This one has been sitting on our to-write-about list for a while — ’bout time we got around to it! The Dog Knight is a graphic novel written by Jeremy Whitley (well-known for their involvement with various My Little Pony comics) and illustrated by Bre Indigo.  “Frankie knows who they are. They’re a drummer, they’re nonbinary, and they’re… the Dog Knight? One day Frankie is a relatively normal middle schooler, with relatively normal challenges, like finding the perfect outfit to wear during their drum solo during the upcoming band concert. The next, they save a friendly golden retriever from bullies and suddenly find themselves in a giant magical doghouse, with a funny looking helmet, talking to a group of dog superheroes called the Pawtheon about a job offer. If Frankie can prove that they possess the six dog virtues of loyalty, kindness, honesty, justice, stubbornness, and smell, they will be named the Dog Knight and be given the power to fight alongside the Pawtheon and save the world from the forces of chaos. Maybe there is more to Frankie than they thought?” Look for it now from the Feiwel & Friends imprint at MacMillan Publishers.

image c. 2024 MacMillan Publishers

Since the last Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Volume 2, a lot has happened, both in the universe of the story, and behind the scenes. In universe, every member of the team except Rocket was "snapped" out of existence, which is okay for furries, since Rocket was the only actual furry member of the team, and they mostly all got better, anyway. In the real world, meanwhile, series director James Gunn was fired from this third world, but he also got better. Anyway, the third movie will finally come out next year, and a trailer has been released.

From a furry perspective, it doesn't get much better than this. Rocket's origins are being explored, the villain is the High Evolutionary whose whole thing is literally making furries, Cosmo will continue to appear after The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+, and, oh yeah, that's Lylla the otter.

There are strange things that you can collect in the story mode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. VHS tapes, newspapers, maybe even the concept of diaries have since faded in a world where information is stored and shared nearly instantaneously in a digital format. However, it appears the mean reptiles in green have remained a constant when it comes to providing good 2D brawlers. 3D ventures, maybe not so much.

It’s been thirty years since the release of one of my childhood favorites, The Manhattan Project, for the original NES. In those three decades, many things have changed, but the fact that the TMNT franchise lends itself so well to the brawler genre remains consistent.

The Sparkle Dragons is a new full-color graphic novel written by Emma Carlson Berne and illustrated by Luke Flowers. “Meet the Sparkle Dragons: The spunkiest crew in all of Princess Puff’s queendom! Trixie is fierce with brains and beauty. Rue is tough as nails with a heart of shimmering gold. And, last but not least, Glinda, who often has her head in the clouds, but her out-of-the-box problem-solving can be her strongest asset. With their unique powers combined, they are an unstoppable force! And let’s be honest: Fighting off bad guys with glitter beams can be pretty hilarious . . . and sticky!” Do tell. It’s available now in hardcover or trade paperback from Harper-Collins.

image c. Clarion Books

If we’re being honest, that great superstar of Chinese myth and legend known as the Monkey King is basically a superhero. Well now, none other than DC Comics have taken that thought quite literally and given us The Monkey Prince — a new continuing series, which is part of their celebration of Asian-American creators. “Introducing the newest hero in the DCU, the great sage, equal to the heavens, better than his predecessor the legendary Monkey King, even better than the Justice League — and definitely the Teen Titans — (actually, all the heroes combined), everyone put your hands together for…the Monkey Prince! Marcus Sun moves around a lot because his adoptive parents are freelance henchpeople, so this month he finds himself as the new kid at Gotham City High School, where a mysterious man with pig features asks Marcus to walk through a water curtain to reveal himself as who Marcus really is…someone who has adventured through The Journey to the West, can transform into 72 different formations, can clone himself using his hairs, and is called… the Monkey Prince!” Written by Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Bernard Chang, it’s out now.

image c. 2022 DC Comics

Between the time I went to see DC League of Super-Pets and writing this, things got weird at Warner Bros. Two movies that were reportedly near completion were suddenly shelved. Most mainstream movie press outlets covered this as "What does this mean for this group of comic book superhero movies?". Even Flayrah's Newsbyte on the subject only mentioned Batgirl, despite the fact that Scoob! Holiday Haunt, an actual movie featuring anthropomorphic animals, rather than just one superhero in a pseudo-fursuit, was also cancelled.

And that has some bearing on my thoughts on this movie. Warner Animation Group is looking like it could be in trouble. Even though it appears that the studio will survive in some capacity, people are going to lose jobs in this area. So, it doesn't feel like a good time to take a look at their latest output, shrug, and say, "It was okay, I guess?"

DC League of Super-Pets was directed by Jared Stern and Sam Levine, and stars Dwayne Johnson as Krypto, Superman's superpowered pet dog. When the evil guinea pig Lulu (voiced by Kate McKinnon) manages to depower Krypto, he must lead a team of newly-empowered shelter pets in order to rescue his kidnapped master.

It was okay, I guess?

