Tokyo Pop takes a new step into full-color full-sized graphic novels with the premier of Luuna, Volume 1, from Europe (and available now in English). With a script by Nicolas Keramidas and art by Didier Crisse, Luuna tells the story of a young woman of the mystic Paumanok tribe, who enters the sacred forest to find her totem — her animal spirit that represents her inner self. Unfortunately for Luuna, the Evil One plays a trick on her. Now she’s cursed with not one but two totems: Wolves, white and black, representing her own good and evil sides… one capable of miracles, the other of great destruction. And so Luuna sets out to find the wise spirits of the Earth, hoping they can rid her of this curse… if the minions of the Evil One don’t get to her first!
Books and Trade Paperbacks
Cameron and his Dinosaurs
Cameron and his Dinosaurs is a new full-color digest-sized trade paperback by Scott Christian Sava (script) and Andres Silva Blanco (art), publised by IDW. From Previews: “A mad scientist breaks every law of nature and creates four extinct dinosaurs for a terrorist group called B.U.R.P.S. When the dinosaurs revolt, it’s Cameron’s good fortune to befriend them. But the mad scientist wants those dinosaurs back at any cost! And they’ll wage a war between robots and dinosaurs to get what they want!” You heard it here.
Furverts
Your ed-otter, dutifully passing it along here…
The book is called Furverts, by Michael Cogliantry (in hardcover, from Chronicle Books). This is from amazon.com: “Birds do it bees do it but no one does it like furries do it. Long an underground cult phenomenon, furries—people who dress up in furry animal costumes and role play—have gone global, holding conventions where furries from around the world can meet and mingle. Photographer Michael Cogliantry captures the kinky intimate side of the furry subculture—an elephant and a donkey a chicken and a fox caught in flagrante delicto. The playful board-book format opens with a peek-a-boo ring of fur on the cover inviting the reader into the ‘illicit’ and hysterically funny world of furverts.” Oh, lordy lordy lordy…
Farscape — The scripts (some of them…)
For fans of the late, lamented Sci Fi Channel series Farscape who just can’t wait for more, be on the lookout for this: Series creator Rockne S. O’Bannon has collected his outline for the 4-issue Farscape comic book miniseries from BOOM! Entertainment in the new Farscape Script Book, also available from BOOM!
Skelebunnies
Our friends at Amaze Ink and Slave Labor Graphics now bring us Skelebunnies: The Complete Collection in trade paperback, written and illustrated by Tommy Kovac. It brings together all three of the original Skelebunnies one-shots, with loads of extra new material. “Join these living dead abominations in a playful, episodic romp through the forest. Does it all make sense? Not really. What’s the point? To giggle, my friends, to giggle.”
Two new books on CGI
For fans of computer animation, two new books have hit the shelves: The Art of Pixar Short Films by Amid Amidi (hardcover, from Chronicle Books) uses essays, interviews, and artwork to take a look at Pixar’s groundbreaking shorts, from Andre and Wally B and Luxo, Jr. right up through Presto and Your Friend The Rat. Meanwhile, Imageworks by Michael Goldman (also hardcover, from Insight Editions) takes a look at the history of Sony Imageworks Studios, which brought us not only animated films like Open Season, Stuart Little (well, partly animated!), and Surf’s Up, but also the mad special effects on films like Spiderman and more.
For Sesame Street fans
Following in the foam rubber footsteps of Sesame Street Unpaved by David Borgenicht comes Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street by Michael Davis (published by Viking). This massive (384 pages!) hardcover book was created by former TV Guide writer Davis after an extensive interview with Joan Ganz Cooney, who oversaw production on this world-famous educational TV series for more than twenty years. Some of the stories from the development of the series in 1968 are priceless: Maurice Sendak bored at a seminar on children’s TV, entertaining himself by drawing X-rated cartoons; and Jim Henson, whos long hair, beard, and sandals had producers worried that he might be a Weatherman terrorist. Stories like that abound.
Stone Rabbit Books
Stone Rabbit is the name of a new character (and a new full-color soft-cover graphic novel series for young readers) created, written, and illustrated by Eric Craddock. Stone Rabbit is a bored little bunny living a humdrum existance in the sleepy little town of Happy Glades… until the day when he discovers a Time Portal of Doom under his bathroom rug! In Stone Rabbit Volume 1: B.C. Mambo, our hero finds himself stuck in dinosaur days, trying to find his way back home. In Volume 2: Pirate Palooza, our time-hopping hero runs afoul of the dread pirate Barnacle Bob.
