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It’s A Catastrophe!

[We are so, so sorry for that one…] Earlier this year you may recall we mentioned an upcoming animated feature called Blazing Samurai. Well now thanks to Cartoon Brew we have a lot more information about it! “Arriving stateside August 4, 2017, from AMC Entertainment and Regal Entertainment’s Open Road Films, Blazing Samurai stars Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, George Takei, Gabriel Iglesias, Aasif Mandvi, Djimon Hounsou, Michelle Yeoh, Sandra Tsing Loh, Mel B., Heavenly Joy Jerkins, and Mel Brooks himself as a madcap array of cats and dogs comedically battling for samurai supremacy not in the Wild West but the faraway Japanese East. Co-directed by Alvin and the Chipmunks and Garfield animation supervisor Chris Bailey and veteran Disney animator Mark Koetsier, Blazing Samurai also features art direction from New Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show and Steven Universe’s Kevin Dart. Toronto, Canada-based CG animation and visual effects shop Arc Productions (Gnomeo & Juliet) is the lead animation house.” What’s more, Lion King / Mr. Peabody & Sherman director Rob Minkoff is on board as one of the producers. Quite a lot of big names attached to this project!

image c. 2015 Open Road Films

image c. 2015 Open Road Films

Ingredients For Adventure

Southern California author and artist James J. Cartwright (creator of the Hamsters! comic, which we previously reviewed here) has returned with his first novel for kids, The Rabbit Chef and the Phantom Pepper. He illustrated the front as well, of course. “Cass the Rabbit is on an ambitious hunt for the legendary ingredient, the Phantom Pepper, so she can finally complete the greatest bowl of chili the forest will ever know. Cass is a rabbit who wants to be a master chef. Between her pesky brothers and mishaps in the kitchen she just can?t get her recipes quite right. Luckily, her best friend Jay the Fox is there to convince Cass to venture away from her cozy rabbit hole and into the depths of the treacherous forest in order to find the one veggie that can complete her spicy chili in time for the Harvest Festival. But that forest is full of secrets that aren’t ready to be discovered. Can she find the Phantom Pepper? Is it a good idea to steal from The Old Witch? And what really lurks deep down the forgotten road? This rabbit wants to be the top chef in the woodlands but is too busy cooking up trouble on her cuisine quest.” James wrote and published Rabbit Chef himself. It’s available now over at Abe Books.

image c. 2015 James Cartwight

image c. 2015 James Cartwright

The Young Shall Lead the Way

Back in 2014, illustrator Katie Shaw got busy on a life-long dream of creating her own comic, based on the works she loved growing up. The result is Dragon Child, an on-line black and white fantasy comic created, written, and drawn by Katie, that is also available in paper form. Over the past year she’s been appearing at various comic conventions in the western USA to introduce people to her work. What’s the story? When the dragons of the world gather from the four corners to decide what to do about the growing impact of humans, a young girl named Ryu Kodomo discovers that she has caught the attention of an elf named Chase — and a precocious young “dracling” named Embyr. The comics and much more background material can be found at the official Dragon Child web site. Did we mention that Katie sells plush dragons too?

image c. 2015 Katie Shaw

image c. 2015 Katie Shaw

One More Time with the Armored Bears

According to an article over at i09, the BBC have given the green-light to another go at adapting Philip Pullman’s well-known and controversial fantasy series His Dark Materials. As you may recall, New Line Cinema attempted to adapt the first book in the series, The Golden Compass (known as The Northern Lights in Europe) into a movie back in 2007. It did poorly at the North American box office — but better in Europe, where Mr. Pullman’s work is more of a known commodity. This time around though the BBC intends to adapt the work as an 8-part TV miniseries, which is probably a good move given the novels’ complexity of plot. What we don’t know yet (besides a targeted release date) is if that 8-part miniseries is meant to cover the entire trilogy or just the first book. We’ll find out! If you didn’t know, His Dark Materials describes a parallel world where humans have their souls as animal companions that talk to them — and they share the world with talking bears who make armor and fight.