He’s in L.A. County, we’re in the O.C., so of course we meet up at WonderCon this year — and made sure to pick up his comic book, Super Lucha Cats! Interestingly, we came across this in a local newspaper: “When vampires, demons, and all manner of things that go bump in the night threaten the town, who will be there to save it? The Super Lucha Cats will. Created by 33-year-old Bell Gardens native Javier Solorzano, Super Lucha Cats is a brand-new comic inspired by Latin folklore, a love of lucha libre, and a couple of feline friends. It follows the adventures of Coco, Pizza, Nopalito, and Fresa; four cats adopted off the street by a retired luchadora who – with the help of a magical lucha mask – raised and trained the four siblings to piledrive the forces of evil.” Check out the interview from our local NPR radio station too.

image c. 2022 Media Noche Comics

At last! A cool high-quality ashcan we saw last year at San Diego Comic Con is now being printed by Arcana Studio: The Los Valiants Volume 0 graphic novel. “From writer/colorist Edgar Delgado (Ultraduck, Superior Spider-Man, Darth Vader) comes a collection of 7 short stories about Featherbay’s resident superhero, Ultraduck and his friends from Canis Hill. Together they are Los Valiants!” If you remember Ultraduck then you know the quality of art you’ll find here.

image c. 2018 Arcana Studio

Guardians (English trailer) is a Russian superhero film released in February 2017. The early trailers looked promising - fights, explosions, and a bear-guy! It's the Russian Avengers! Expectations were high, and it did well on its opening weekend... and was so disappointing that by its second weekend, it only took in 10% of its previous box office revenue.

It's a very formulaic movie. This isn't necessarily bad - Sing was formulaic too. But if you're going to use a formula, you have to do it well. You have to add a couple of entertaining surprises, mix it up a little, and maybe throw in some humor that mocks the very structure you're relying on. Guardians fails on all these counts.

Klaw is a French comic book series that will soon be available in English from Magnetic Press, so this is a good time for a review! It's a young adult superhero/action comic with anthropomorphic content. Will it appeal to furry fans? Possibly. Bonus points if you're a fan of tigers. It's written by Antoine Ozanam and drawn by Joël Jurion.

Angel Tomassini is a kid in early high school who gets bullied a lot, even though everyone (except him) seems to know that his father is the head of the Chicago mafia. Within the space of a particularly bad week, Angel learns the truth about his dad, is questioned by the police over the suspicious death of another student, is attacked by ninjas, goes on his first date, and finds out he has the power to turn into a powerful, muscled were-tiger.

Tiki Paws have made a name for themselves crafting tropical-themed clothing, toys, and other accessories for dogs.  Yes, really — we’ve covered them before.  Well now the line has expanded! Tiki Paws have grown to include Geeky Paws — a new line of Halloween costumes for dogs, based around any number of fannish themes. Just the thing for when you’re out trick-or-treating and want a little friendly protection along. Check out their web site to see all the latest.

image c. 2015 Tiki Paws

No matter what it is, you can always take it to a new, higher, weirder level folks. Super Angry Birds is a new full-color on-line comic series from IDW and Rovio Studios, giving us a whole new take on (what else?) the Angry Birds universe. “It’s everyone’s favorite furious fowl as you’ve never seen them before! New Yolk City is your typical bustling metropolis and like every big city it has a dark side. Through lies, deceit and corruption, King Pig and his henchmen have taken over the town and have made life miserable for its citizens. This makes one group of birds angry…Super Angry! This new group of would-be heroes, with powers beyond mortal birds, fight a covert war against King Pig and his minions. They are the Super Angry Birds!” Told you. Two issues are out so far, so check it out over at Comixology.

image c. 2015 IDW Publishing

Another blast from the past over at IDW Publishing as early next year they present the return of The Mighty Mutanimals. From Comicbook.com: “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ uneasy allies, the Mutanimals, are getting their own minseries from IDW Publishing in February 2015. When someone close to the Mutanimals goes missing, the team consisting of Old Hob, Slash, Mondo Gecko, Herman the Hermit Crab, and Pigeon Pete will be put to the ultimate test, as they try to take on a mysterious new entity known as The Null Group. The series will written by Paul Allor, who has written several TMNT Micro-Seres one-shots, as well as The Ultrom Empire and Turtles in Time miniseries. Andy Kuhn, who created the new IDW design for Mutanimals leader Slash, will provide covers and interior art.” In full color of course.

image c. 2014 IDW Publishing

One of Marvel’s most unusual super heroes (and that’s saying a lot!) is getting her own full-color series this January. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl follows the adventures of, who else, Squirrel Girl — perhaps the world’s most upbeat superhero. And with her accomplishments, who wouldn’t be? With the help of her squirrel-like powers and her trusty squirrel sidekick, Tiptoe, she’s taken on and defeated some of the Marvel Universe’s biggest and baddest super-villains. From Entertainment Weekly: “In Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, writer Ryan North [Adventure Time] and artist Erica Henderson [Quantum & Woody] take on the lighthearted superheroine whose mutant gene gives her an endearing cocktail of squirrel-related superpowers. When the comic book begins, she’s starting college—but in no time at all, Squirrel Girl is defending Earth from threats most cosmic.” Check out the interview with Ryan North over at Comic Book Resources.

Image c. 2014 Marvel Comics

Sometimes things are described in a very straightforward manner: “The Adventures of Aero-Girl. It’s the story of a young jet-pack wearing sidekick who must not only deal with the death of her father & mentor, but also that his powers (and her destiny) have been transferred to a silverback gorilla.” It’s also a new self-published 4-issue comic book miniseries, written by DeWayne Feenstra and illustrated in full color by Axur Eneas and Juan Pablo Riebeling. After a successful Kickstarter campaign this summer the first issue is available now, so check it out over at Fan Girls Are We.

image c. 2014 by Eneas & Riebeling