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Dinosaur

They’re Big — and They’re On TV?

John Scalzi’s next science fiction novel The Kaiju Preservation Society hasn’t even been released yet — it comes out in March — but word is out that Fox Entertainment have already optioned the book for a possible TV series adaptation. What’s it about? After New York City is devastated by a COVID outbreak, a bored food delivery driver who’s looking for a change meets up with an old school acquaintance. Turns out that his friend has a very special job — visiting a parallel dimension where giant monsters live and thrive, and seeing to their needs. Soon both these folks find themselves fighting to preserve the delicate balance between the monster’s dimension and our own… while unscrupulous forces work to bring about the destruction of both worlds.

image c. 2022 MacMillan Publishers

Finally To The Moon, Alice!

In 2019 (back in the Before Time!) we told you about Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, a new 2D animated TV series based on the popular Marvel comic. Like many things during the pandemic, it’s gone through delays. But recently the folks at Disney have released the first trailer for the new series, along with news that it will be coming to television in 2022. “The highly anticipated 2D animated series follows the adventures of 13-year-old super-genius Lunella Lafayette and her 10-ton T-Rex, Devil Dinosaur. After Lunella accidentally brings Devil Dinosaur into present-day New York City via a time vortex, the duo work together to protect the city’s Lower East Side from danger.” See you next summer!

image c. 2021 Walt Disney Television Animation

Take Me Out To More Ball Games

The furriest baseball team around is back with two new illustrated graphic novels by John Steven Gurney. In Fuzzy Baseball Volume 3: R.B.I. Robots, “The Fernwood Valley Fuzzies have a baseball game set with the undefeated and impeccable Geartown Clankees. The Clankees perform like well-oiled machines…mainly because they are robots in disguise just wanting to fit in and feel the love of good sportsmanship deep inside their gears.” Mean while in Volume 4: Di-No Hitters, “The Ferntown Fuzzies are about to face a team of Dinosaurs, the Triassic Park Titans, in a match for the ages. The blast-from-the-past team is sure to deliver a few curve balls for the Fuzzies with their vintage style, gigantic gear, and ‘un-evolved’ practices.” Both volumes are available now from Papercutz.

image c. 2021 Papercutz

… and Next Come The Kaiju

The description goes like this… “WWII. The Pacific. A mythic adventure unfolds as three American soldiers — a disgraced ex-cop, a mobster trying to escape his past, and an intelligence officer with mysterious motives — investigate a top-secret Japanese superweapon: A deadly force of trained dinosaurs!” It’s called Operation Dragon, and it comes to us from writers Bill Groshelle and Brendan Cahill, with illustrations by artists Germán Peralta and Kristian Rossi. This new graphic novel is available in hardcover, later this month from Dark Horse.

image c. 2021 Dark Horse Press

Her Friends Come Out At Night

More interesting news from Animation World Network: “Netflix has announced their newest preschool series, Ridley Jones, created and executive produced by Peabody, Emmy, and Humanitas Prize-winning children’s television screenwriter and producer Chris Nee, known for creating the popular kids’ series Doc McStuffins and Vamperina. Nee is heralding in a new era of preschool TV that is steeped in representation, diversity, and inclusivity, continuing her mission to change the way we look at media for kids. Her newest series features a strong female lead character and re-occurring LGBTQIA+ characters like Fred the non-binary bison (the first reoccurring non-binary character in a preschool series). The CG animated series follows six-year-old Ridley who, alongside her mother and grandmother, is a protector of the museum she calls home. Keeping the exhibits safe takes a real hero, especially when the lights go out and the exhibits — from Egyptian mummies to stampeding elephants — come to life! Throughout her many adventures, Ridley finds that being a good protector, and leader, is about finding common ground and respecting others, no matter what our differences might be.” Like all of Chris Nee’s series, this new one abounds with anthropomorphic buddy characters, including a dinosaur, a chimp astronaut, a dodo, and the aforementioned bison. The series premieres on Netflix on July 13, but there are preview episodes are up on YouTube already.

image c. 2021 Netflix

It’s A Lost Art

For those who remember the early days of CGI animated TV series… IDW brings us a brand new Transformers: Beast Wars comic series. “Celebrating 25 years of Beast Wars! In the future, the planet Cybertron belongs to the scientific-minded Maximals and the action-oriented Predacons! When a crew of Predacons, led by the successor to the Megatron name, steal a golden disk and a ship capable of traveling through time, it’s up to Optimus Primal and his Maximal crew—Rattrap, Rhinox, Cheetor, and new character Nyx—to catch them! A brand-new Beast era begins in an oversized first issue by Erik Burnham (Ghostbusters) and Josh Burcham (Transformers Galaxies).” Issues are available now.

image c. 2021 IDW Publishing

Raptors on the Range

And more new TV series for the younger folk. This time it’s Dino Ranch, coming later this month to Disney Junior. “The animated series, produced by Industrial Brothers and Boat Rocker Studios, follows the Cassidy family as they tackle life in a fantastical, ‘pre-westoric’ setting where dinosaurs roam. As the young explorers learn the ropes, they discover the thrill of ranch life while navigating the great outdoors through unpredictable challenges.” Seriously, sometimes all you need to do is take a look at one picture and it’ll tell you all you want to know about a series! For the rest, visit Animation World Network.

image c. 2020 Boat Rocker Studios

East Coast Cuisine

You may recall that a couple of years ago we mentioned Bolivar, a graphic novel written and illustrated by Sean Rubin. Still no word on that rumored animated film adaptation, but we did find out the human girl Sybil and her dinosaur friend Bolivar have returned in a sequel book, Bolivar Eats New York. Good grief, all of it?  Well no… “When Sybil learns that Bolivar only likes corned beef sandwiches, she informs him that he’s been missing out on one of the great attributes of New York City and it’s rich communities–delicacies from around the world! Knishes! Falafel! Dim Sum! And it wouldn’t be a story in the Big Apple without pizza . . . Explore the five boroughs: Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, and Manhattan in this lushly illustrated Discovery Adventure™ from Eisner-nominated writer and artist Sean Rubin where kids and parents alike search for their favorite foods, and find other sights unique to one of the greatest cities in the world!” Visit the author’s web site and find out more.

image c. 2020 Archaia

Feed That Monster — Or Else!

Drew Brockington, creator of the CatStronauts series of books (which we talked about!) has returned with a brand new full-color graphic novel called Hangry for younger readers. “When a young lizard monster gets a hankering for his favorite hot dog spot, he takes the train all the way to the city — only to find that the place is closed for vacation. But when this little monster gets too hungry, he starts to get angry. And when he gets hangry, this poor city is at risk of a full-scale monster attack. As his rage swells, so does he, until he’s the size of a skyscraper, and it falls to the citizens to find him some food — and fast!” Look for it in hardcover from Little Brown Books.

image c. 2019 Little Brown Books