Your Guide to the World of Furry Fandom
According to an article over at Comics Beat, IDW Comics have managed to strike a deal with the infamous Dave Sim, president of Aardvark-Vanaheim Publishers. Now they’re working to bring together more than 300 covers from the Mr. Sim the artist and writer’s famous creation, Cerebrus the Aardvark, together in one full-color hardcover collection. It’s been a while since we’ve heard from the earth pig, so look for this new book from IDW this coming January.
image c. 2014 Aardvark-Vanaheim
Next year, the pigs come to power! Or at least, they take a crack at it… again. “In a dark, oppressive future, pig-men work tirelessly as the slaves of human masters, feeding a society they cannot fathom. When Oink realizes that the dogma being forced on them is all lies, he undertakes a path of revenge and revelation.” Written and illustrated by John Mueller, OINK: Heaven’s Butcher is celebrating its 20th anniversary with new sequences and a new paint job in this new trade paperback from Dark Horse Press. Over at Comic Book Resources they have more: “Influenced by George Orwell, Pink Floyd, and Simon Bisley, among others, OINK debuted in 1995 from Kitchen Sink Press, telling the dystopian story of pig-men who work as slaves to feed their human masters. But when Oink witnesses the execution of one of his comrades, he violently rebels and sets out on a quest for the truth about the creation of his race and revenge against its oppressors.” Check out the preview images too — and look for the graphic novel in February.
image c. 2014 Dark Horse Press
The illustrated hardcover children’s books published by Golden Books are indeed as valuable as gold among collectors — and none more so than the Disney tie-in Golden Books. Now a new hardcover collected edited by animation historian Charles Solomon, The Art of the Disney Golden Books, celebrates these historical treasures — and their lasting value and influence over the past 80 years. “A remarkable lineup of talent, many of whom were Disney Studio artists – including Mary Blair, Alice and Martin Provensen, Gustaf Tenggren, Al Dempster, Retta Scott Worcester, and Bill Peet – created the illustrations for the early Disney Golden Books. The bold and incredibly detailed artwork was painstakingly executed in gouache and watercolor-media that required a steady hand and immense patience and precision. The resulting publications became favorite selections in the libraries of many children, among them, future generations of Disney and Pixar artists who were inspired to draw, dream, and later, create their own films and Golden Books. The Art of the Disney Golden Books celebrates a legacy that has now thrived for more than eighty years and continues to influence new generations of artists and filmmakers. Through interviews with contemporary animators who recall tracing the characters in their childhood Disney Golden Books, paintings by artists who influenced and inspired the Disney Golden Book illustrations, and a generous complement of Golden Book artwork-much of which was thought to have been lost until very recently-the rich tradition of the series is explored in this vibrant volume.” Published by Disney Editions, The Art of the Disney Golden Books is available now from Barnes & Noble.
image c. 2014 Disney Editions
Seemingly out of nowhere, Disney/Pixar have announced that the CGI animated feature The Good Dinosaur is back in production — and back on track for release in the winter of 2015, according to an article over at Cartoon Brew. After Disney removed director Bob Petersen from the project (he had co-directed Up and played the voice of Dug the dog) we didn’t hear much about Good Dinosaur for a while, as Disney/Pixar began advertising their next big project Inside Out. Now Disney/Pixar have announced that the new director of The Good Dinosaur will be Peter Sohn. He’s well known behind the scenes at Pixar, having worked in the art and story departments on several projects and directed the short film Partly Cloudy. He’s also known for his voice acting (he was Emile in Ratatouille and Squishy in Monsters University) and for being the body model for the character Russell in Up. Yes, really. With this announcement it now seems that Disney/Pixar will actually have two releases in 2015: Inside Out in June and The Good Dinosaur in November. Which puts the latter film right up against Kung Fu Panda 3, by the way. If you haven’t heard, The Good Dinosaur follows the adventures of a talking dinosaur family in modern times — on an alternate Earth where the great beasts never died out.
image c. 2014 Disney/Pixar
No, that’s not a little human girl in a cat-suit. Evidently that’s what people look like in the world of Henni, a new black & white graphic novel by indie comic book star Miss Lasko Gross. “In a fantastical world, where old traditions and religion dominate every aspect of life, lives a girl named Henni. Unlike most in her village, Henni questions and wonders what the world is like as she comes of age. Striking out on her own, Henni goes out in search of truth, adventure, and more! Written and drawn my Miss Lasko Gross (A Mess of Everything and Escape From Special), Henni is a commentary on, religion, coming of age, and being yourself.” It’s also coming in softcover this January from Z2 Comics, but you can check out the preview pages over at Comics Beat.
image c. 2014 Z2 Comics
Next month, Yen Press will premier a new hardcover black & white graphic novel based on The Wolf Gift, author Anne Rice’s new take on werewolves in the modern world. “When reporter Reuben Golding arrives at a secluded mansion at the request of the home’s mysterious female owner, he doesn’t expect this assignment will lead to him being inexplicably attacked-bitten-by a beast shadowed in darkness. This single event prompts a terrifying but seductive transformation that both opens Reuben’s eyes to what was previously unseen and unknown, and leads to even more questions. Why was he given this wolf gift? Is its nature good or evil? And is he now all alone in this mysterious new world?” The Wolf Gift was adapted and illustrated by Ashley Marie Witter. You can order it over at Barnes & Noble.
image c. 2014 Yen Press
Wow, we didn’t even realize we’d passed a milestone recently: 1,000 posts!
According to ComingSoon.net and Variety, Hasbro Studios have given the green light to a My Little Pony animated feature film — set for release in 2017. We know very little about the project at this point, but with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic show-runner Megan McCarthy on board as an executive producer we can probably assume that it will have something to do with MLP:FIM. It’s possible that this will be a more “straight ahead” pony project, as opposed to the two recent Equestria Girls films which re-imagined the ponies in a more human guise. According to execs at Hasbro, they would also be looking to have a much wider distribution of the new film than we’ve seen with Equestria Girls. The new film is being written by Joe Ballarini. Stay tuned and we’ll tell you more when we know it!
image c. 2014 Hasbro Studios
In anticipation of the upcoming Penguins of Madagascar animated film, we present… a tie-in comic book miniseries! (Bet that shocked ya, huh?) “DreamWorks Animations’ Penguins of Madagascar are getting their own brand new 4-issue comic series! Yep, Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private are jumping from the big screen to the comic page! Written by comedy genius Alex Matthews (Phoenix, Dandy) with eye-popping art from Lucas Fereyra, feathers are set to fly in this unique and exciting – and very funny – new series.” You might recall there was previously a Penguins tie-in comic based on their Nickelodeon TV series, but that was published by Kizoic Comics and featured a completely different creative team. This one is published by Titan Comics, and it’s coming to stores this November.
image c. 2014 Titan Comics
This November Oni Press brings us the first issue of Terrible Lizard, a new full-color all-ages comic book miniseries by writer Cullen Bunn (The Sixth Gun) and illustrators Drew Moss (In the Dark) and Ryan Hill (Stumptown). “The touching story of a girl and her T-Rex… with a healthy dose of collateral damage and monster conflict on the side. When the scientists of Cosmos Labs punch a hole through time and space, they pull a ferocious dinosaur into the present. The dinosaur imprints on teenage Jessica, proving to be more mischievous than vicious. But he is not alone. Strangely mutated prehistoric monsters begin attacking our world. What’s a girl and her dinosaur-fighting dinosaur supposed to do? ” Read the article over at Comicocity to find out more.
image c. 2014 Oni Press
