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Dogs

Elementary, My Dear Woof Woof

What if Sherlock Holmes was reincarnated as a dog? Well, it’s an idea, anyway. Sherlock Bones is a new black & white manga series created by Yuma Ando and illustrated by Yuki Sato. The digest-sized trade paperback is available at Barnes & Noble. This is from the publisher, Kodansha International: “When Takeru adopts his new pet, he’s in for a surprise—the dog is none other than the reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective. What’s more, this “Sherdog” has decided that Takeru is the reincarnation of his long-time assistant, Dr. Watson. Takeru may think Sherdog (or he himself) is crazy, but with no one else able to communicate with Holmes, he’s roped into becoming the canine’s assistant all the same. Using his exceptional sleuthing skills, Holmes uncovers clues to solve the trickiest crimes.”

Image c. 2013 Kondansha

That Crazy Dog Hits the Surf

Snoopy the dog is one of the most iconic anthropomorphic characters ever, but his notoriety seems to have been fading after the death of his creator. That’s something that the folks at AMP! Comics for Kids seem to be taking on directly: “Charles Schulz’s Peanuts is one of the most timeless and beloved comic strips ever. Now AMP! helps carry on that legacy with new collections of Peanuts classics focused around topics sure to resonate with middle-grade readers. Kicking off the series is Snoopy: Cowabunga! Together these books will introduce a new generation of kids to the lovable cast in time for the new animated Peanuts movie, which hits theaters fall 2014!” Oh really now? First we’ve heard of it too. Anyway, check out this first new collection at Mile High Comics. This full-color trade paperback collection comes out later this month.

image c. 2013 AMP!

A Boy and his Cautious Dog

How did we miss this, we wonder? Kazu Kibuishi is best known as the creator and editor of the Flight series of fantasy comic collections, and as the writer and illustrator of the fantasy comic Amulet. In addition though, he has created a popular web comic called Copper. From the publisher, this is the very simple description: “Copper is curious, Fred is fearful. And together boy and dog are off on a series of adventures through marvelous worlds, powered by Copper’s limitless enthusiasm and imagination.” Now Graphix Press have collected together the Copper comics (so far) into a full-color trade paperback called (what else?) Copper. “Each Copper and Fred story in this graphic novel collection is a complete vignette, filled with richly detailed settings and told with a wry sense of humor. These two enormously likable characters build ships and planes to travel to surprising destinations and have a knack for getting into all sorts of odd situations.”  And it’s available for ordering at Amazon.

image c. 2010 Graphix Press

The New Dog in Town

It’s never easy to move into a new town — whether you’re a human, or a dog, or whatever. “Bacon is a lazy French bulldog who loves Westerns, and has a secret friend who happens to be a cat. When he and his owner move to a new neighborhood, Bacon embarks on quest to get to know all of the neighboring dogs. He soon discovers that they are a collection of weird and rather particular animals. Humorous and witty, the escapades of Bacon and Friends are translated from a popular Spanish web comic.” A comic written by Josep Busquet and illustrated by Ximo Abadia Perez, in fact.  This softcover black & white collection is coming out from Kettledrummer Books at the end of July, and it’s available for pre-order at Sci Fe Genre.

image c. 2013 Kettledrummer Books

Indie Animation Looking for Help

Jerry Beck’s Animation Scoop has an interesting article about a pair of independent animation projects in the works — both of which just happen to be very furry. First up is Ghost of a Tale, a new video game designed by Lionel “Seith” Gallat. Lionel has worked as a supervising animator at Dreamworks on movies like The Prince Of Egypt, The Road to Eldorado, Spirit, Sinbad, SharkTale, and others. More recently he’s been a director for Illumination on films like Despicable Me and The Lorax. Ghost of a Tale follows the adventures of a medieval mouse battling rat zombies on a mysterious island. In a very different vein is Dogonauts by Shel and Justin Rasch. “Mortal enemies, a Dogonaut Pilot and a Space Flea, shoot each other down only to awake, marooned side by side on an alien desert planet.” Justin is a stop-motion animator known for films like Paranorman. He and his wife Shel completed Dogonauts in their garage, all the while both of them working full-time jobs. Both of these projects are seeking crowdfunding help to move from their current levels of production up to the next, and hopefully get them out into the world. The Scoop article features trailers as well as the official pitches for each of these projects. Check ’em out.

Dogonauts promo poster by Paul Linsley

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.

image c. 2013 by CME

… and They Can Talk To Him

We’re fresh back from WonderCon in Anaheim, and me-oh-my is there a lot to talk about. Starting with…

Here’s one we somehow missed over the past couple of years, but we found out about it now, finally: Alex Walker and the Circus of Secrets, by Michael Mayo. “On the run from  his father’s deadly plans, Alex and his mother stumble upon a small traveling circus in a Kansas field. A strange accident awakens a hidden ability: He can speak to the animals — and they can speak to him. He meets an elderly cocker spaniel, a macaw, and a Siamese cat who tell Alex he is their long-prophesized savior. Alex must learn to fight for their lives — and his own.” This young adult novel is available now in paperback from Valstar Publishing, and also in a Kindle edition. Another bonus: Proceeds from the sale of the book go to various no-kill animal shelters.

image c. 2011 Valstar Publishing

Cats with Swords

Sofawolf Press have announced that Caterwall, a new full-color young adult graphic novel by Spain Fischer, will be arriving this summer. Originally announced last spring, this sword & sorcery tale follows the adventures of Pax, a feline would-be adventurer. Pax is ” the orphaned son of the kingdom of Katia’s greatest knights. His family name and reputation has been tarnished, however, and Pax is to blame. When the young cat intercepts troubling news from the neighboring kingdom of the dogs, Dewshire, his warnings fall on deaf ears. Banished from Caterwall after insulting the Dewshire diplomat, Pax must decide if he will try to stop the dangerous tide approaching Caterwal l– or turn his back on the home which cast him out.” The story will be told in a series of three 100-page graphic novels. We’ll admit to some confusion regarding the web site for this project. Some promotional posters released at Further Confusion and elsewhere give the web site as www.caterwall.net, which leads you to a “Coming Soon” page with an illustration. More actual information, however, can be found at www.caterwall.com, which includes artwork and background write-ups.

image c. 2012 by Spain Fischer

Hong Kong Phooey — For Real

Back to our friends at Cartoon Brew again, swooping in on one of their scoops. Not long ago they reported about an in-development Hong Kong Phooey live action/CGI feature, starring the voice of Eddie Murphy. The film is being developed and directed by Alex Zamm (Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2) and Alcon Entertainment for Warner Brothers.  Now, Mr. Zamm has posted a short test-film of the CGI lead character on line, and Cartoon Brew has the link.  See what YOU think. (In case the footage gets taken down, Cartoon Brew were kind enough to embed it in their article).

image c. 2012 Alcon Entertainment