Mink's stories

Ponies Come to DVD
Thu 16 Feb 2012 - 02:58

At long last the wildly popular series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (from the Hub network of course) comes to DVD thanks to Shout Factory on the 28th of this month.  My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic — The Friendship Express will include five non-sequential episodes from seasons one and two of the series, including the premiere episode parts 1 and 2, “Over a Barrel”, “Hearth’s Warming Eve”, and “The Last Roundup”. You can order a copy on Amazon, and any number of other places too, of course.  If you’ve been on another planet and have no idea what we’re talking about, check out the latest incarnation of My Little Pony on Wikipedia and find out why so many adults have gone crazy for it!


image c. 2012 Hasbro, Inc/The Hub

1 comment(s) – read more

Franklin Returns
Tue 14 Feb 2012 - 02:51

Franklin is, of course, more than a turtle — He’s a well-known children’s book character with his own long-running TV series from Nelvana. Well now Franklin has returned to Nickelodeon in Franklin and Friends, a new CGI series produced by Nelvana and Infinite Frameworks. Here’s a press release we picked up from Cartoon Brew: “Franklin is back and better than ever in the brand-new CG-animated preschool series, Franklin and Friends, premiering Monday, Feb. 13, at 9:30 a.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon. Based on the best-selling children’s book series by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark, published by Kids Can Press, the half-hour series follows a turtle named Franklin as he experiences adventures and milestones, learning lessons along the way with his pals Snail, Rabbit, Beaver, Fox, Goose and best friend Bear. The series emphasizes the importance of family, friendship, community, personal growth and helping others. Franklin and Friends, produced by Nelvana and Infinite Frameworks Pte. Ltd., will regularly air weekdays at 9:30 a.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.” The article goes into much more depth about the show, and includes a video snippet from the first episode.

1 comment(s) – read more

The Jungle Book — As Never Before
Sun 12 Feb 2012 - 02:57

Zenescope Entertainment, the home of Grimm Fairy Tales, are now presenting their own unique take on Rudyard Kipling’s famous story The Jungle Book.  Here’s their write up on it: “The new five-issue miniseries will follow Mowglii, a young girl raised by wolves who finds herself in the middle of what the animals call The Great Animal Battle. Mowglii must learn her place in the jungle and fight for survival against many exotic beasts. But she is not the only human in this jungle island. Three other children have been raised by different animal tribes: Bomani grows up in the tiger tribe that is led by the conniving Shere Kahn, Akili learned the ways of the jungle from the mischievous Tavi mongoose tribe, and Dewan comes of age within the unpredictable Monkeys of Bandar Log, which is led by the insane King Bandar Louis. Mowglii and the rest of the human cubs play key roles in the ongoing Great Animal Battle of Kipling Isle as they approach adulthood.” The series is written by Mark L. Miller and illustrated in full color by Carles Granda, with variant wraparound covers available from Ale Garza and Mike DeBalfo. Look for it in March.

Man’s Best Friend
Fri 10 Feb 2012 - 02:42

Rebellion/2000AD, the folks who brought you Judge Dredd, now bring you Kingdom: Call of the Wild, a new full-color trade paperback written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by Richard Elson. “Earth, the far-future. With the planet now overrun by gigantic alien insects, mankind is all but extinct. Genetically engineered dog soldier, Gene the Hackman, now protects one of the last remaining human beings, a young girl named Leezee Sower, and the two of them have traveled to the land of Auxtralia, straight into the territory of a new pack!” Look for it this March, or find out more at The Book Depository.


image c. 2012 Rebellion/2000AD

Strangeness from Antarctic Press
Wed 8 Feb 2012 - 02:19

Where to even begin, except to say: Dead Pooh. Yes. Here, we’ll let the perpetrators try to explain: “Trash-collecting bear by day, crime-fighting martial artist by night. Dead Pooh protects the citizens of Woodland City from the menace of the Candy King. In the best traditions of parady, Comi-Kazi presents the latest hero to arise to confront the forces of darkness for truth, justice…and a jar of honey!” Sure to raise the hackles and the temperature of Marvel fans and Disney fans alike.  This loony full-color one-shot is written by Al Sharpe, illustrated by Marat Mychaeis and Sean Davis, and scheduled for release from Antarctic Press in March. Oh bother.


image c. 2012 Antarctic Press

1 comment(s) – read more

The 2011 Annie Awards
Mon 6 Feb 2012 - 01:28

Your humble ed-otter was pleased and proud to attend the 2012 presentation of the Annie Awards for 2011, which took place at UCLA on Saturday the 4th. The Annie Awards are the “Oscars” of the animation industry, presented every year by the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA). It was a busy year for the awards, with many of the numerous categories having up to 10 nominees.  And of course, entries with an interest for furry fans were well-represented. The big winner of the evening was clearly Rango, with five wins including the big one, Best Animated Feature. It also won for Writing, Character Design, and Editing, as well as the new Members’ Favorite category (the single category voted on by all ASIFA members, regardless of their professional or fan status).

