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Rats! And Brujas! And Monsters!

[A late Happy Halloween to you all! Here’s hoping it found you happy and safe.]

One day, brothers Amadeo and Carlos Lucero walked into the deep, dark woods near their home in Algodones, New Mexico… and encountered a deep, dark magic. Attempting to flee, suddenly Carlos finds himself transformed into a black and white calf! That’s the set up for Under the Cottonwood Tree (El Susto de la Curandera), a new full-color “Latino fairy tale graphic novel” by Paul Meyer, Carlos Meyer, and Margaret Hardy. Watch as our heroes encounter dangerous owls, talking rats, and magical spirits as they seek to un-bovine young Carlos. Under The Cottonwood Tree is set to be published soon, but the UTCT website has several preview pages up already.

image c. 2015 4 Publications

image c. 2015 4 Publications

Children’s Stories Can Be Deadly

In case you missed it, Paul Jenkin’s Fiction Squad comic book mini-series was a continuation of his Fablewood concept: A place where all fairy tales and bedtime stories live side by side. Now Boom! Studios have collected the entire 6-issue series in a new Fiction Squad trade paperback. “Fablewood is a pretty dangerous place, but no area is more dangerous than the City of Rimes, deep in the heart of the Children’s Realm. After transferring in from the Realm of Mystery, a failed detective from an unfinished prose novel, Frankie Mack, is about to uncover a conspiracy that could unmake storytelling itself. After Humpty Dumpty is pushed to crack and Jack (of Jack and Jill) goes AWOL, Frankie and his partner, Simple Simon, are put on the case.” With full color illustrations by Ramon Bachs, the book is 160 pages and it’s coming very soon. Take a look over at the Boom! web site. Anthropomorphic animals (and many other things!) abound.

image c. 2015 Boom! Studios

image c. 2015 Boom! Studios

Sir BigFrontTeeth

“What can an ordinary hamster do in a kingdom filled with magical hamsters?” That’s the question poised by the Ivan the Hamster Knight series of illustrated books for young readers, created by Helen Penpen. “Ivan is the only hamster with no magic powers, and he finds himself in a very awkward position. Not able to fit in, Ivan is ordered to leave by the hamster queen. His adventure then begins…” Ivan and its sequel, Ivan and the Hamster Knights of the Acorn Table, are available in hardcover over at Barnes & Noble.

image c. 2015 by Helen Penpen

image c. 2015 by Helen Penpen

Little Kitty Gets Bigger

In case it slipped beneath your radar, Chi’s Sweet Home is a manga series created by Kanata Konami in 2004. “Chi is a mischievous newborn kitten who, while on a leisurely stroll with her family, finds herself lost. Overcome with loneliness she breaks into tears in a large park meadow, where she is rescued by a young boy named Yohei and his mother. The little kitty is then quickly and quietly whisked away into the warm and inviting Yamada apartment…where pets are strictly not permitted.” Vertical Comics licensed the manga for translation and distribution in the west. Now, they’ve released the first large-format collection in trade paperback. “Vertical’s most popular comic of all time, Chi’s Sweet Home, is now available in a larger format with brand new content! Hot on the heels of a new DVD release and the summer 2015 conclusion of its thirteen-year serialization, Chi’s Sweet Home gets a new deluxe release for new readers to dive into. The Complete Chi’s Sweet Home collects three volumes of this full-color all-ages adventure of Japan’s favorite kitten heroine – Chi! This new edition also features a brand new comic from Konami Kanata’s latest series in Japan – FukuFuku: Kitty Tales! This new release will feature new craft extras and a new story from the author.” Check it out over at Comic Book Realm.

image c. 2015 Vertical Comics

image c. 2015 Vertical Comics

The Dandelions Return

Word has been spreading like mad that Bloom County creator Berkeley (Berke) Breathed has been creating brand new strips for the first time in 25 years. Now on top of that comes the news that IDW Publishing plans to bring together the first new Bloom County collection book in as many years — in 2016. “Breathed’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Bloom County ran from 1980 until 1989, when Breathed walked away from the strip at the peak of its popularity. Then, in the summer of 2015, and with no advance warning, he brought the cast of Bloom County back to an unsuspecting world — via social media — which caused a media frenzy as word of the strips unexpected return spread virally to multitudes of delighted fans. ‘As a fan, I was ecstatic when new Bloom County strips began to appear, said editor Scott Dunbier. ‘As an editor, I’m thrilled to work on this book—thank you, Berkeley!'” Watch this space after New Years for updates!

