Your Guide to the World of Furry Fandom
Thanks to Changa Lion over at Furry.Today, we discovered the return of Teddy Ruxpin, the animatronic talking-bear story-telling sensation from the 1980’s. [See what we mean?] This latest version [distributed by Wicked Cool Toys] features a newly-designed Teddy with LCD animated eyes, plus Bluetooth connecting the bear to interactive read-along stories for laptops and other devices. Check out the newest advertisement on YouTube to see what all the fuss is about.
image c. 2017 Wicked Cool Toys
Another recent black & white discovery is the first issue of The Thunder Frog, from the folks at (wait for it) Thunder Frog Studios. More specifically that would be writer Woody Arnold and illustrator Tayson Martindale. “Theo had his life all planned out. Everything made sense. He would grow up, get married, raise a family, inherit the family farm and grow old watching his grandchildren enjoy a good life. And then he found the most powerful weapon in history… A peaceful day in the country is shattered when a battle erupts in the back-fields of a farm. What happens next will change the world forever.” Of course you can read all about it at the Thunder Frog Comics web site.
image c. 2017 Thunder Frog Studios
Interesting discovery from the Long Beach Comic Expo: Doc Yeti Fuk’son — Yeti Detective. Yes that’s the title! It’s a black & white on-line comic that’s now available as a traditional comic too. “Doc Yeti Fuk’son, yeti detective, has the goddamn world at his feet. He’s taking down punks, cleaning up the streets, and making killer puns. The only thing hotter than his career is his wife. Or… it was. Two years later, Doc lives alone, punlessly powering through MacGyver, tapioca, and brown liquor. But his sister JD Yeti Fuk’son is on the case! She brings him a murder both gruesome and topical to drag Doc back into action. Something for him to take… personally.” Doc Yeti is written by Allison Solano and illustrated by Sean Morgan. The official web site will tell you all about it.
image c. 2017 by Sean Morgan
Is there no end to the mash-ups? (Probably not.) After last year’s well-received Planet of the Apes and Tarzan crossover comic, BOOM! Studios is at it again — teaming up with DC Comics this time to bring us… Planet of the Apes / Green Lantern. Yes. (Pretty straight-forward title, huh?) In this new full-color 6-issue miniseries, Cornelius the chimpanzee scientist investigates a disturbance in the Forbidden Zone… and discovers an ancient ring of power. Then, the rest of the Green Lantern Corps catches solar wind of it… According to the publishers, “BOOM! Studios, DC, and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products are excited to bring together two celebrated pop culture properties in a historic comics crossover event when the talking simians of the Planet of the Apes meet the Emerald Crusaders of the Green Lantern Corps. Written by Robbie Thompson (Silk) and Justin Jordan (Green Lantern), and illustrated by Barnaby Bagenda (The Omega Men), Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern debuts February 1st as a 6-issue monthly limited series.” So it’s there for you now! Blastr.com has more.
image c. 2017 BOOM! Studios
How did we miss this one? Alternative Comics bring us the collected Fancy Froglin: Uncensored, an on-line comic by James Kochalka (American Elf). Here’s what they say: “James Kochalka’s complete Fancy Froglin — the lovable story of a very dirty little frog who only sometimes wears pants. Fancy Froglin is an ineffably cute happy little frog… He’s highly sexual yet purely innocent. And he loves bunnies. Most important, he’s really funny.” Do we need to mention here that this comic is decidedly for adults? Their web site has more.
image c. 2017 Alternative Comics
From an article at Animation World Network we’ve learned that Radical Sheep Productions have hooked up with Teletoon in a deal to broadcast their new animated TV series The Bagel and Becky Show in Canada. “The animated series is based on the book Bagel’s Lucky Hat by Dave Cooper (creator of PigGoatBananaCricket). The Bagel and Becky Show is a bugged-out, offbeat comedy for kids 6-11 that follows mismatched siblings Bagel voiced by Kevin McDonald (Kids in the Hall, Phineas and Ferb), and his sister Becky voiced by Nikki Payne (Last Comic Standing, Satisfaction) as they explore their neighborhood of Awkward Hills and stumble into whack-loads of outlandish situations.” No word yet on when it might be distributed to other parts of North America. Also no word as to why the little doggie has a cat for a sister, but we should probably be used to that kind of thing by now…
image c. 2016 Radical Sheep Productions
Recently we learned of a new Chinese/American co-production for television and the ‘nets called Valt the Wonder Deer. It’s produced by DreamEast Pictures, and late last year they inked a deal with Jetpack Distribution to bring the series out to the world. Valt is based on the Chinese myth of the nine-colored deer. According to an article at Animation magazine’s web site, “Valt the Wonder Deer follows Valt and his friends as they encounter funny moments, scary trials and plenty of adventure on their journey to obtain the power of the Five Magic Elements and rescue his trapped parents, the Deer King and Queen, from the comically evil overlords of the Land of Metal. The show uses the group’s journey and experiences to demonstrate themes of love, courage, friendship and responsibility to its young viewers.” Some of the American crew of Valt have previously worked on animation as diverse as Beavis & Butt-Head, Skylanders, Ben 10, Kung Fu Panda, and Dragons: Riders of Berk. Furry.Today has more, including the trailer up on Vimeo. [Again, thanks to Changa Lion for this!]
image c. 2017 DreamEast Pictures
Netflix has a new stop-motion animated series hitting the digital byways soon. Here’s what the creators say: “From American Greetings Entertainment and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, Buddy Thunderstruck is an action-comedy, stop-motion extravaganza that follows the adventures of a semi-truck racing dog named Buddy and his albino ferret mechanic. It all goes down in race-obsessed Greasepit, a place chock full of larger-than-life characters and nitro-burning, gear-slamming, tire-squealing, fish-tailing good times.” In case you didn’t know, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios are the house that animates Robot Chicken, and American Greetings Entertainment are the original creators of the Care Bears — as the trailer says, Yes Really. [Thanks to Changa Lion from Furry.Today for pointing this one out. Visit there to see new trailer!]
image c. 2017 Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
Boy, IDW Comics are jumping in with both feet (or is it all four?) with a new full-color comic called Animal Noir. “Anthropomorphic animals like you’ve never seen them before. It’s Chinatown meets Animal Farm, and just like the George Orwell classic, Lunacek and Juren’s animals are an allegory for today’s world. Private Investigator (and giraffe), Immanuel Diamond – Manny to his friends – has been asked by his uncle – an influential judge — to track down a prey fantasy movie. Adult films in this world are staged hunts where one animal eats another, and the judge’s wife starred in one that has been hidden (until now). Giraffe detectives, hippo mob members, prey-obsessed lions, street fighting elephants, and oppressed zebras are just part of this wild animal kingdom.” Should we mention that several critics noticed that Zootopia reminded them of Chinatown too? Nah, probably not. Created by Nejc Juren and Izar Lunacek, Animal Noir #1 is due on the comic book shelves this coming March.
image c. 2017 IDW Comics
