In honor of the Daytona 500, Fox Sports and IDW Publishing recently teamed up to give everyone’s favorite animated NASCAR mascot his own full-color comic book mini-series. Digger and Friends #1 (by Jack Brigio and Diego Jourdan) finds the race-loving gopher, his family, and friends in high adventure at high speed… trying to out-race speeding tickets! You can find the comic book and a whole lot more Digger merchandise at the official NASCAR Store.
Comic Books
It’s a Blast from the Past! Run Away!!
About Comics brings us the first graphic-novel complilation of the original black & white Weasel Patrol comics by Ken Macklin and Lela Dowling. Premiering as a back-up comic in the science fiction comic Fusion (itself very popular with furry fans) back in the 1980’s, The Weasel Patrol follows the insane adventures of “Willie, Leroy, and the other genetically altered weasels who work as an amazingly incompetent yet surprisingly effective force against the criminal elements among us”. Eventually the weasels graduated to their own (short-lived) comic title, before they finally rode off forever into the universe. Now all of their original adventures (long and short tales, as it were) are collected here in one soft-cover book. Never forget: Protect! Serve! Run away!
Mice Templar: Destiny
Image Comics bring us a brand new story arc for Michael Avon Oeming’s popular mouse-knight series. Mice Templar: Destiny follows the adventures of the newly-knighted mouse Karic. With the Templar fallen and the natural world in the grip of tyrants and ever-increasing chaos, Karic is desperate to complete his training and save his family from slavery. This new full-color monthly series is brought to us by Michael Avon Oeming, Bryan Glass, and Victor Santos.
Bun Buns!
Radio Comix/Sin Factory have a new adults-only black & white release that we learned about on line: Bun Buns #1.
“They’re rascally, they’re raunchy — they’re rabbits! This all-new special from the Genus alumni features nothing but bunnies doing what they do best, and all focusing on the derriere! Sexy stories and art spotlighting bushels of backdoor action featuring straight couples, gay couples, and everything in-between.”
Bouncing buns of all persuasions by AnimeCat, Karno, Bellamy, Blackberry, Gibson, D.A.Q., Giles, Harlan-Stein, Howell, Palmer, Paperbag, Rosales, Smith, Williams, and XianJaguar, with a cover by Yamaneko-Ya. Ask your local comic dealer about it.
In Space, no one can hear you howl.
Werewolves on the Moon versus Vampires. Now tell us you don’t stand up and take notice of a title like that? Dark Horse Comics certainly hopes you do, as they present a brand-new full-color 3-issue miniseries by Matt and Shawn Fillbach, Dave Land, and Dan Jackson. A group of American werewolves (who aren’t such bad fellows, actually) sneak their way into the first permanent lunar colony… just as a group of nasty vampires are trying to take over! Now it’s an all-out monster battle on the moon, with ordinary humans caught in the middle. Of course, some of them are well-armed and in no mood to give up easily…
In case the younger furries missed it…
DC Super Friends issue #14 brings us a new adventure with the Super Pets (in full color of course). It’s written by Sholly Fisch, with pencils by none other than Scott Shaw! and Mike Kazaleh. When the Justice League is trapped in a paralyzing force-field created by the evil alien overlord known as Kanjar Ro, it’s up to Ch’p the squirrel Green Lantern and a cadre of super-pets — including Krypto the super-dog, Ace the bat-hound, Beppo the super-monkey, and more — to save the day.
Not to be outdone, Marvel Comics has brought us Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers, a new 4-issue full-color comic miniseries by Chris Eliopoulos, Ig Guara, and Chris Sotomayor. Lockjaw, the magical transporting canine of The Inhumans, discovers the existence of power crystals that evil forces intend to use for galactic conquest. He gathers a group of well-know animals from Marvel Comics to help him retrieve the crystals first — among them Ka-Zar’s sabertooth cat Zabu; Lockheed, the alien dragon from various X-Men series; Throg; a frog who looks and acts like The Might Thor; and Redwing, Falcon’s hawk companion.
Re-Live the Turtles’ Early Days
Archie Comics has reprinted the first three full-color issues of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures (written and drawn by Michael Dooney) in a new trade paperback. This is the comic based on the first TMNT animated TV series from the 1980’s — we know, we know, it’s hard to keep track of which is what in the Ninja Turtle universe! Just remember that this is the series where Master Splinter is Hamato Yoshi, mutated, rather than being Yoshi’s vengeful pet rat.
Returning to the roots!
Antarctic Press and Radio Comix have teamed up once again to bring us the new souped-up Furrlough Color Special #1, in full color, of course! Various artists from both companies have worked together to create this special 48-page funny-animal one-shot: People like Phil “Poinko” Gibson, Smudge, David Davis, Remi Perron, David Goodman, Arthur Goodman, Fred Perry, and Ben Dunn.
The Return of Man-Bat
DC Comics has brought back a popular (especially with anthro-fans) side-character from the Batman series: Dr. Kirk Langstrom, the geneticist whose secret formula frequently changes him into the savage Man-Bat. (Dr. Langstrom’s formula was the source of many human-animal ‘morph plots in the Batman animated TV series.) In the new Man-Bat full-color one-shot (spinning off from plot points in the current Batman: Battle for the Cowl miniseries), Dr. Langstrom is pressed into the services of the evil man known as Dr. Phosphorous — who’s in for much more than he bargained for! The Man-Bat one-shot is written by Joe Harris, with art by Jim Calafiore and a cover by Ladronn (of Hip Flask fame).
