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July, 2020:

The Senses of a Dog

Here’s an interesting new hardcover graphic novel from Boom! Studios. Simply called Bear, it’s actually based on scientific research into the brains of animals.  “Bear is a service dog who would do anything for his owner and best friend Patrick who is blind. But when Bear suddenly loses his vision, he worries he’s lost his purpose in life—protecting Patrick! Following the misguided advice from some self-serving raccoons, Bear embarks on a transformative journey to regain his eyesight. Out of both necessity and survival, he learns to tap into his other senses and begins to see the world from a new perspective that is at times more rich and colorful than the world he’s always known.” Written by Ben Queen (Disney/Pixar’s Cars 2 and Cars 3) and illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton (A Mouse Called Julian), Bear is available now from Simon & Schuster.

image c. 2020 Boom! Studios

Friendship is High-Caliber

Remember the comic series Franklin and Ghost from last year? Well now from the same universe — and the busy busy mind of writer/creator Garrett Gunn — comes the new one-shot Warcorns: Combat Unicorns For Hire. Now there’s a title you’re gonna notice! Here’s what they say in Previews: “After having successfully evaded two complete dispatches of Retrieval Bots from Defilion, Franklin and Ghost are sent by their female accomplice, Delilah, to retrieve a rare weapon that is instrumental to the destruction of Defilion. Warcorns Special Forces Group Alpha is dispatched, at the behest of General Erich Badguey, to intercept Franklin and Ghost and return them to Defilion dead or alive.” Illustrated by Kevin Stokes and Nicolas Touris, Warcorns should be available at comic book stores and sites any time now.

image c. 2020 Source Point Press

Meet the Dork — and Friends

So furry fans (and many others) have been going crazy lately creating new art in celebration of Spyro the Dragon — new art of many sorts, of course. Well if they need some more inspiration, they could do a lot worse than The Art of Spyro: Reignited Trilogy, new from Blizzard Entertainment. “In 2018 Toys for Bob Studios thrilled fans worldwide by releasing SpyroReignitedTrilogy, a faithful remaster encompassing all three titles from the beloved Spyro™ trilogy introduced in 1998. The Art of Spyro™ is a meticulously crafted compendium filled with in-depth behind-the-scenes content, insightful quotes from top illustrators in the industry, anecdotes from the game developers, and a dazzling assortment of incredible concept art, some of which has never been seen by the public. It is a must-have for art lovers, gamers, fans… and the fun-loving adventurer in all of us.”  Compiled by writer Micky Neilson (Pearl of Pandaria), The Art of Spyro book is available now in hardcover.

image c. 2020 Blizzard Entertainment

And They Thought This Would Be Easy

Woo, here’s a complicated set-up! Listen to the pitch for Hyperbreed, a new full-color science fiction comic from Storm King Productions: “Byrr, Fext and Cammo: Hyperbreed human-animal ‘splices’. They’ve been given a cushy assignment: Board an ancient freighter, transport valuable Explosive Ore to a mining colony, and earn a large delivery bonus. But when they drop out of spacefold, Mak pirates — robot monsters wearing the body parts of vanquished enemies — attack. Fighting against cruel odds, with Mak Yik crystals infesting their ship, our heroes begin to suspect that their lucky break is really a setup for annihilation.” Written by Louise Simonson and illustrated by Guy Dorian, the whole series is overseen by horror great John Carpenter. Issues are available now.

image c. 2020 Storm King Productions

Cats Play Finders Keepers

And more new series we’re finding out about thanks to Animation Scoop: “Joining the HBO Max lineup this Thursday July 23rd is the new Cartoon Network-produced animated series Tig n’ Seek. It’s about an eight-year-old boy, a cat, and their quirky co-workers at the Department of Lost & Found. Myke Chilian not only provides the fun as show creator, but also as the voice of the main character, Tiggy.” Along with an interview with Mr. Chilian, check out the preview video in the article — this is definitely one strange pup, er, kitty!

image c. 2020 HBO Max

No He’s Not a Ninja

Loggerhead is a new apocalyptic monster comic by Bryan Silverbax. “The world as we knew it changed after the last of the great wars leaving a large portion of North America a dead wasteland. It’s in that wasteland that tales of a monster only known as Loggerhead exist. Within this wasteland valuable elements and minerals have been unearthed creating a hotbed of illegal mining and overrun with scavengers. When some children find themselves endangered while witnessing an illegal scavenger mineral hunt, a protector rises from the murky depths of the wasteland to exact retribution.” Issues (and other merch!) are available now from Scout Comics. There’s a preview video up on YouTube also.

image c. 2020 Scout Comics

Finally Cracking

After bouncing around and looking for distribution for literally years, we finally have a release date for the new CGI animated feature Animal Crackers, directed by Scott Christian Sava and animation veteran Tony Bancroft (Mulan). The film is being released this Friday, July 24th on Netflix (of course!). Animation Scoop has an extensive interview with the directors about their efforts to get the film made, and out to the world. We’ll say this at least: The new trailer looks better than what we’ve seen before. See what you think this Friday.

image c. 2020 Netflix

 

Mommy’s Not Amuzed

Xira is a new full-color science fiction comic series written by Mauro Mantella, with art by Diego Giribaldi. Check it out over at Bleeding Cool: “Xira has been experimented on her entire life to help mankind create the perfect astronaut, making her smarter, faster, stronger. When Xira is allowed to have a baby who will also be experimented on Xira has had enough and will do whatever it takes to get herself and her child to freedom.” The first issue should be comic to comic book stores soon from Red 5 Comics.

image c. 2020 Red 5 Comics

Tiger’s On His Way

Just over a year ago we mentioned that Laurence Yep’s popular fantasy novel The Tiger’s Apprentice would be on its way to movie screens in 2022. Well now thanks to AWN we have an update: “Time to brush up on your Chinese Zodiac! Hunky Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians, Last Christmas) is set to lend his vocal talents to his first ever voice acting gig as the shape-shifting tiger, Mr. Hu, in Paramount Animation’s feature film adaptation of Laurence Yep’s 2003 best-selling children’s book, The Tiger’s Apprentice. The film marks the feature directing debut for Carlos Baena, a former Pixar animator known for his work on Wall-E and Toy Story 3, as well as his award winning 2019 animated short, La NoriaThe Tiger’s Apprentice, book one in a trilogy of the same name, follows Tom, a young boy living in San Francisco. The real world and one of magic collide when Tom meets Mr. Hu, a talking tiger who mentors the child in the art of mystical protection against evil.” No word yet on any changes to the date, so hopefully we can still look forward to it on February 11th, year after next.

image c. 2020 HarperCollins