Mink's stories

Little Fox Went Out…
Sun 21 Jan 2024 - 02:56

An interesting fantasy graphic novel series we somehow missed before: Fox and Willow, written by Alison Pang and illustrated by Irma Ahmed. “When Jessa, the miller’s daughter, offers simple comforts to Willow and Gideon in return for a bit of work, the runaway princess and her fox spirit companion are more than willing to take Jessa up on it. After all, being on the road has its dangers, and the respite while they search for answers to Gideon’s cursed collar is more than welcome. But when the discovery of a murdered royal and a forsaken ghost comes to light, the two travelers realize they’ve stumbled into something far more sinister.” Volume 1, Came A Harper, and Volume 2, To The Sea, are both still available in hardcover from CEX Publishing.


image c. 2024 CEX Publishing

He Are Small, But He Are Mighty
Fri 19 Jan 2024 - 02:00

Remember when we recently talked about the anniversary of the celebrated comic series Pakkins’ Land? Well now series creator Gary Shipman has returned with a new series set in the same universe — but with a very different angle! Meet Titan: Mouse of Might. From Previews: “Titan is an extraordinary mouse that has been endowed with powers beyond that of a normal mouse. He has taken on the appearance of a Dark Flyer, the mortal enemy of his kind. Titan is originally from another world were the animals are intelligent (see the Pakkins’ Land). After triggering an explosion in his world Titan is transported to the world of man.” Issues are available now from Blood Moon Comics.


image c. 2024 Blood Moon Comics

It’ll Be A Hit!
Wed 17 Jan 2024 - 21:09

It’s always dangerous in this business to say “now I’ve seen everything”, but hooey, this comes close. From Animation World Network: “Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana has teamed up with London-based entertainment company Toikido to greenlight a new 2D animated children’s series, Piñata Smashlings. Inspired by the popular Roblox game, the series follows the previously released shorts currently streaming on Nelvana’s ‘Keep It Weird’ YouTube channel… The series follows four friends, characters from the game, thrown together by fate to form a team of unlikely heroes. Whether questing across the land, unlocking maps, or collecting ‘fruities’ and ‘power ups’, these Smashlings are out to save the Piñataverse from the evil Bashlings and level up on fun along the way.” Already set to show in Canada (naturally), the series is looking for international markets.


image c. 2024 Nelvana

A Girl and Her Dog
Wed 17 Jan 2024 - 02:13

(Forgive us, Harlan!) The official description of Doomsday With My Dog pretty much says it all: “A single teenage girl journeys through the crumbling ruins of civilization — the last human on Earth, exploring the concrete jungle that has outlived mankind. Keeping her company is woman’s best friend — the ever-adorable and quick-witted Shiba Inu Haru, who is ready to stick with her through thick and thin! With such a pleasant conversation partner to keep the post-apocalyptic doldrums at bay, the end of the world might not be so bad after all!” Created by Yu Isihara, this black & white manga is out now from Yen Press.


image c. 2024 Yen Press

Cats, Reptiles — and You!
Tue 16 Jan 2024 - 01:56

Here we have a series for young folks that’s a comic, an activity book — and a game! The series is called Kittens & Dragons, and the first book is called The Choukra, written by Jarvin and illustrated by Ju. “In Kittens and Dragons young readers will assist Mo, the King’s youngest kitten as he hunts for a dragon named Choukra and proves his bravery! Sneak through the woods, into dark caves, past the King’s guard while solving puzzles as you go in search of adventure and the Choukra along with Mo!” Available now from Van Ryder Games.


