One of the most popular (and furry) characters from Marvel Comics’ Agents of Atlas series is getting his own 3-issue mini-series, thanks to writer Jeff Parker and illustrator Giancarlo Caracuzzo. For those who don’t know the back-story, Gorilla Man used to be a famous soldier of fortune named Ken Hale in the mid-20th century. Obsessed with avoiding his own mortality, Hale sought out a legendary jungle beast who could grant him immortality. The legend was true — unfortunately, Hale didn’t know what else would be changed about him forever! But such a lover of adventure isn’t going to let a little thing like being changed into a humanoid gorilla stop him from kicking tail! Newsarama.com has an interview with Jeff Parker discussing this full-color mini-series coming out in July.
Krazy Kat in Kolor
Those with an interest in comic strip history should of course be familar with the adventures of Ignatz Mouse and Krazy Kat, written and illustrated by George Herriman in the early 20th century. Now Sunday Press Books brings us Krazy Kat: A Celebration of Sundays, coming this June in Hardcover. Collecting the greatest Krazy Kat Sunday pages, for the first time in their original size and colors, just in time for Krazy Kat’s 100th birthday. The book also includes a sampling of Herriman’s pre-Krazy works, as well as contributions by Michael Tisserand (Gambit Weekly) and Art Spiegelman (Maus). Here’s more information on the book at Westfield Comics.
Krazy Kat characters c. 2010 Wikipedia
RIP, Frank Frazetta
Folks who consider the art of the fantastic to be true art were saddened when world-renowned fantasy artist and painter Frank Frazetta passed away from a stroke on Sunday (May 9th) at the age of 82. Never a “furry artist” so to speak, he nevertheless managed to sneak a few anthropomorphic characters into his works. No, what gave Mr. Frazetta his fame were his book-covers featuring big, muscle-bound heroes defending scantily-clad (but often well-armed) women from terrible monsters and barbarian hordes. Perhaps more-so than even the writers themselves, Frazetta’s painted covers came to define the image of such characters as Conan the Barbarian (from Robert E. Howard), Tarzan, and John Carter of Mars (both from Edgar Rice Burroughs). Since the 1960’s, Frazetta painted hundreds of well-known book covers, as well as album covers for groups as diverse as Molly Hatchet, Nazareth, and (most recently) Wolfmother. More than anyone else, Frazetta was the one who came to define fantasy heroes and heroines as sexy. He was an inspiration to an entire generation of artists, the most obvious being Boris Vallejo, Richard Corben, Rowina, and The Dark One.
Lackadaisy — The Book
Tracy Butler’s popular web comic Lackadaisy (a frequent Ursa Major Award nominee and winner of the Web Cartoonists’ Choice Award — twice) has finally been released on dead trees by 4th Dimension Entertainment. The Lackadaisy Volume 1 graphic novel (in softcover) tells the story of the Prohibition-era speakeasy known as Lackadaisy, and characters like “a rum-running violinist named Rocky and a police academy dropout nicknamed Freckle”. Oh by the way, those characters (and all the rest) happen to be anthropomorphic cats. That little fact, not to mention Ms. Butler’s attention to detail and sepia-toned artwork, have sealed the popularity of this comic in and out of Furry Fandom.
Jason does Werewolves
The enigmatic Norwegian funny-animal cartoonist known only as Jason returns with a brand-new softcover graphic novel, coming (in full color) in July from Fantagraphics Books. Werewolves of Montpellier tells the story of Sven, an aimless artist who finds himself in Montpellier, France, after a failed romance. By day he plays chess and poker, sketches his new hometown, and bemoans the state of his life. By night… he dresses up as a werewolf and raids other peoples’ homes! Of course, one thing he hasn’t taken into account is the society of real werewolves who live in Montpellier…! The press release describes it as “… a lycanthropic thriller, a romantic comedy, and an existential drama… basically, your typical Jason book”.
Boom-ing Business
Yet more stuff to watch upcoming from Boom! Studios: First off, welcome the return of the Duck Knight! Darkwing Duck returns, after many requests sent in to Boom! In this new full-color comic series is (written by Ian Brill and drawn by James Silvani) the terror that flaps in the night has been missing for more than a year… But when a nefarious evil plan threatens the city of St. Canard, it might be time to get dangerous again! Find out more in June. Also this summer, Boom! is presenting the graphic novel adaptation of Tim Burton’s oh-so-popular Alice in Wonderland film. The movie comes to DVD in August, but the graphic novel (adapted by Alessandro Ferrari and illustrated by Massimiliano Narcisco) comes this June, both in softcover and a limited-edition hardcover that includes a stitched-in cloth bookmark.
More Classic Funny Animals
Felix the Cat is, of course, one of the classic funny animals from both comic strips and early animation. Now IDW is collecting together the former in Felix the Cat: The Great Comic Book Tails (coming in hardcover this June). Felix’s original artist, Otto Messmer, wrote and drew the bulk of Felix comic strips and comic book stories for Dell and Harvey during comic books’ “Golden Age”. Now IDW presents more than 200 pages of full-color comics, showcasing the magical cat’s journeys on his flying carpet to surreal lands, past times, and Toy Land. Comic historian Craig Yoe edited the collection and wrote the behind-the-scenes introduction.
Coming Soon: The Belfry Boys
The Belfry Boys is a new full-color independent comic book title created by Richard Gaines. He’s self-publishing it, and he’ll be releasing it soon according to the press release on his Deviant Art site. You can see a bigger preview here and here on IndyPlanet. What is it? Belfry Boys is a full-color funny animal comic about “Three goofy bats who bumble through life and cause mayhem wherever they end up. Their adversaries, the Noo-noo Heads, are annoying creatures that try to pass as funny cartoon characters but with ugly humanoid heads.”
Image c. 2010 Richard Gaines
Upcoming Dreamworks Sequels and Spin-offs
DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg spoke with The Hollywood Reporter recently about current and future film projects. According to him, How to Train Your Dragon has reached that magical turning point where it will definitely have a sequel — currently scheduled for release in the summer of 2013. There is also a TV series, a virtual game environment, and a live stadium show similar to Walking with Dinosaurs (!) in the works. In addition there’s Scared Shrekless, a Halloween special coming this fall, to be followed by a Kung Fu Panda TV special sometime after Thanksgiving — but don’t, says Mr. Katzenberg, call it a Christmas special.
