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Books and Trade Paperbacks

Guide the Dragons of the Sun

More new dragon fantasy books: Spirits of the Sun, Book One in the new Diego’s Dragon series by Kevin Gerard (published by Crying Cougar Press). “An eleven-year-old Latino boy wins a district-wide writing contest for sixth graders. When an author visits his school to award his prize, Diego Ramirez has no idea how much his life is about to change. Nathan Sullivan hands Diego his statue, a handsome, glistening black dragon. After hearing the name Magnifico spoken aloud by family and friends, Diego awards it to his new dragon. If he only knew how fitting the name was, he might have known what lay ahead: Magnifico is the leader of the Sol Dragones, dragons that live within the magical fires of the sun. Nathan Sullivan is the earth’s connection to the mysterious creatures. It is his task to find Magnifico’s guide. As Magnifico comes to life he becomes quite mischievous, playing tricks on Diego to embarrass him. As he discovers his bloodline, however, Diego assumes greater control over his dragon and his destiny.” There’s a video on YouTube introducing you to the series, and more information over on the official web site.

image c. 2014 Crying Cougar Press

image c. 2014 Crying Cougar Press

A Boy Becomes A Man… And A Dragon?

He Walks With Dragons is the first book in a new fantasy series of the same name by author and poet Stanley S. Thornton. As he points out, unlike your average fantasy series this does not take place in a fantasy land — it imagines dragons in our actual world, influencing human history and human evolution. “Draig, a boy on the verge of his manhood, is summoned to the majestic mountain by the Great Ones. There he finds out he is about to transcend the ages and risk his life to prevent the destruction of mankind. Born into the naïve innocence of ancient man, Draig lives a simple pastoral existence in a quiet, small village. But one day he is flung on a magical journey into a forbidden new world. There Draconos, a dragon, befriends the boy, training him in the art of warfare. From this day forward, the young boy finds himself in awe at the wonders the world holds for him. Not only has Draig become a man, but he is living like a dragon and learning their mystical powers… And when the time comes, will Draig be willing to lay down his life for the sake of saving the dragons? And when the dragons are gone, where will he go?” He Walks With Dragons and The Staff And The Orb, the 2nd book in the planned 4-book series, are available now. Visit the author’s web site to find out more about the series and when the next books are coming.

image c. 2014 Mystic Dragon Publishing

image c. 2014 Mystic Dragon Publishing

Get Down Again!

With interest in Howard the Duck rising again after his *Spoiler Alert!* momentary cameo in a recent hit movie from Marvel, they’ve decided that this October the time is right to re-release the Howard the Duck Omnibus — which has been out of print for more than six years. A massive hardcover (more than 800 pages) written entirely by Howard’s creator Stever Gerber — with artistic contributions from the likes of Val Mayerik, Frank Brunner, Gene Colan, Carmine Infantino, and John Buscema. This classic collection of the foul-mouthed foul “trapped in a world he never made” brings together stories from Adventures into Fear #19, Man-Thing #1, Giant-Size Man-Thing #4 – 5, Howard the Duck #1 – 33, Marvel Treasury Edition #12, and Marvel Team-Up #96. Read all about it at The Nerdist.

 

image c. 2014 Marvel Comics

image c. 2014 Marvel Comics

Man of Design

Walt Disney referred to Marc Davis as his “Renaissance Man” because Marc could seemingly do anything… He could do storyboards, design characters, animate, and he could even help to design new attractions for Walt’s theme parks. And now professionals from each of those departments and more have gathered together to celebrate Marc’s life and legacy in a massive new hardcover book, Marc Davis: Walt Disney’s Renaissance Man, coming this October from Disney Editions.  It’s filled with Marc’s original sketches and designs, as well as background information from his friends and co-workers. Need a furry tie-in for all this? Look no further than his character designs for The Country Bears and America Sings attractions at Disneyland. But there’s more.

image c. 2014 Disney Editions

image c. 2014 Disney Editions

The Princess and the Beast

This October Viz Media will release Princess Mononoke: The First Story, “An oversized, lavishly illustrated storybook featuring original watercolor art by legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. This is the original  Princess  Mononoke  story created by Miyazaki in 1980 while he was first conceptualizing the landmark animated film that would later be released to universal acclaim seventeen years later. As an initial version of the tale, it offers a new and different perspective from the final version presented in the film: After a long, exhausting war, a samurai lost in a forest encounters a giant wildcat – a ‘mononoke’The beast saves his life, but at the price of his daughter’s hand in marriage… ” Read more about this new hardcover book over at Crunchyroll.