Interestingly, it was not a complete Rango sweep, as Rio won for Character Animation (by Jeff Gabor) while Kung Fu Panda 2 won for Production Design, and Best Director (Jennifer Yuh Nelson). Secrets of the Masters, the back-up short included on the Kung Fu Panda 2 DVD, also won for Best Animated Special Production (which honors OVA’s and direct-to-DVD projects). Disney’s 2D Winnie the Pooh also racked up one win, for Feature Film Storyboards by Jeremy Spears.  The winner of Animation in a Live Action Production (a new category that was just introduced last year) was Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Minkyu Lee won Best Animated Short Subject for his 17 minute 2D film Adam and Dog.

1 comment(s) – read more

A Legend in his Own Mind
Sat 4 Feb 2012 - 02:51

He’s a vegan hippie with super powers, sort of. He’s Ethan Young, hero of Tails, an on-line comic… written and illustrated by Ethan Young. Maybe we’d better let the publisher explain: “Quirky, funny, and surreal, Tails follows the semi-autobiographical exploits of Ethan, a vegan cartoonist with super powers (sort of). Ethan uses his comic book creation Crusader Cat to escape from the real world, but things get interesting when his escapist work starts to talk back to him. Poignant, funny, and daring, Tails is an unflinching portrait of a believable character as he starts falling into the abyss of an unbelievable world, with results ranging from hilarious to heart-breaking”. Now Hermes Press have announced they are publishing the first Tails collection in graphic novel form, Tails: Book One. Look for this new black & white trade paperback in April, or you can pre-order it on Amazon right now.


image c. 2012 Hermes Press

2 comment(s) – read more

Return to the Outland
Thu 2 Feb 2012 - 02:43

Barely a month after retiring his world-famous Bloom County comic strip in 1989, creator Berke Breathed returned with a new Sunday-only full-color strip, Outland. It featured many of the original Bloom County characters, including Bill the Cat and Opus the Penguin, in new adventures. Now IDW Publishing has put together Berke Breathed’s Outland: The Complete Library, a 320-page hardcover collection of all the Outland strips from 1989 through 1995, scanned and reprinted from Berke Breathed’s original artwork. It will also include a collection of very rare Academia Waltz strips, which Berke Breathed began in college before he created Bloom County. Mile High Comics has a detailed write-up on the book, which is coming to stores this May.


image c. 2012 IDW Publishing

Dinosaurs vs. Aliens
Tue 31 Jan 2012 - 02:40

Here’s a power-house of a collaboration! Barry Sonnenfeld, director of all three Men in Black movies (the third is coming up) has announced a new project: A graphic novel and movie to be called Dominion: Dinosaurs versus Aliens. Both the graphic novel and the movie script will be written by comic book writing superstar Grant Morrison, known for utterly re-inventing numerous comic book lines, including DC’s Animal Man. This is from Previews magalog: “When an alien invasion attacks Earth in the age of the dinosaurs, the planet’s only hope is the giants that roam the planet with, it turns out, a lot more intelligence than previously realized.” The graphic novel will be illustrated by Mukesh Singh (who previously teamed with Grant Morrison on 18 Days) and published by Liquid Comics later this year. A special preview of the graphic novel will be available for free (of course) on Free Comic Book Day, May 5th. No word yet on a release date for the movie, but Deadline.com has an extensive story on the project and an interview with Barry Sonnenfeld.

2 comment(s) – read more

The Lost Dr. Seuss — Found!
Sun 29 Jan 2012 - 20:41

“It’s the literary equivalent of buried treasure!” That’s more than just publisher’s hyperbole. It might just be the best description of The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories, published last fall in hardcover by Random House. For the first time it collects together 7 original stories by Dr. Seuss that have not seen the light of day since they were first published in magazines from 1948 to 1959. From Amazon: “Seuss scholar/collector Charles D. Cohen has hunted down seven rarely seen stories by Dr. Seuss. Originally published in magazines between 1948 and 1959, they include ‘The Bear, the Rabbit, and the Zinniga-Zanniga’ (about a rabbit who is saved from a bear with a single eyelash!); ‘Gustav the Goldfish’ (an early, rhymed version of the Beginner Book ‘A Fish Out of Water’); ‘Tadd and Todd’ (a tale passed down via photocopy to generations of twins); ‘Steak for Supper’ (about fantastic creatures who follow a boy home in anticipation of a steak dinner); ‘The Bippolo Seed’ (in which a scheming feline leads an innocent duck to make a bad decision); ‘The Strange Shirt Spot’ (the inspiration for the bathtub-ring scene in The Cat in the Hat Comes Back); and ‘The Great Henry McBride’ (about a boy whose far-flung career fantasies are only bested by those of the real Dr. Seuss himself).

2 comment(s) – read more