Ape Entertainment is taking the unusual step of releasing all three issues of a three-issue mini-series at once, this coming January. The item in question is the new full-color comic mini-series Hairy Things, written by Jay Carvajal and illustrated by Marc Borstel. In the days of the Wild West, four companions stumble across a remote town hidden deep in the Colorado Rockies… a town that is under attack by a tribe of tall, furry sasquatch! What they don’t know is, the sasquatch are the least of their concerns — because the town is populated by hungry cannibals! This is not your grandparents’ western people…
Squirrel!
Furry fans all know that the real break-out star of Disney-Pixar’s summer smash film, Up, was Dug the dog. For heaven’s sake, he’s got his own Facebook page! Now Dug and his pack of servant dogs, all fitted with their high-tech talking collars, find themselves starring in Dug’s Special Mission, a new CGI short film that will accompany Up on the new DVD and Blue-Ray release. Directed by Ronnie Del Carmen (who worked in the story department on Up), this new short tells the story of what happened right before Dug met Carl Fredricksen and intrepid explorer Russell… when Dug, on his birthday, is wishing for a new master who would be less cruel and maniacal than the one he had before. Dug himself, of course, is voiced again by Up co-director Bob Peterson. The new DVD/Blue-Ray will be available November 10th.
Dug, dog. He just met you, and already he loves you.
Train Your Dragon in 2010
The directing team that brought you Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, now returns to bring us the new Dreamworks CGI animated film How to Train Your Dragon, set to be released to theaters (in 3D) this coming March, 2010. The script was written by Mr. DeBlois, based on a popular book by author Cressida Cowell. An extended preview trailer is up for viewing on YouTube and other places on-line.
The story follows a young viking named Hiccup — whom you can guess, with a name like that, isn’t the strongest or boldest of vikings. Determined to prove his worth and manhood, young Hiccup strives to find a solution to the plague of dragons that have besieged his homeland. What he ends up doing, however, is befriending a young injured dragon… and making a discovery that just may change his whole tribe forever.
Return of the Howl
Happy Halloween! And in that spirit…
That howling you hear just might be Benicio Del Toro in his new film The Wolfman… or, it might be the legion of fans who are dying to see the Oscar-winner’s new film! Universal’s big-budget remake of its classic horror film is directed by Joe Johnston (director of Jumanji, Jurassic Park III, and Hidalgo, among others) from a script by Andrew Kevin Walker (Sleepy Hollow) and David Self (Road to Perdition). Oscar-winner Rick Baker is handling the make-up effects — That’s right, it’s not all CGI! You can read an Entertainment Weekly interview with Mr. Baker here, and also see one of the first publicity photos of Mr. Del Toro in full wolf-face. The plot follows the sad story of an American named Lance Talbot (Del Toro, of course) who finds himself the victim of a savage curse when he returns home to the sleepy English village of Blackmoor… which is haunted by a ravenous werewolf! The film is set for release in February of 2010. Unpleasant dreams…
Dark Horse brings back Blacksad!
This is from The Beat at PublishersWeekly.com:
“One of the most excellent comics announcements to come out of you-know-what [I think that means San Diego Comic Con — ye Ed-Otter ]was the news that Dark Horse will be reprinting all three volumes of Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido in a deluxe oversized volume. The first two Blacksad books were published here by iBooks a while back, but with iBooks having gone into bankruptcy, these became highly sought after. Getting the full series reprinted was in limbo, but now Dark Horse has ridden in to fix that right up. Blacksad is best described as hardboiled detective tales with an anthropomorphic cast, but with a darker side and social criticism mixed in. The real star is Guarnido’s art, which is some of the best stuff out there (the series has won over a dozen European awards). He worked extensively on several Disney films, and his art has the best qualities of that brand: Indelible character designs, flawless storytelling and the attention to mood and place that is the hallmark of the great European comics. The series is hugely popular in France and Spain, and we can’t wait to read the whole thing in English.” This is especially good news since Blacksad Volume 3 was never published in English before iBooks went belly-up. No word yet on if Dark Horse will also be reprinting the Blacksad Sketchbook.
Blacksad, and a cat lady with lipstick...
How Did We Miss This?
An older item, which we recently stumbled across: DC Goes Ape is a full-color trade paperback collection released in 2008 by — who else? — DC Comics. It features nearly a dozen excerpts from DC Comics over the decades involving monkey and ape characters in the worlds of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and more. Simian heroes, simian villains, and they’re not even all Gorilla Grond! With writers ranging from Otto Binder to Elliot S! Maggin and E. Nelson Bridwell (and more), and art by the likes of Carmine Infantino, Jim Starlin, P. Craig Russell — and more. With a great front cover by Art Adams, too. Like we said, this is older now, so take a look around for it.
A Portrait of Jeff Smith
The Cartoonist is a new DVD documentary that brings us the life, times, and thoughts of Columbus-based cartoonist and Bone-creator Jeff Smith. The film survey’s Mr. Smith’s career during the run of Bone, and also captures the moment when he shifted focus from completing his popular epic to beginning new projects like Rasl. The film also includes interviews with many of Mr. Smith’s contemporaries in the world of cartooning: People like Harvey Pekar, Terry Moore, Paul Pope, Scott McCloud, and more. The Cartoonist is scheduled for release on DVD this coming January.
Want to Draw Furries?
Manga artists Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges (Peach Fuzz) have put together a new paperback art how-to book called Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals. This is from Lindsay’s blog: “In a nutshell, Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals is a how-to book that goes over drawing anthropomorphic and animal characters. We cover anatomy and poses, step-by-step, for feline, canine, equine, rodent and avian characters, plus coloring and backgrounds. The book is coming out around November 2009.” Meanwhile, Amazon.com lists the book as coming out in early December, from Impact. Here’s the description: “What do you get when you cross a human with a horse (or a hamster, or a hummingbird)? You get any one of a number of fun anthropomorphic animals, also known as “furries” to their friends. From facial expressions to creative coloring, this book contains all the know-how you need to create anthropomorphic cat, dog, horse, rodent and bird characters. Step by step, you’ll learn how to:
- Draw species-appropriate tails, eyes, wings and other fun details
- Give your characters clothes, poses and personalities
- Create the perfect backgrounds for your furry antics – with two start-to-finish demonstrations showing how
Packed with tons of inspiration – from teeny-bopper bunnies and yorky glamour queens to Ninja squirrels and lion kings – Draw Furries will help you create a world of crazy, cool characters just waiting to burst out of your imagination.”
Missile Mouse
Missile Mouse is a full-color science fiction funny animal comic (whew!) created, written, and drawn by Jake Parker. His new creation is Missile Mouse Book 1: The Star Crusher, a 128-page adventure graphic novel. “Missile Mouse, secret agent for the Galactic Security Agency, is a risk taker and a rule breaker, which is why he’s in hot water at GSA headquarters. Then RIP, the Rogue Imperium of Planets, kidnaps a scientist who knows about the Star Crusher, a doomsday machine capable of destroying the entire universe. Time to let loose the mouse! Missile Mouse battles giant space slugs, corrupt agents, killer bugs, and a pair of shark-headed thugs to save the day (and the scientist!). And when he’s sucked into the exploding Star Crusher, he becomes pure energy . . . energy that will consume him unless Missile Mouse can release it and destroy RIP’s spaceship fleet in time.” It’s available in hardcover and softcover editions, coming this December from Graphix. Jake has an extensive blog, showing step-by-step how he creates artwork for both the Missile Mouse comic and various publicity.
Missile Mouse, the postcard
