Jay P. Fosgitt is a commercial and comic-book artist — among other projects he was the illustrator of Old McMonster’s Haunted Farm (written by Brent Erwin), which we made note of here previously. Now one of Jay’s latest projects (as writer and illustrator) is a full-color comic called Bodie Troll. “Jay’s creator-owned, all-ages comic set in the mythic village of Hagadorn and featuring a grumpy little troll named Bodie. While he aspires to be big and scary, he’s actually cute and cuddly, which confounds his attempts every time.” It’s available now from Red 5 Comics. Check out Jay’s web site to find out more about this and other projects, as well as his commission rates. Yes he does.
Comic Books
Save the Snakes! Save the World!
Serusis is the title of a new 5-issue full-color comic mini-series coming late in June from Big Dog Ink. “Planet Serusis is under the control of the Reliton army and its ruthless leader, Snogard. In an attempt to save their world, two Serusisans kidnap a group of humans in the hopes that they will be able to access the secrets of the creators of Serusis itself. Four humans versus the Reliton army? Good luck with that.” The Serusisans, by the way, resemble large snakes with terrific hairdo’s. The Relitons are big reptiles too, with four limbs and lots of attitude. This all-ages series is written by Tom Hutchison (Critter) and illustrated by Owen Gieni (Avengelyne). Things From Another World has more.
Return of the Bear
Herobear and the Kid was a renowned and award-winning black & white all-ages comic book series created by animator Mike Kunkel back in the 1990’s. It told the story of a lonely young boy who receives a rag-doll white bear as a present from his grandfather. Unbeknownst to our young hero, both his grandfather and that toy bear are very special. Soon enough the bear springs to life as an 8-foot-tall, caped, flying ursine superhero, and as his sidekick “the Kid” our young protagonist is off with his new friend on adventures. Now, Boom! Studios have announced that Mr. Kunkel will be re-launching the Herobear series through their Kaboom! imprint this coming June. Comic Vine has a write-up about it, including a preview of the special “animation cel” variant cover that will be available at some retailers.
A Fistful of Bananas?
Look, there’s really no way we can explain it better: “Welcome to ‘the Blister’ — a bizarre other-world colonized by humans sometime in the 22nd century, which quickly became a hotly-contested source of fertile land and natural resources long ago exhausted on Earth. In this new frontier, a rogue gunslinger and his companion wander across a wilderness in the grips of a civil war, encountering lawlessness, natives, and perversions of civilization in a world at the crossroads between the past and the future. The fact that said gunslinger is a bio-surgically modified silverback gorilla toting a pair of enormous revolvers is neither here nor there.” That’s the story of Six Gun Gorilla from Boom! Studios, coming this June. It’s written by Simon Spurrier (X-Men: Legacy) with interior art by Jeff Stokely (Fraggle Rock, The Reason for Dragons) and featuring a cover by Eisner Award-winning artist Ramón Pérez (see below). The story behind the comic is even more interesting: It’s based on an obscure 1930’s comic which no one seems to know the source of. Major Spoiler’s write-up might make it all easier to follow. Or not.
Ponies in Black and White
This coming June, IDW will release something new and special for the myriad fans of their very popular My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic line of comics. The My Little Pony “Color Me” Treasury Edition is a special reprint of the first issue of IDW’s My Little Pony in black and white, showcasing the inking work of artist Andy Price. In addition, this collection brings together all 48 versions (!!) of the various covers for issues #1 – #4 of the comic (the first story arc). Previews magalog has a first look at this upcoming collection.
Turtles, Behind the Scenes
This June, IDW Publishing is releasing a new edition of a popular, devilishly hard-to-find companion for fans of the Ninja Turtles: It’s called the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Artobiography, and it was originally published by Heavy Metal over a decade ago. “TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman guides you through a dazzlingly, in-depth look at the creation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. From the modest beginnings to the merchandising, pop culture juggernaut, this collection of concept art, comics pages, and insider-behind-the-scenes notes-has been ‘sold out’ and hard to find for years. But now it’s back in print for a new generation of fans to enjoy.” And in hardcover no less. Check it out at the Previews web site.
Not Your Ordinary Cat
Out in the wide Arizona desert, near a top-secret military research facility, there lived a young kitten with the unusual name of Three. Then one day, there was a terrible accident at at the facility… That’s the story behind Sonora, a new full-color comic book series written by Mike Kessler and illustrated by Erin Taylor. After a terrible explosion, the surviving animals of this desert region awaken to find they have gained amazing powers… Some of them will use those powers for good, and others… will not. Published by Bleating Goat Comics, whose web site has information about this and other independent comic books.
The Girls and their Monsters
Stephanie Gladden is a multi-talented artist and cartoonist, best known for her work on licensed properties like tie-in comics for The Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy, Looney Tunes, The Powerpuff Girls and Tom & Jerry. Furry fans, however, might know her best for her original creator-owned comic book series Hopster’s Tracks from the late 90’s. Well now, Stephanie has created her first on-line comic series, The Girls of Monster Paradise. You know all those old Sci Fi and Horror movies where the monsters show up and grab a screaming pretty girl, then drag her off slung over their shoulder? Just what do they do with those women? Do they eat them? Do they let them go? Neither! They take them to Monster Paradise, a tropical island where the party never ends — and where the girls stick around because they like their cool new monster friends! Find out all about it on-line here.
Wolves After The Fall
Creative Mind Energy (CME) describe themselves as “a creative consortium of artists, designers, inventors, story-tellers and writers who pool their educations, talents and creative abilities to bring outstanding new products to all media markets and industries”. To that end they have several comic book series in various stages of development — and several of them are Furry in nature. First up is The Gifted, a largely black & white comic book with water-color style illustrations. According to the CME blog, “The Gifted is set in a dystopian future, in which humans have devastated the earth. What animals remain endure a barren, dangerous existence, constantly being hunted and exterminated by man. But some of the animals find themselves gifted with sophisticated intelligence and the power of speech, and rise up against man to protect their earth.” The first issue will be available at their on-line store soon. Visit their web site to find out more about this and other upcoming titles.








