Catching onto what seems to be a growing trend (we know, we know: When wasn’t it?), Vanguard Productions now brings us Art of the Dragon in paperback this November. Here, we’ll let them tell you about it: “Vanguard presents every dragon lover’s dream come true, Art of the Dragon: The Definitive Collection of Contemporary Dragon Paintings. This concise yet comprehensive survey by Visions of Never author Patrick Wilshire and How to Draw Chiller Monsters, Werewolves, Vampires, and Zombies author J. David Spurlock presents and examines the ultimate collection of contemporary dragon paintings and provides insights about the foremost dragon-painting fantasy artists including Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore, Clyde Caldwell, Keith Parkinson, Todd Lockwood, Donato Giancola, John Howe, Bob Eggleton, Don Maitz, Stephen Hickman, Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Greg Hildebrandt, and record-breaking Hugo Award winner Michael Whelan, who also provides the cover to this long-awaited and breath-taking compendium. This book is dedicated to the memory of the late, great fantasy artist Jeffrey Catherine Jones who passed away May 19, 2011.” There’s more information about the book on Amazon. If you don’t know who some of these artists are, you should! Go on and Google them right now.
Behind the Maus
Considered by many critics and fans to be one of the most significant (as in, socially relevant) anthropomorphic works of the 20th Century, Art Spiegelman’s Maus: A Survivor’s Tale brought us the story of a Jewish family struggling to stay alive and together in the horror of Nazi Germany during World War II. And it did so through the medium of funny animal comics — but oh, were funny animals ever so not funny… In the years since the publication of Maus (and after numerous awards), Art Spiegelman has been hounded by questions: Why the Holocaust? Why mice? And why a comic book? Now, he attempts to take those questions head-on in his new hardcover book, Metamaus: A Look Inside A Modern Classic, Maus, which is available now from Pantheon Books. The book and accompanying DVD not only include an on-screen version of The Complete Maus, but also interviews with the creator’s father, memories of his mother (both his parents were held prisoner in concentration camps) by folks who knew her, scholarly essays on Maus, loads of background sketches, and much more.
image c. 2011 Art Spiegelman
A Boy and his Dog: They are the Law
“In the wild future, where weird science and natural wonders walk hand in hand, a boy and his dog decide to take a stand as the last, self-appointed supercops…” That’s the tag-line of Patrick & Theo, a new animated TV series in development, created by Ervin B. Nagy, Marci Nagy, and Marton Kovacs (all from Budapest, Hungary). It tells the story of Patrick, a 10-year-old boy with a crime TV show obsession, and Theo, Patrick’s mutant anthropomorphic dog and guardian. The creators have an extensive web site, which includes links to various YouTube videos (like this one and this one) that introduce you to the characters and their wild world.
image c. 2011 Nagy, Nagy, Kovacs
The Dog Who Fixes Cars
NBM Publishing is releasing two brand-new paperback volumes of Salvatore, a full-color graphic novel series by Nicholas De Crecy (translated into English). In an anthropomorphic world, a small dog named Salvatore is a mechanical genius, famed for his abilities to fix cars and construct all sorts of machines from car parts. And he longs to use his talents to construct an all-terrain vehicle which will take him around the world — or through it if need be — to reach South America, where his lady-love Julie has moved. That’s the plot of Volume 1, Transports of Love, which was released in January. In Volume 2, An Eventful Crossing (which arrives this December), our canine hero embarks on his journey, crossing up through Russia toward the pole — avoiding the seas, of which he’s deathly afraid — and meeting new friends and new adventures on the way. Check the whole thing out on Amazon.
image c. 2011 Nicholas de Crecy
Anthroview
Anthroview is a brand-new furry-themed magazine created by long-time fan Summercat. According to the web site it’s “dedicated to providing reviews and articles relevant to the Furry Fandom” and “will be reviewing artwork galleries, stories, animations, comics, costuming, games – anything and everything made for the furry fandom by the furry fandom”. Issues are going to be available in both electronic and traditional print formats. The first issue will be premiering this week at Antheria in California. Flayrah has an interview with Summercat discussing his plans and aspirations for the new magazine.
Animal Land
An interesting black & white manga that we somehow missed last year… Now it’s being re-published in English by Kodansha Comics and Random House. In Animal Land (written and illustrated by Makoto Raiku) we are introduced to an alternate earth inhabited by only non-human animals. After losing her family to vicious predators, a tanuki (raccoon dog) named Monoko makes an amazing discovery in a river: A human baby! Now this strange, unknown creature will grow up among the animals and will soon begin to display amazing powers. Volume 1 was released in August, and Volume 2 is coming up soon in October. Here’s a review at Good Reads.
image c. 2011 Kodansha Comics
Werewolf Monks
Some reviews just nicely write themselves. Like this one for Luna: Order of the Werewolf, coming this October (of course) from Famous Monsters of Filmland (which is now publishing comic books!): “Relentlessly hunted through the years and finally threatened with extinction, Brother Andres gathers the species of werewolf to take sanctuary in a monastery called Luna. High on the snow-capped mountains of South America these werewolf monks live a daily life of struggle away from the temptations of the hunt and relentless persecutions, until a mountain expedition stumbles onto the very rock Luna rests upon. The fragile balance Andres and the monks have constructed is about to explode!” This 4-issue mini-series is written by Mark L. Miller and Martin Fisher, with full-color illustration by Tim Hope. Here’s more about it from Westfield Comics.
image c. 2011 Famous Monsters of Filmland
Sonic Goes Big
Archie Comics have announced the upcoming release of Sonic the Hedgehog Legacy, Volume 1 trade paperback this coming October. It’s part of a whole series of new Sonic the Hedgehog graphic novels that Archie will be releasing soon in a larger format to try and appeal to older readers. Publisher’s Weekly has the skinny on all of that. Meanwhile, Legacy features over 500 pages of Sonic and the Freedom Fighter’s early adventures, collecting together issues #0 – #3 of the original Sonic mini-series and issues #1 – #16 of the ongoing series.
image c. 2011 Archie Comics
The Lion Roars — Again
It’s all over the news, and now it’s here too: Not only did the 3D re-release of Disney’s The Lion King top the box office this weekend; not only did it double movie industry expectations… it also did more business than the three new big-studio releases for the weekend did combined. This new infusion of box-office cash raises the biggest hand-drawn animated film of all time from #25 to #17 on the list of all-time biggest domestic box office. Of course, the film is only going to be in theaters for two weeks, all in anticipation of the new Blu-Ray release of The Lion King on October 4th — and yes, that will include the 3D version for your home. “It means more furries… for the rest of our days…” Well, we can only hope.
image c. 2011 Walt Disney Pictures
