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December, 2015:

In Space, No One Can Hear You Clean

Look, we just plain stole the under-title of this book … why?  Because we can’t top it! From Titan Books and well-known SoCal artist Joey Spiotto comes Alien Next Door, “the first official Alien cartoon book!”. Here’s what they say: “See a new, caring side to the legendary science fiction monster as he tends to Jonesy the cat, endeavours to keep his house cleaner than the Nostromo, and searches for his place on a cold, new, alien world: Earth. From facehuggers to feather dusters, discover how the perfect killing machine relaxes after a day of scaring space marines.”. It’s available now in paperback.

image c. 2015 Titan Books

image c. 2015 Titan Books

Are You a Good Wish, or a Bad Wish?

Over at Cartoon Brew there’s an article about Wish Police, the next big film project to come out of Reel FX (home of Free Birds and The Book of Life). “Based on a novella of the same name by Daniel Nayer, Wish Police takes place in a world where children’s bad wishes come to life as mayhem-making villains, and a secret organization called The Wish Police must work full-time to apprehend the evildoers. The Wish Police are led by Saul, an ex-genie determined to atone for centuries of granting his masters’ evil wishes, and Kong, a wise-cracking monkey and royal pain in the leg. In the film, Saul and Kong must break their personal rules and team up with a 12-year-old boy named Randy who has made a particularly bad wish and unleashed the most powerful wish villain ever seen.” The film is to be directed by three young filmmakers from Spain, Adrian Garcia, Alfredo Torres, and Victor Maldonado, “who are collectively known as Headless”. The CGI film is being produced by Kirk Bodyfelt (Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs 2) and written by some folks who worked on Kung Fu Panda. The film is scheduled for release in late 2017.

image c. 2015 Reel FX

image c. 2015 Reel FX

Worse Than Paparazzi!

Papercutz (home of Geronimo Stilton and family, of course) have a new full-color graphic novel out in trade paperback called Scarlett: Star on the Run. Here, we’ll let them describe it: “Scarlett is a small, harlequin-colored cat and a huge movie star. And what’s more—she talks! However, abused by her producer, she dreams of but one thing: escaping! So, when the occasion presents itself, she runs for her life. In the company of Trotter, a dog who’s escaped the same torment, she is taken in by Mr. Bougnon. But with the noose getting tighter, will they manage to elude their terrible pursuers?” We’ll soon find out! Written and illustrated by Jon Buller and Susan Schade, Scarlett is on the shelves now. Oh, and check out the review over at Kidsreads.com.

image c. 2015 Papercutz

image c. 2015 Papercutz

All Right You Big Ape, Draw!

Fans of comic book art how-to’s would be wise to look up the Pen & Ink series from Boom! Studios, where professional comic book artists go into the details of their creative process in a step-by-step manner. For the next installment, Boom! have tapped the creators of the popular series Six-Gun Gorilla (which we’ve covered here previously). Now artist Jeff Stokely (aided by insights from writer Simon Spurrier) bring us Six-Gun Gorilla: Pen & Ink, which re-creates the first two issues of the comic in a large 11 x 17 inch black & white format with commentary on each panel. You can check it out over at Previews.

image c. 2015 Boom! Studios

image c. 2015 Boom! Studios

Th-Th-That’s a Superhero, Folks!

And how did we miss this bit, Doc? As DC Comics have been the home of the Looney Tunes comic series for a while now, this last November they decided to go completely, yes, looney: More than two dozen of DC’s well-known superhero titles were released last month featuring variant covers where Bugs Bunny and his pals (some well-known, some obscure except to the True Warner Brother Aficionado!) invaded the world of Superman and Batman and their pals. And these covers were created by some of the best and most well-known DC artists working now. Fortunately for those of us who can’t afford to buy that many comics in a month (especially just for the cool covers!), DC has been kind enough to collect all 25 covers on their web site for you to peruse.

