Dragon Resurrection is a new full-color trade paperback from Dark Horse, coming this May. It’s written by Emmy-nominated producer Mark Byers, ably assisted by Lin Zhang and Lyan Zhang, and illustrated Erfan Fajar. “Following the discovery of the remains of a dragon in the mountains of Tibet, adventurer Jesse Chang sends a DNA sample back to his twin brother, geneticist Jack. However, when a rogue American general learns of the discovery, he sets in motion a global pursuit to seize and control the technology for his own shocking ends. Now these twin siblings must synthesize the dragon’s DNA, creating a new generation of living, breathing dragons, in order to take on a tyrant bent on building his own personal kingdom.” Of course, there’s already a movie version in the works. Check out Dark Horse’s preview web site to see more.
Nine Lives of Power
Also on Free Comic Book Day, look for the special issue of Scratch9 to be released by Hermes Press. In case you don’t remember Scratch9, it’s the Eisner-Award nominated full-color all-ages comic book about a cat with the magical ability to summon the spirits of any one of his nine lives to help him in his adventures. It’s written by Rob Worley and illustrated by Jason T. Kruse. This special FCBD edition re-prints the premier issue with a brand new cover (by Armand Villavert, Jr.) and some brand new back-up material.
Free Turtles!
It might seem early in the year to think about it, but the publishers already are: Saturday May 4th is Free Comic Book Day, when various publishers put out special “sampler issues” to be given away at comic book shops across America. First up, IDW Publishing have announced a new full-color tie-in with the hit Ninja Turtles CGI series, featuring art and stories by various people and a color cover by Dario Brizuela. “Jumping from screen to page, it’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles New Animated Adventures! This unique series captures the heart of the smash Nickelodeon television show with brand-new stories. Full of action, excitement and laughs, this is the perfect all-ages comic to get you seeing green!!” Check out more of what’s coming on Free Comic Book Day by visiting the official web site.
Draw with a Child-Like Imagination
Here’s one of those titles we’re likely to notice: Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals by Carla Sonheim. It’s available on Amazon in paperback from Quarry Books. This new book applies Ms. Sonheim’s interesting theories about teaching adults to draw to the idea of drawing animals. Here’s how the publisher describes it: “Rediscover a more child-like approach to creating with Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals! Through fun and creative exercises, Carla Sonheim teaches you to draw a variety of fun animals and creatures, including: Dogs – Birds – Elephants – Fish – Cats – Rabbits – Fluffalumps – and many others! You’ll also find a variety of unique mixed-media techniques to help you bring your creatures to life, resulting in a unique finished art piece. Improve your drawing skills, expand your creativity, and learn new art techniques–and have loads of fun doing it!”
And with that, we wish you all a Happy New Year! Thank you for making us part of your Internet experience in 2013!
Pi-Rats (and Others) in the Sky!
Pirate 101 (from Kings Isle, the same creators as Wizard 101) is an on-line multi-player role-playing system of pirate adventure and battle — in the sky, no less. Yep, flying pirate ships. It’s a decidedly family-friendly game throughout, though it has “adult” and “child” areas as part of it. The interesting thing is this: As you can see from the preview trailer, and in the picture below, there are plenty of anthropomorphic player characters to be had and played, as well as the more traditional human sort. Visit www.pirate101.com to find out how to get started with the game.
A Little Girl and a Tiger
First off: Merry Christmas! And thank you for making us part of your lives for another year ^^
Also over at Cartoon Brew there’s a teaser trailer for a new short animation project by world-famous animator Andreas Deja. Here’s what they say: “Andreas Deja is a modern-day animation legend. He worked for 30 years at Disney where he was responsible for classic characters such as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, Jafar in Aladdin, Scar in The Lion King, and Lilo in Lilo and Stitch. He left the studio a couple years ago to focus on personal projects, including producing independent animated films. This morning, Andreas teased audiences with a preview from his short film Mushka, featuring a girl and tiger as the lead characters. The film, which will be animated in a colored pencil style, is ‘a story of love and sacrifice set in Russia.’ On his blog, which also includes development sketches of the characters, Deja pointed out that he still has a long road ahead of him. He’s been working on story and pre-production this year, and plans to animate the film in 2013.”
Flying from the TV to the Movie Screen
Disney and Pixar have announced an interesting change to their 2013 movie line-up. This is from Jerry Beck over at Cartoon Brew: “Disney has decided to chase after Dreamworks’ Turbo next summer with its new “Cars-inspired” movie: Planes. Disney has just announced it will release this film theatrically on August 9th, 2013. Originally designed to go direct-to-DVD, Planes will now play in theaters all over the U.S. Jon Cryer is voicing the lead plane, “Dusty”; Klay Hall (Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure), an aviator himself, is directing.” In the same article Cartoon Brew also re-posted the original trailer for Planes, in case you missed it before.
Classic Disney Poems
Here’s something new that Disney art and story collectors can look forward to this February: Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Tales, coming in hardcover from Random House. “Originally published in Good Housekeeping magazine, these legendary one-page features translated Disney’s newest releases into rollicking comic poems illustrated by master Disney painters Tom Wood and Hank Porter. This collection of 50 of the funniest and most fascinating features are presented in a hardcover family-friendly book to Disney fans of all ages. A trip back to Mickey and Minnie’s musical heyday, these beautifully illustrated and condensed re-tellings of some of Disney’s most delightful shorts will entrance fans young and old.” Check it out at Cheap Graphic Novels.








