Free Comic Book Day is an annual event where comic book publishers put out special full-color mini-comics for distribution free to the public at various specialty and comic book stores. This year the big day is Saturday, May 2nd, and once again there are anthropomorphic comics to be found if you go looking. Boom! Studios is offering Disney/Pixar’s Cars by Alan J. Porter and Albert Carreres, which gives us a sneak-peak at the premier issue of the new Cars comic book series — and tells us the origin of Lightning McQueen! Cartoonapalooza from Ape Entertainment brings us (among other things) the further adventures of Go-Go Gorilla and the Jungle Crew. Archie Comics present a special introduction to the world and history of Sonic the Hedgehog with Sonic the Hedgehog: Evolution of a Hero (by Ian Flynn and Tracy Yardley). From Gemstone Publishing comes a special double-issue, featuring an excerpt from Don Rosa’s The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck as well as selected pages from Mickey and the Gang: Classic Stories in Verse. Owly and Friends is a triple-treat from Top Shelf Productions, featuring new stories of Owly by Andy Runton, Johnny Boo by James Kochalka, and Korgi by Christian Slade. Th3rd World Studios presents a special preview of their new series The Stuff of Legend (by Mike Raicht, Brian Smith, and Charles Paul Wilson III). It’s “a dark fantasy adventure in which a group of toys fight an unseen war to save their human master from every child’s worst nightmare: The Boogeyman!” Whew. Wildcard Ink brings us new adventures in Toyland with the Gumby Two-in-One by Andrew Joseph, Shepherd Hendrix, and Ken Hooper. Perhaps the biggest news of the day: To celebrate its 25th anniversary (!), Mirage will be publishing a special free re-print of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue #1 from 1984 (by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, of course!). Look for all of these at your favorite comic book store on the first Saturday in May. But look quickly — you know they’re going to go fast!
A Feline Tour of Old Tokyo!
Also just found on Amazon: Edo Cats: Tails of Old Tokyo, written and illustrated by Ryuto Kanzaki. It’s available this May in hardcover and softcover from Japanime Company. “Acclaimed manga artist and historian Ryuto Kanzaki takes readers on a whimsical tour of Edo (Old Tokyo) as seen through the eyes of the local cats. Discover the costumes, customs, and color of bygone Japan. Teeming with history and nostalgia, Edo Cats: Tails of Old Tokyo will delight manga fans and feline-lovers alike!”
Mythical Creatures
Fans of fantastic beasties from around the world might want to check out The Mythical Creatures Bible by Brenda Rosen (in softcover). This is from Amazon.com: “Fabulous animals, specters from the shadow world, nature spirits, and sacred beings: These are the monstrous, marvelous, and mythic creatures that have come down to us in folklore and legend. Some probably have their origins in reality; others spring completely from the imagination. And they are all here, in this stunningly illustrated bible. It’s rich in history and images, and international in scope, covering dragons and serpents; weird insects like the Aztec Itzpapalotl; zombies, golems, and banshees; the watery Undine; the Monkey King, Sun Wukong; and much, much more.”
Luuna Volume 1
Tokyo Pop takes a new step into full-color full-sized graphic novels with the premier of Luuna, Volume 1, from Europe (and available now in English). With a script by Nicolas Keramidas and art by Didier Crisse, Luuna tells the story of a young woman of the mystic Paumanok tribe, who enters the sacred forest to find her totem — her animal spirit that represents her inner self. Unfortunately for Luuna, the Evil One plays a trick on her. Now she’s cursed with not one but two totems: Wolves, white and black, representing her own good and evil sides… one capable of miracles, the other of great destruction. And so Luuna sets out to find the wise spirits of the Earth, hoping they can rid her of this curse… if the minions of the Evil One don’t get to her first!
Comic Book Tie-In
Just in time! Titan Comics has released Monsters vs. Aliens, The Comic, a new full-color 4-issue miniseries. The comic is here, of course, to tie-in with the new hit 3D CGI film from Dreamworks. The comic follows the plot of the movie — Captured classic monsters band together to save the earth from an evil alien invader — and also includes the secret files that General W.R. Monger keeps on various monsters, secret installations, presidential candidates, and more…
Cameron and his Dinosaurs
Cameron and his Dinosaurs is a new full-color digest-sized trade paperback by Scott Christian Sava (script) and Andres Silva Blanco (art), publised by IDW. From Previews: “A mad scientist breaks every law of nature and creates four extinct dinosaurs for a terrorist group called B.U.R.P.S. When the dinosaurs revolt, it’s Cameron’s good fortune to befriend them. But the mad scientist wants those dinosaurs back at any cost! And they’ll wage a war between robots and dinosaurs to get what they want!” You heard it here.
Award Season Recap
Awards season came barreling in again — with a few unexpected results. As largely expected, Disney-Pixar’s robot tale known as Wall-E won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature. Then along came the Annie Awards, presented by the International Animated Film Society… and Wall-E was shut out, taking home nothing that night. The big winner? Kung Fu Panda! Not only did it win Best Animated Feature, but between the feature film and the Secrets of the Furious Five DVD short, Dreamworks took home 15 of the 17 awards that the Panda franchise was nominated for. Among them were multiple awards for Directing, Writing, Best Character Animation, Best Character Design, Best Production Design, Best Music, Best Voice Acting (Dustin Hoffman as Shifu), and Best Video Game. The big winners for the night in the TV animation categories were Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II, Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs, and Avatar, The Last Air Bender. Wallance and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death won for Best Animated Short Subject.
… and then along came the Oscars, and once again, Wall-E took home the statue for Best Animated Feature.
[And don’t forget — now it’s Furry Fandom’s turn to vote for the Ursa Major Awards! Visit www.ursamajorawards.org to find out more — Rod O’Riley, ye ed-otter]
Furverts
Your ed-otter, dutifully passing it along here…
The book is called Furverts, by Michael Cogliantry (in hardcover, from Chronicle Books). This is from amazon.com: “Birds do it bees do it but no one does it like furries do it. Long an underground cult phenomenon, furries—people who dress up in furry animal costumes and role play—have gone global, holding conventions where furries from around the world can meet and mingle. Photographer Michael Cogliantry captures the kinky intimate side of the furry subculture—an elephant and a donkey a chicken and a fox caught in flagrante delicto. The playful board-book format opens with a peek-a-boo ring of fur on the cover inviting the reader into the ‘illicit’ and hysterically funny world of furverts.” Oh, lordy lordy lordy…
