when it premiers on April 1st, 2011.

Pug Davis is a very strange, successful, and popular web comic written and illustrated by Rebecca Sugar. She’s already on her third “issue” (read: story arc), and now the first two have been released as a single-volume black & white trade paperback by Albatross Exploding Funny Books (what a name!). The story concerns a famously dangerous space adventurer known as Pug Davis: Gruff, grouchy, conservative, politically incorrect… Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact he’s got the face of a cute little pug dog, complete with bright and shiny little puppy-eyes. He and his companion, an optimistic and unashamedly gay human known as “Blouse”, travel the galaxy together — one looking to make friends and find a home, one looking to bash some heads.  The Web Comic Overlook site has a much more detailed review and explanation of it all… but afterward, it still won’t all make sense!

Camilla d’Errico is a fine artist and painter, widely known for her pictures of anime-style young women posing with animals. Her work has been seen in publications like Hi-Fructose, Kid Robot, and Juxtapoz. You can view more of her art, often referred to as “pop surrealism”, at her web site. Now Dark Horse Comics are set to release Femina & Fauna: The Art of Camilla d’Errico, this coming March. It’s advertised as “the largest and most comprehensive book of Camilla’s art ever published”. Well at very least it’s more than 100 pages of art in a large-format hardcover book. You can order it now at Amazon too.

image c. 2010 Camilla d'Errico

It may seem only sideways anthropomorphic, but Ricardo Delgado’s Age of Reptiles comic book series earns a place here by virtue of its viewpoint: Life seen through the eyes of dinosaurs, and many species of dinosaurs at that. Besides, Ricardo Delgado himself was a guest speaker at several early furry fandom conventions! Now Dark Horse Comics is releasing the Age of Reptiles Omnibus, collecting the long out-of-print Age of Reptiles original series, the Age of Reptiles: The Hunt follow-up, and the never-before-collected third series, Age of Reptiles: The Journey. It’s a full-color trade paperback, and it’s coming to stores this February.

By now you’ve likely heard of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first book in Stieg Larsson’s award-winning and wildly successful crime-drama trilogy. It, and the other books in the series, have also been made into successful movies. Well it seems that UK fantasy writer Adam Roberts could not leave well enough alone. He’s gone and written his own book entitled The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo, and it’s available now in the UK from Gollancz. Here’s the cover blurb: “Larssonous? Or out-and-out burglary? You know how dragons feel about burglars … Lizbreath Salamander is young and beautiful. Her scales have an iridescent sheen, her wings arch proudly, her breath has a tang of sulfur. And on her back a tattoo of a mythical creature: a girl. But when Lizbreath is drawn into a dark conspiracy she will have to rely on more than her beauty and her vicious claws the size of sabres . . . A dragon has disappeared, one of a secretive clan. As Lizbreath delves deeper into their history she realizes that these dragons will do anything to defend their secrets. Welcome to the world of The Dragon With The Girl Tattoo. A world of gloomy Nordic dragons leading lives uncannily like our own (despite their size, despite the need for extensive fireproofing of home furnishings), a world of money hoarded, a world of darkness and corruption. A world where people are the fantasy.” You can find out more about all of this at Adam Roberts’ new blog.

image c. 2010 Adam Roberts

Media Blasters have released the first four episodes of Kanokon: The Girl Who Cried Fox on DVD. How to describe this anime series? We’ll let them do it: “Kouta, a country boy who lives with his grandfather, is now moving to the city to attend high school. Changes come with his new home and new school, but nothing could have prepared the gentle young man for girls, specifically a bombshell fox spirit named Chizuru. As if her aggressive advances weren’t enough, he also catches the attention of a frosty wolf spirit named Nozomu. Kouta is dragged into supernatural events as a result of his contact with the two girls, and his school life only gets more chaotic by the day. But with a girl who gives ‘foxy’ new meaning and another howling after him, things are looking up for his love life.” We love anime for a reason, don’t we? Find out more about it at Anime Castle.

It looks as if picnic-stealing bears aren’t the only toons giving you a guide to life lately. Now Insight Editions have brought us The Stink of Love: Pepé Le Pew’s Guide to L’Amour. It’s available in hardcover, written by Pepé Le Pew himself with the help of Sally Deems-Mogyordy. Here’s the description from Amazon.com: “Learn from the master of l’amour! In The Stink of Love, Monsieur Pepé Le Pew tells readers how to charm a belle femme with helpful chapters on Grooming, The Chase, and Couplehood. Let Pepé tell how to put one’s best paw forward on the path to love, how to anticipate a potential mate’s needs and desires, how to woo and romance, and — most importantly — how to hold on to her! As Pepé says, ‘There is very little difference between men and women, but vivre le difference!’ Mais oui, love is a many splendor’d thing! As the world turns to shades of pink and red, cynics can warm their hearts and laugh out loud to Pepé’s cheerful self-delusion. Deems-Mogyordy’s writing is pitch-perfect Pepé Le Pew, completely in character. As Pepé might say, ‘Cherchez la femme!’”

