It’s an all-new rodent! CEC Entertainment Inc, owners of the Chuck E. Cheese line of pizza restaurant/arcades, have announced a total make-over for the company’s mascot. Gone is the portly circus ringleader (and gone, at least in TV commercials, is Chuck E’s voice of 20 years, Duncan Brannan). In his place is a new slimmed-down Chuck E. in a t-shirt and jeans, sporting a Gibson Les Paul Guitar! The new Chuck E is voiced in ads by Jaret Reddick, lead singer for the pop-punk band Bowling for Soup (well-known for their song “1985”). ScreenMag.com has the first ad from the new campaign up on their web site. Trivia bit for you: Did you know that Chuck E. Cheese’s pizza restaurant chain was founded by Nolan Bushnell — who also founded Atari?
Werewolves vs. Bikers from Hell
First off, wishing a very Happy Independence Day to all of you and yours!
Later this month Moonstone Publishing will bring us Werewolves of New Idria, an illustrated novel / trade paperback written by John Chadwell with art by Duncan Long. Here’s the publisher’s description: ” The Aceves family is like no other. With patriarch, Roberto Aceves, forever a Spanish knight after being bitten by a werewolf, he and his clan have secretly fought man’s wars for 900 years. Today, near the abandoned mining town of New Idria, they must battle against a demon and his biker gang who want nothing more than to destroy the entire clan. A new breed of werewolf! Holy warriors, led by a 900-year-old knight who fought beside El Cid, now in a deadly struggle against a motorcycle gang headed by Satan’s ken, hell bent on revenge!” Check out the pre-order page at Amazon.com.
Cat With Guitar
Another animal who decides to follow his own, different path; this is a cat known as Chote Meow. “Banished from their original homeland of Harmonystan, the cats have been living in the Dark Forest for a long, long time. No one trusts them and hardly anyone gives them any work. They steal. They kill. They cause panic and fear. But all that is about to change… Meet Chote Meow! He is the strangest cat in the world. His best friends are a rat and a crow. Even though his father is a famous cat burglar, this young cat won’t steal but sing for his supper. There is nothing that Chote Meow loves more than adventure and his guitar. Chote Meow’s love for adventure takes him both far and near. Harmonystan, the kingdom of his birth now ruled by an evil Sultan, is where their life changes. Whether it’s winning hearts, fighting bad guys, or forming a musical band this young cat will do it all.” This full-color book for younger readers was written by Pooja Lulla and illustrated by Sachin Nagar. Look for it from Campfire Orignals this August.
Gordon Was Different…
Gordon the Giraffe is a new full-color trade paperback from Arcana Entertainment, written by Bruce Brown and illustrated A. Shelton. It tells the story of Gordon, a young giraffe who discovers that he’s different from other giraffe kids… and how the other kids learn to accept that. Here’s the description from Word of the Nerd: “In the jungle where Gordon lives, there is a special game that the giraffe children play with each other (much like 1-on-1 volleyball, but with bananas). Gordon’s issue is that, instead of playing banana volleyball with a girl giraffe, he finds it much more fun to play the game with Gary. So the other boys decide to play a trick on Gordon. When that trick backfires, it is up to Gordon to rescue the other boy giraffes.” This new storybook comes out in early July.
Furry Ladies for Furry Ladies
There’s a new, decidedly adult-oriented furry fanzine in the works, and its currently seeking contributions. Its intentions are stated pretty clearly by the title: LFR, which stands for Lesbian Furry Rag. The editors are looking for stories, illustrations, and comics “of the girl-kissing-girl persuasion”, to quote them, and female characters of all body types are welcome. Ratings run from pretty and romantic to full-on erotica, with an emphasis on the pleasure of the ladies, rather than the “fetish” sort of lesbian scene meant to entertain straight males. Visit their Tumblr site to find out more about how to contribute and what they’re looking for.
Save Yourself
Here’s a different take on the traditional princess vs. dragon story: “Princeless is about Princess Adrienne who lives in a land of fairy-tale castles. When the Princesses reach age 16 they are put in a tower guarded by a fearsome dragon, where they languish until a dashing would-be Prince comes to rescue them. It’s traditional. Apparently knowing which end of a sword to stick in a dragon is a fit test for kingship… Adrienne isn’t pleased with this state of affairs, and after one particularly luckless knight turns up she decides she’s had enough. Chatting late into the night with Sparky (the dragon) they decide to abandon the castle, fake her own death and set off on a quest to save her sisters from their towers.” Fantasy creatures and fantasy tropes show up aplenty in this series, and none of them looked at in the traditional way. Now Action Lab Comics have released Princeless: Save Yourself, which collects the first story arc of the series (written by Jeremy Whitley and illustrated by M. Goodwin) into one handy full-color trade paperback. Check out their blog.
New Turtles This Fall!
Our friends at Cartoon Brew have a link to the first trailer for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series, premiering this fall on Nickelodeon. This new CGI series (similar to the TMNT feature from 2007) features the voices of Jason Biggs (American Pie) as Leonardo, Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings) as Raphael, Rob Paulsen (Animaniacs) as Donatello, and Greg Cipes (Teen Titans) as Michelangelo. “Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles chronicles the adventures of the teenage turtle brothers as they emerge from their hidden lair in the sewers for the very first time. Ready to confront the wondrous and hostile world of New York City, they face enemies more dangerous and pizza more delicious than anything they could have ever imagined.” The trailer premiered on Nickelodeon last Saturday.
Pandering. Do it.
Look, we know that we very recently did a report on Chew: Secret Agent Poyo from Image Comics. Well even more recently they lobbed a curve-ball right at us, and we thought we’d better respond. So first off, what is Chew? Here’s the description from Wikipedia: “Chew is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book series written by John Layman with art by Rob Guillory and published by Image Comics. It is a story about an FDA Agent who solves crimes by getting psychic impressions by eating things, including people.” Got that? Okay. Well now comes the announcement for issue #28 of the regular Chew series. Check out the cover below, and check out this description from Image: “‘Space Cakes’,Part Three. Remember last story arc when Tony Chu got kidnapped? This issue he gets kidnapped again! How lame is that? Meanwhile, we shamelessly pander to comics’ coveted ‘furry’ demographic.” Got that? Okay. We don’t know anything more about it, but we figure if they’re going to pander to us, we’ll pander right back at them. So there!