With all of the attention that Rocket Raccoon and his fellow Guardians of the Galaxy have been getting, some attention has also begun to shine on a nearly forgotten name: Bill Mantlo. Back in 1976, Bill teamed up with Keith Giffen to introduce the original Rocket Raccoon in the pages of Marvel Preview #7. Not long after Rocket would team up with the Incredible Hulk, of all things, before moving on to his own comic book miniseries. In 1992, Bill Mantlo was struck by a car while he was out roller-blading, and he remained in a coma for many years after the accident. He has since regained consciousness, but he suffered brain damage from the accident and now requires full-time medical attention. Many Marvel fans and comic book professionals are urging Marvel (and Disney, Marvel’s parent company now) to contribute part of the likely sky-high profits from the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie towards Bill’s medical needs. Comic book writer Greg Pak has a web-site devoted to the cause of raising money for Bill’s care. Meanwhile, if you haven’t seen it: Marvel has released a new mini-preview of Guardians that includes a bit of Rocket’s voice, Bradley Cooper. It’s interesting to hear the film’s director James Gunn describe Rocket as “the heart of the movie in a lot of ways”.
Comic Books
Dogs (and Cats) vs. Dark Powers
In 2005 Evan Dorkin (writer) and Jill Thompson (artist) won an Eisner Award for their original comic book series Beasts of Burden, about a haunted small town and the local dogs and cats who do nightly battle with the deadly forces of evil trying to invade. Now comes the brand-new Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers, a one-shot full-color comic designed to introduce new readers to the animals of Burden Hill and their struggles. This time around, our furry heroes discover that a friendly half-werewolf might just be more help than they bargained for. Hunters and Gatherers will be available at comic book stores this March, from Dark Horse Press.
Blasting Your Way — For Free!
Signs of the upcoming Free Comic Book Day for 2014 are beginning to show up in Previews and other places. One of the furrier ones on the horizon comes from Marvel: None other than the furries’ favorite Guardian of the Galaxy (unless you’re really into trees), Rocket Raccoon. Written by Joe Caramagna and illustrated by Adam Archer (with a cover by Skottie Young), this 32-page full-color mini-comic features the power procyonid in his own space adventure in anticipation of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie this August. Digital Spy has the story. Don’t forget, Free Comic Book Day comes to a comic book shop near you on May 3rd.
If He Only Had the Nerve
This month, with the second issue of the 5-issue mini-series Tales from Oz, Zenescope Entertainment focuses on the Oz fans’ favorite furry when Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Tales from Oz: Cowardly Lion hits the shelves. (Whew, long title!) According to the preview at Previews World: “No race in Oz is more fierce or proud than the Kavari. Their traditions go back hundreds of years and both Thane and Thorne have been born into tribal royalty as the son of the chief. Competition against each other since birth for the right to rule the tribe their rivalry reaches its climax when they both fall in love with the same woman…and must fight each other to the death to determine who will win her hand.” This full-color issue was written by Joe Brusha and illustrated by Miguel Mendonca. The furriest of several variant covers were created by Marat Mychaels and Harvey Tolibao.
Nine Lives to the Rescue
New this month from Hermes Press is the new deluxe hardcover collection of Scratch 9: The Pet Project. “Following Scratch9’s FCBD adventure, comes the complete Eisner Award-nominated story of The Pet Project. Scratch is a house cat who must save his animal pals from the clutches of Dr. Schrodinger and the C.R.U.E.L. corporation. Fortunately he can tap into all of his nine lives to help him out in jam! This deluxe edition collects the original story plus the Cat Tails anthology, along with all-new bonus materials!” It’s written by Rob M. Worley with art by Jason T. Kruse, Joshua Buchanan, and others. Check out the preview at Comic Book Resources.
Turtles Got… Lips?
So the Comic Book Movie site has released an image they found showing a much more detailed look at what the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are going to appear like in the new film directed by Jonathan Liebesman (Battle Los Angeles) and produced by Michael Bay (Transformers, et al). The look is certainly… different, isn’t it? Guess we’ll see more images and probably some footage soon, as the film is scheduled for release this August.
They’ve Got It In for the Panda
Sanctuary is an black & white on-line digital comic story created and illustrated by animator Stephen Coughlin. Now this February Slave Labor Graphic will be releasing Sanctuary as a series of softcover graphic novels. Their description: “A research station on a secluded island houses a game reserve/sanctuary where the animals seem to be just a tad smarter than the human researchers observing them. The arrival of a Panda bear threatens to upset the delicate balance of life for everyone involved. On the surface everything seems normal enough, but beneath all the cuteness lays something sinister and more than a little creepy.” That and the front cover below might give you a little idea what you’re in store for. Check out Volume 1: Fresh Meat and order it at Things From Another World. [And with that, we’ll see you again after Further Confusion!]
What a Pretty Dragon
Dragonar Academy is a Japanese fantasy novel series by Shiki Mizuchi. Started in 2010, the series was illustrated by Kohada Shimesaba. Later it was adapted into a manga series by the artist Ran, and more recently it has begun production as an anime series from C-Station (scheduled for release later this year). Well now Seven Seas Entertainment have announced that the manga series will be released in English for the North American market this month. According to Wikipedia, the plot goes like this: “Learning to ride and tame dragons comes easy to most students at Ansarivan Dragonar Academy—except for first-year student Ash Blake, who is known by his classmates as the ‘number one problem child.’ Poor Ash is the laughing stock at school because, despite his unfashionably large star-shaped brand that marks him as a future dragon master, he has nothing to show for it. His dragon has never appeared. Until now, that is. One fateful day, Ash’s dragon awakes in full glory, but appears different than any dragon ever seen before—in the form of a beautiful girl! What’s worse, Ash soon discovers that this new dragon has attitude to spare, as she promptly informs him that she is the master, and he, the servant.” Got that?








