Brand new from Previews: “Tom Arvis’ legendary hero and indie favorite Mercenary Pig is now presented in one complete, full color volume! A walking, talking, thinking, humanoid pig takes on animal cruelty, genetically modified pigs, and, ultimately, an evil food conglomerate, in this pork-humor filled, action packed origin story! New material wraps up the entire Meatcutter story arc in these 48 pages, as Percy the pig begins his guerrilla fight for animal rights – with his fists!” We don’t make this stuff up folks — if we did, we’d get paid more! Mercenary Pig #1 is available this April from Aazurn Publishing. Check out the preview video on YouTube, too.
Comic Book News
Hello Kitty! You’re Free!
New news for the upcoming Free Comic Book Day on Saturday, May 3rd at comic book stores all over. This time, from the Viz Media imprint Perfect Square: “Hello Kitty and her friends star in all-new comic book adventures, and this time they’re letting their imaginations run wild! Plus: Don’t miss the sneak peek of Perfect Square’s upcoming tribute book celebrating Hello Kitty’s 40th anniversary. Bonus feature! Perfect Square introduces exciting Bravest Warriors adventures featuring the irrepressible Catbug!” More on this and other Free Comic Book Day offerings can be found at the official web site.
Alice’s Other Adventures
In that same article at Broken Frontier in which we found out about the new Dragons comic they announced another new comic book of some interest to Furry Fans. The Weirding Willows, created by Dave Elliot, has previously run only in the comic anthologies A1 and Heavy Metal. Now Titan Comics have gathered together the first story arc — along with a brand new chapter — in hardcover. “When she was nine, Alice wandered into the Wild Woods and discovered a portal to another world. A world called Wonderland! Now a young woman, she has spent her childhood discovering just some of the wonders the dimensional nexus of the Weir has to offer – a place where the worlds of Earth, Wonderland, OZ, Neverland, Mars, Pelucidar and Elysium collide, and where anything, and anyone, could turn up when least expected!” The first story tells what happens when Alice’s father, Dr. Moreau, makes a dubious deal with the Wicked Witch of the West. Not to mention having Mr. Toad and his associates show up. This full-color collection is available later this month.
Toothless on the Printed Page
Later this month Titan Comics premiers not one but two volumes of their new digest-sized full-color comic based on the hit TV series Dragons: Riders of Berk. From the preview at Broken Frontier: “Titan Comics proudly presents all-new original adventures of Hiccup and Toothless! A thrilling all-ages publication and a broadening of the How To Train Your Dragon universe. Featuring gorgeous animation-inspired artwork by Iwan Nazif, and written by Simon Furman (Transformers, Doctor Who Magazine, Thundercats).”
Sell it to the Cephalopods
Recently comic book writer and artist Simon Roy has made quite a name for himself with his science fiction series Prophet. Before that though, he was known for his shorter works — seven of which have now been collected in Jan’s Atomic Heart and Other Stories, coming late this March in trade paperback from Image Comics. In stories like “Jan’s Atomic Heart” and “Shipwrecked with Dan the Gorilla,”, Roy often shows humans interacting with aliens and other species in a very slice-of-life and social way. Check it out at Digital Spy.
The Return of Moose and Squirrel
The pride of Frostbite Falls, Minnesota return to comics as IDW Publishing brings us Rocky & Bullwinkle #1 this March. It’s the first issue of a 4-issue full-color miniseries written by Mark Evanier and illustrated by Roger Langridge. SEE Rocky and Bullwinkle try to stop Boris and Natasha from duping a wealthy philanthropist in The Psychic Sidekick! The issue also features a back-up story with the dashing Dudley Do-Right battling the the nefarious Snidely Whiplash. Meanwhile, also in March IDW will premiere Rocky & Bullwinkle Classics Volume 1: Star Billing. This 122-page trade paperback gathers together issues 1 – 4 of the original Gold Key Rocky & Bullwinkle comics from the 1970’s, written and illustrated by Al Kilgore. Dudley and his cohorts, as well as Mr. Peabody and Sherman, appear in back-up stories.
- image c. 2014 IDW Publishing
Dogs (and Cats) vs. Dark Powers
In 2005 Evan Dorkin (writer) and Jill Thompson (artist) won an Eisner Award for their original comic book series Beasts of Burden, about a haunted small town and the local dogs and cats who do nightly battle with the deadly forces of evil trying to invade. Now comes the brand-new Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers, a one-shot full-color comic designed to introduce new readers to the animals of Burden Hill and their struggles. This time around, our furry heroes discover that a friendly half-werewolf might just be more help than they bargained for. Hunters and Gatherers will be available at comic book stores this March, from Dark Horse Press.
Blasting Your Way — For Free!
Signs of the upcoming Free Comic Book Day for 2014 are beginning to show up in Previews and other places. One of the furrier ones on the horizon comes from Marvel: None other than the furries’ favorite Guardian of the Galaxy (unless you’re really into trees), Rocket Raccoon. Written by Joe Caramagna and illustrated by Adam Archer (with a cover by Skottie Young), this 32-page full-color mini-comic features the power procyonid in his own space adventure in anticipation of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie this August. Digital Spy has the story. Don’t forget, Free Comic Book Day comes to a comic book shop near you on May 3rd.