Boom! Studios have two new Disney-Duck-related items on the shelves at your local comic book store right now. Darkwing Duck Volume 1: The Duck Knight Returns brings together the first Darkwing Duck story arc in a single full-color trade paperback, written by Ian Brill and illustrated by James Silvani. The people of St. Canard have grown worried when their loyal protector, “the terror that flaps in the night”, hasn’t been seen in more than a year… and evil is on the rise again. Is it time for the Duck Knight to rise again too? Meanwhile, readers looking for more of Don Rosa’s The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck should look for the new hardcover, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion. It features “the pre-chapters, the post-chapters, and the in-between chapters” of Don Rosa’s sought-after work. You can find out more about both of these at Boom! Studio’s web site.

Short notice but: Animation writer, producer, and show-creator Jymn Magon is hosting another “webinar” this Saturday, December 11th, at 5:00 pm (Pacific Standard Time). This time he’s presenting a special 25th anniversary show for Disney’s The Gummi Bears — still a popular favorite animated TV series, to say the least. The two-hour “webinar” will include live interviews with June Foray (the voice of Grammi Gummi), Katie Leigh (the voice of Sunni Gummi), Art Vitello (director), Ed Wexler (layout), Gary Eggleston (backgrounds), Michael and Patty Silversher (theme song composers), Mark Zaslove and Len Uhley (writers), and of course the series creator, Jymn himself. Signing up will cost you $20.00, and you can do so by visiting Jymn Magon’s web site.

image c. 2010 Walt Disney TV Animation

The International Animated Film Society (ASIFA) have announced the nominees for the annual Annie Awards, to be presented at UCLA (in Los Angeles) on February 5th.  The Annies are a big deal these days, as they are often (but not always) a good predictor for how the voting will go at the Academy Awards later next year. Now as you may recall, there has been some controversy regarding the Annie Awards this year: Disney and Pixar have withheld their official support, citing what they feel are unfair voting practices that tilt things against them. Whether or not there’s any truth to that or not, the fact remains that Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon has clearly dominated this year’s Annie nominations, with a total of 15. Megamind and Shrek Forever After were also high on the nomination list, with six and five, respectively. On the Disney/Pixar side, Toy Story 3 picked up three nominations while Tangled picked up two. In the TV Animation categories, heavily nominated items included The Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special, Scared Shrekless, Star Wars: Clone Wars, T.U.F.F. Puppy, and eternal favorite Robot Chicken. The Best Animated Video Game Category returned this year and, interestingly, this year there is a new category: Best Character Animation in a Live Action Movie. Only two nominees for the latter: Clash of the Titans and Alice in Wonderland. To see the full list of nominees and find out more about getting tickets to the show, visit the Annie Awards web site.

The Puppy Sister is a 1997 novel by a well-known author of books for young readers, S. E. Hinton. It tells the comic story of Aleasha, a newly-adopted puppy who decides that her human family will be much better off if she becomes human too — and so, she sets out to do precisely that, and the book details her adventures as told from her point of view. Now, Bluewater Productions have released a new edition of The Puppy Sister as a full-color graphic novel, illustrated by Ramon Salas. It’s available now from (among other places) the Barnes & Noble web site.

Elmer is… well, he’s a rooster. That talks. And wears a suit.  Here, maybe we should let writer and artist Gerry Alanguilan explain it, like he does on the Elmer web site: “Elmer is a window into an alternate Earth where chickens have suddenly acquired the intelligence and consciousness of humans, where they consider themselves a race no different from whites, browns or blacks, and push to recognize rights for themselves as the newest members of the human race. Elmer tells the story of a family of chickens who live and struggle to survive in a suddenly complicated, dangerous and yet beautiful world. Elmer was originally released in four issues from June 2006 to November 2008, and as a trade paperback in October 2009, published by Komikero Publishing.”  Now this black & white series has finally been released in North America by Slave Labor Graphics.

image c. 2010 Gerry Alanguilan

Victor Santos has been making a name for himself as the lead artist for the popular Mice Templar comic book series from Image Comics. Now Image presents The Mice Templar Sketchbook II, presenting all new art and characters for the series — in black & white and full color. It also includes a brand new Mice Templar short story written by Bryan Glass and series creator Michael Avon Oeming. It’s on the shelves now.

Just in time for the Fire Breather CGI movie on Cartoon Network comes the Fire Breather vs. Dragon Prince one-shot full-color graphic novel from Image Comics. It seems that both boys, each a human son with an inhuman monstrous parent, have discovered that something monstrous is killing visitors to an isolated mountain lake, and only their combined strength has a chance of defeating it. Trouble is, what happens when this strangely seductive evil turns our semi-scaly heroes against each other? You can find out now, thanks to writers Phil Hester and Ron Marz, and artists Samuin Patel, Andy Kuhn, and Jeff Johnson.

Image c. 2010 Image Comics

Furry fans into the World of Warcraft game and its story background might want to check out the new World of Warcraft: Curse of the Worgen comic book mini-series, published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics. For those who don’t play the game, according to WOW-Wiki: “Worgen are large, lupine humanoids reminiscent of a werewolf that walks upright, but lopes on all fours to run.” The five-issue comic book, exploring the mysteries of the Worgen and where they came from, was written by Micky Neilson and James Waugh. The full-color art was created by Ludo Lullabi, Tony Washington, and John Polidora. The first issue is on sale now.