image c. 2015 by Berke Breathed

image c. 2015 by Berke Breathed

This Will Go Down On Your Permanent Record

Well now, this is something different: A “making of” book for a graphic novel. And in tune with the season as well. “High school can be tough enough as it is, but things get even more complicated when you’ve been bitten by a werewolf! Bestselling YA author Cornelia Funke (Inkheart) teams up with comic book artist and character designer extraordinaire Francisco Herrera and former Disney Animator and film Director Raul Garcia (The Missing Lynx) to create a wild and furry world where werewolves are real and hiding in plain view, even in high school! This lavishly illustrated sketch book documents the creative process of transforming Funke’s best-selling Young Werewolf into a brand new, exciting graphic novel series. Hundreds of sketches and color studies show the process of fleshing out the characters of the book as we discover the story of Matt, Lisa, and the incredible odds they have to face to battle an old Hollywood curse.” Bitten: The Full Moon Book is coming soon (in limited quantities) from Magnetic Press. Find out more over at Nerds Unchained.

image c. 2015 Magnetic Press

image c. 2015 Magnetic Press

Curse You, Red Baron!

Just in time for the upcoming Peanuts CGI feature, Boom! Studios (and their Kaboom! imprint) bring us a brand-new full-color original graphic novel, Peanuts: Where Beagles Dare! “Snoopy, the World War I Flying Ace, is on holiday in France but his leave is cut short when he’s recruited for a top-secret mission. Snoopy must dodge his way through no-man’s land, go deep behind enemy territory, and battle the Red Baron in the blackened skies above. Will Snoopy ever return home to quaff a few Root Beers with Woodstock and have dinner with Charlie Brown? Find out in this original graphic novel featuring Charles M. Schulz’s beloved Peanuts characters and starring Snoopy!” Written by Jason Cooper and illustrated by Vicki Scott, Where Beagles Dare! is available later this month. Find out more at Kaboom’s web site.

image c. 2015 Kaboom!

image c. 2015 Kaboom!

The Lion Matures

Renee Carter Hall has released a new preview of her upcoming book Huntress. “All her life, the young lioness Leya has dreamed of becoming one of the karanja, the proud huntresses of her people. But there’s more to being karanja than just learning to throw a spear. Life among their tents means giving up family, safety — even love. How much is Leya willing to sacrifice for a place in the sisterhood? Does she truly have the heart of a huntress? Author Renee Carter Hall takes readers into the veld for this coming-of-age anthropomorphic fantasy for teens and adults. This edition includes the novella “Huntress” (nominated for the 2014 Ursa Major Awards and Coyotl Awards), as well as three brand-new short stories set in the same world.” The e-book version is available to order now, and can be downloaded beginning September 20th. The print version will be released at the RainFurrest convention, with online orders from FurPlanet shipping in October.

image c. 2015 Renee Carter Hall

image c. 2015 Renee Carter Hall

 

Under the Sea… Under the Sea…

Sherman’s Lagoon is an imaginary lagoon somewhere in the tropics, inhabited by a cast of sea creatures whose lives are curiously similar to our own. Through his comic strip, cartoonist Jim Toomey explores many of the issues that we face daily in our world on dry land. By putting them in a different context, he helps us laugh at ourselves. His characters attempt new business ventures, go on disastrous dates, try fad diets and read the latest best-selling books. But, they also have problems that are unique to fish. Should you bring shrimp to the holiday party? Will shrimp be there?” That’s the introduction to this long-running on-line comic strip. Now Andrews McMeel Publishing present Sherman’s Lagoon: Tales from the Deep That Are Completely Fabricated, the 20th trade paperback collection in full color. It’s also available as a PDF download.

image c. 2015 Andrews McMeel Publishing

image c. 2015 Andrews McMeel Publishing