image c. 2015 New Line Cinema

image c. 2015 New Line Cinema

Doggies and Dragons for You

Ed Swanson and his wife Nitha Swanson are crafters from Southern California who specialize in making various cloth items for sale at street fairs and conventions. Items including: Life-sized dachshunds and not-life-sized dragons (well, unless your dragons are very small!) in various colors. Including some rather psychedelic-colored leopard prints. Head on over to their web site and see what else The Dragon Flame Shop has to offer.

image c. 2015 The Dragon Flame Shop

image c. 2015 The Dragon Flame Shop

Rats! And Brujas! And Monsters!

[A late Happy Halloween to you all! Here’s hoping it found you happy and safe.]

One day, brothers Amadeo and Carlos Lucero walked into the deep, dark woods near their home in Algodones, New Mexico… and encountered a deep, dark magic. Attempting to flee, suddenly Carlos finds himself transformed into a black and white calf! That’s the set up for Under the Cottonwood Tree (El Susto de la Curandera), a new full-color “Latino fairy tale graphic novel” by Paul Meyer, Carlos Meyer, and Margaret Hardy. Watch as our heroes encounter dangerous owls, talking rats, and magical spirits as they seek to un-bovine young Carlos. Under The Cottonwood Tree is set to be published soon, but the UTCT website has several preview pages up already.

image c. 2015 4 Publications

image c. 2015 4 Publications

The Little Ones Shall Inherit The Earth

Late in 2014 there appeared a new full-color very anthropomorphic comic called Squarriors, written by Ash Maczko and illustrated by Ashley Witter. “In a post-human world, two tribes of animals find themselves on the brink of war. Will they survive and find peace, or follow humanity into extinction?” For reasons not clear, humanity has vanished and been replaced by various forest animals, lead by the squirrels… and engaged in deadly, very bloody battles over territory. Now that the first 4-issue story arch has been completed, later this month publisher Devil’s Due is releasing them all together as a single trade paperback. Take a look at their web site — but be warned: When we say bloody, we mean it.

image c. 2015 Devil's Due

image c. 2015 Devil’s Due

Children’s Stories Can Be Deadly

In case you missed it, Paul Jenkin’s Fiction Squad comic book mini-series was a continuation of his Fablewood concept: A place where all fairy tales and bedtime stories live side by side. Now Boom! Studios have collected the entire 6-issue series in a new Fiction Squad trade paperback. “Fablewood is a pretty dangerous place, but no area is more dangerous than the City of Rimes, deep in the heart of the Children’s Realm. After transferring in from the Realm of Mystery, a failed detective from an unfinished prose novel, Frankie Mack, is about to uncover a conspiracy that could unmake storytelling itself. After Humpty Dumpty is pushed to crack and Jack (of Jack and Jill) goes AWOL, Frankie and his partner, Simple Simon, are put on the case.” With full color illustrations by Ramon Bachs, the book is 160 pages and it’s coming very soon. Take a look over at the Boom! web site. Anthropomorphic animals (and many other things!) abound.

image c. 2015 Boom! Studios

image c. 2015 Boom! Studios

Is There More to Life Than Killing?

Teagan Gavet is likely better known in furry fandom as the artist Black Teagan — and perhaps known best as one-half of the award-winning art collective known as Blotch. Now she has created a brand new full-color anthropomorphic graphic novel of her own, Oren’s Forge, and she plans to put installments up on line starting soon. “The bizarre rumor of a sanctuary free from predation has reached many animals, and not just those considered as prey. Two pine martens, Rask and Quannaq, follow the tales to the lake that lay in the shadow of mountain. While they have the long teeth of a flesh-eater, they know the constant fear of greater hunters who consider them only meat. Convinced that there is more to this life than a mere transition into death, they go on toward the unknown, unsure if they will find welcome or ruin.” Visit the official web site for updates, and look for Oren’s Forge on line starting November 16th.

image c. 2015 by Teagan Gavet

image c. 2015 by Teagan Gavet