image c. 2024 Van Ryder Games

The Annie Award Nominations for 2023
Sun 14 Jan 2024 - 03:15

The International Animated Film Society (ASIFA) recently announced the nominations for the 2024 Annie Awards, celebrating the best of animation in 2023. Needless to say, there was a lot of anthropomorphic material being shown off last year! The shape-shifting little rebel known as Nimoma walked away with the most nominations: Nine in all, including Best Editing, Best Writing, Best Voice Acting (for Nimona herself, Chloë Grace Moretz), Best Storyboards, Best Production Design, Best Directing, Best Character Design, Best Character Animation, and Best Animated Feature Film (whew!). Not far behind was Hayao Miyazaki’s swan-song (heron-song?) The Boy and the Heron, with seven nominations including Best Feature. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Pixar’s Elemental followed with six nominations each. Rather a surprising one was Robot Dreams (directed by Pablo Berger) which brought in five nominations including Best Independent Feature Film — the latter shared by Earnest and Celestine: A Trip To Gibberitia and Four Souls of Coyote. Nominations for Best Animation in a Live Action Production include Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, The Little Mermaid, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and Cocaine Bear (!). Some interesting anthro films with one nomination each include Migration (Voice Acting), Super Mario Brothers (also Voice Acting), and Leo (for Editing). Over on the TV & Series side of things, the one to beat is Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, with four nominations, but there are also multiple nods for Hilda and My Dad the Bounty Hunter.

4 comment(s) – read more

But He Won’t Do THAT
Thu 11 Jan 2024 - 03:12

And so we came across another graphic novel series for young folks, with the interesting title of Weenie, featuring Frank & Beans. The first book is called Mad About Meatloaf, written by Maureen Fergus and illustrated by Alexandra Bye. “Weenie loves his human, Bob. He loves his guinea pig friend, Beans, and his cat friend, Frank. He loves naps, adventures and sharing. In fact, Weenie loves pretty much everything (except the mail carrier). But the thing Weenie loves and desires more than anything else in the world is meatloaf. And he’ll do anything to get it. Join Weenie, Frank, and Beans on a laugh-out-loud meatloaf adventure, complete with a trench coat disguise, a wild meatloaf trap, and even a hungry wolf.” All that and more from Penguin Random House.


image c. 2024 Penguin Random House

And He Doesn’t Even Do Cocaine
Wed 10 Jan 2024 - 02:55

Look, we challenge you to top a title like Bipolar Bear and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Health Insurance. No? Well here it is, written and illustrated by Kathleen Founds. “Theodore is a bear with wild mood swings. When he is up, he carves epic poetry into tree trunks. When he is down, he paints sad faces on rocks and turtle shells. In search of prescription medications that will bring stability to his life, Theodore finds a job with health insurance benefits. He gets the meds, but when he can’t pay the psychiatrist’s bill, he becomes lost in the Labyrinth of Health Insurance Claims… Entertaining, whimsical, and bitingly satirical, Bipolar Bear is a fable for grownups that manages the delicate balance of addressing society’s ills while simultaneously presenting a hopeful vision for the world.” And it’s available now from Graphic Mundi.


image c. 2024 Graphic Mundi

One Son of Adam
Tue 9 Jan 2024 - 02:14

A legend of furry-themed fantasy comics for young readers returned last year for a special celebration. Pakkin’s Land #1, The 25th Anniversary Edition — written and illustrated by Gary Shipman — came to us from Blood Moon Comics. “In October 1996 the first issue of Pakkins’ Land was published by Caliber Comics. This began the series on a journey that would span a quarter of a century and would go on to gain the accolades of the comic book industry. To commemorate 25 year we are offering a full color issue #1 with a new wraparound cover featuring Paul and his friend. A series of strange events brings our hero, Paul, to a fantastic world called Pakkins’ Land. There he meets a mysterious giant Eagle of light who gives Paul a feather as a token of friendship. At the touch of the feather Paul feels something magical, and as the Eagle mysteriously vanishes, Paul realizes that he is lost in this new world. Soon Paul is befriended by a pair of talking animals, who set off together to find the lost King Aryah, and to try to return Paul to his home.” Find it at your local comic store!


image c. 2024 Blood Moon Comics

The Probe Found Something
Sun 7 Jan 2024 - 01:22

We’ll let the folks at Image Comics describe their 5-issue mini-series Voyagis for themselves: “What if one of the Voyager probes was found by aliens on an uninhabitable planet laid waste by a wandering black hole? Their resources dwindling and under the thumb of a relentless tyrant, alien hero Sen’s discovery of the probe leads to adventure – and possible salvation – for her and her people.” It’s always fun to find science fiction adventures that don’t focus on human characters. This is written and illustrated by the artist Sumeyye Kesgin.


image c. 2024 Image Comics