image c. 2014 Viz Media

image c. 2014 Viz Media

No, They’re Not Scary At All…

Here it is, straight from Previews: “From the bestselling video games, leading cartoon on Nickelodeon, hot toys from McFarlane Toys, now bursting into comics: playful, clueless, curious, mischievous, and completely unpredictable, the Rabbids find fun everywhere and with everything, creating havoc wherever they go! In their first graphic novel, the Rabbids invade museums, horse races, and even play golf on the moon with a series of non-stop gags that showcase their charmingly surreal stupidity out amongst the rest of the world. ” Watch out! They’re coming next week from Papercutz. Rabbids Volume 1: Bwaaaaaaah! was written by Thitaume with artwork by Romain Pujol.

image c. 2014 Papercutz

image c. 2014 Papercutz

After the Last Ride

And now for something completely different: Anthropomorphic… amusement park rides. Yes. “What happens to amusement park rides once they are put into storage or destroyed? They are magically transported to a place only known as ‘Amusement Park Between’, a park that co-exist within any other and is only accessible by those who are of its blood. There are no limits and no humans. The only residents are the rides. However, they are much different from our own. Amusement Park Between’s rides are ALIVE, having both the characteristics of man and beast. Amusement Park Between was once merry and joyous, but for the past several years it has spiraled into turmoil. An evil tyrant known as Ironwheel has taken control, casting a dark shadow over Amusement Park Between, and whose evil intentions endanger both their world and our own. The rides only hope is the key to their prophecy; the red will defeat the black. That particular key is the only ride that was created differently. The red roller coaster, Railrunner. And this is his story.” Got all that? It’s all there in Twisted, a new illustrated novel from the artist and writer Miranda Leek. You can read more about it and see all of her illustrations for Twisted over at her personal web site. The book is available now.

image c. 2014 by Miranda Leek

image c. 2014 by Miranda Leek

Out There Be Dragons

Dynamite Entertainment have announced the first English language release of In Search of Lost Dragons, “a gorgeous illustrated storybook that captures glimpses of the majestic flying reptiles hiding throughout our world.  For the first time ever, the sensational French art book by celebrated storytellers Elian Black’Mor and Carine-M is adapted to English in a luscious, full-color, and oversized hardcover, presenting over 200 pages of dragon illustrations and Victorian-style sketches with a captivating accompanying narrative. Originally published in France as Sur La Piste Des Dragons Oublies, this fantastic adventure follows an intrepid illustrator and reporter’s  journeys from Europe through the Middle East and finally to Saigon in search of the dark caverns and mountaintop perches where the elusive winged serpents dwell.  With the gift of seeing the invisible, our explorer friend records each encounter in a journal of gorgeous, fully painted artwork, capturing every majestic and fearsome visual detail of the scaly behemoths, and accompanies his findings with snippets of local lore as evidence that these hidden beasts continue to shape the world in ways we may never expect.” In Search of Lost Dragons makes an appearance this October. Take a look at the preview over at Bleeding Cool.

image c. 2014 Dynamite Entertainment

image c. 2014 Dynamite Entertainment

The Monsters of Rock?

Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s the late Jim Henson and his associate Jerry Juhl wrote many interesting screenplays for development as projects for The Muppets, and many of them were never produced. Among the latter was a story called The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow, which went like this: “Turkey Hollow is a picturesque town where hundreds of years ago, unbeknownst to the citizens, a meteorite landed nearby a small brook on the outskirts of town. One Thanksgiving, while young Timmy Henderson practices his guitar, he’s accompanied by strange, unearthly, musical sounds. That meteorite wasn’t a rock at all but an egg holding seven furry, goofy monsters, each with a unique musical sound. After the initial shock, Timmy befriends the lovable creatures following him all around Turkey Hollow. Not everyone takes a liking to the visitors though and it’s up to Timmy to protect his new friends and save Thanksgiving!” Now Archaia Comics have partnered once again with illustrator Roger Langridge (Snarked, The Muppet Show) to bring these Musical Monsters to life in a brand new full-color graphic novel coming in hardcover this October. What’s more, according to an article in USA Today, Lisa Henson (Jim’s daughter and CEO of Henson Company) has confirmed that the original script is being developed into a holiday TV special — possibly for release as early as this Thanksgiving!

image c. 2014 Archaia Comics

image c. 2014 Archaia Comics