image c. 2015 DC Comics

image c. 2015 DC Comics

Small Girl, Big T-Rex

One of comic book great Jack Kirby’s more obscure creations was the Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy series — obscure, but still popular among comic book collectors. It featured the adventures (on a parallel, savage world) of an ape-like proto-human named “Moon Boy” and his companion, a firey-red tyrannosaurus rex with human-level intelligence.  And now Marvel comics have brought Devil Dinosaur into modern times, literally, with their new series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur — written by Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder, with art by Natacha Bustos. This time around “Moon Girl” is a young human (with some “Inhuman” secrets) who just may be a genius inventor in the making. In the midst of one of her experiments though, she accidentally drags Devil Dinosaur into our world and our time. Talk about a pair who just don’t fit in! The first issue is on the shelves now, and i09 has an interview with the creators as well.

image c. 2015 Marvel Comics

image c. 2015 Marvel Comics

Myths and Magic Come to Life

The artist Larry MacDougall describes what he does as “fairy tale illustration, comics, and animation”. Working largely with traditional materials and techniques to create his fantasy dreamscapes of humans, fairy folk, mythical creatures, and anthropomorphic whatsits. (We hope he won’t mind us saying that his work reminds us a lot of Brian Froud — in a good way.) Larry has a new paperback book out now called Traditional Magic, Fantasy, and Fairy Tale Design, published by CTN. It features drawings, sketches, and full-color paintings divided up by various creatures. You can keep up with Larry at his Blogspot site, and see more from inside the book over at the Center Stage Gallery.

The Pumpkin Dealer by Larry MacDougall c. 2015

The Pumpkin Dealer by Larry MacDougall c. 2015

Did You Know This Is My Very Best Art?

First the art of My Little Pony the TV series — now, the art of My Little Pony the comic books. Thanks to IDW, of course. They’ve released My Little Pony: Art is Magic, a nearly 150-page trade paperback of works from the various My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic book series. “Read along as fan-favorite artists Amy Mebberson, Sara Richard, Tony Fleecs, Andy Price, Brenda Hickey, and Agnes Garbowska showcase a selection of their most cherished pieces, provide insight into their process, and share the identities of their favorite ponies!” Each artist has also created a special unique pin-up piece just for this collection. Take a look over at Barnes & Noble to find out more.

mlp-artIsMagic-cov

image c. 2015 IDW Publishing

 

The Passion of the Wolf

Another one from 2014 that passed us by — but this one definitely not for young readers! Werewolf Nights is the first novel from Mari Hamill. From the official web site, here’s the summary: “Threatened by financial ruin, widowed bakery owner Catherine Mercy leads a solitary life with more interest in reading about werewolf lore than in finding a man. Her one true love disappeared after high school and her now deceased husband kept her trapped in the house claiming that a werewolf might hunt her down one day, just as her grandmother repeatedly warned her. When Hollywood interrupts the town’s monotony by shooting a werewolf movie on location, Catherine decides to audition. Already in her thirties, she feels ridiculous trying to become an actress, but lands the leading role. Catherine’s daily routine turns into a hair-raising adventure as fame begins to monitor her wonderings and she falls for her sexy costar Greg Byron, in spite of the actor’s neon warning sign that flashes conceited womanizer. Just when romance sparkles, a wolf bites Greg. While Greg’s features turn lupine, Cathrine discovers a resemblance between the movie script and her family’s history. Afraid, Catherine recruits werewolf expert Steve to figure out if the film’s werewolf legend is real and Wolfern, the werewolf her grandmother spoke about, has finally come for her. If it is, Greg will turn into a dangerous werewolf. Only finding a way to undo Greg’s curse and destroying Wolfern before the next full moon can save their love and their lives.” Got all that? Werewolf Nights is available in paperback from Dog Ear Publishing. Funny that.

image c. 2015 Dog Ear Press

image c. 2015 Dog Ear