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Dragons

Release the Power of Dragons

Dragon Resurrection is a new full-color trade paperback from Dark Horse, coming this May. It’s written by Emmy-nominated producer Mark Byers, ably assisted by Lin Zhang and Lyan Zhang, and illustrated Erfan Fajar. “Following the discovery of the remains of a dragon in the mountains of Tibet, adventurer Jesse Chang sends a DNA sample back to his twin brother, geneticist Jack. However, when a rogue American general learns of the discovery, he sets in motion a global pursuit to seize and control the technology for his own shocking ends. Now these twin siblings must synthesize the dragon’s DNA, creating a new generation of living, breathing dragons, in order to take on a tyrant bent on building his own personal kingdom.” Of course, there’s already a movie version in the works. Check out Dark Horse’s preview web site to see more.

image c. 2013 Dark Horse Press

Toothless on the Printed Page

The guys at Ape Entertainment put it very well: “Fans of Toothless, the flying Nightfury from 2010’s How to Train Your Dragon, have had many reasons to celebrate of late. First DreamWorks Animation announced it would release two sequels to the hit film, scheduled for 2014 and 2016. Then Global Creatures brought the character to animatronic life for a live arena show that has been touring the world since March. Earlier this month, Toothless made the transition to the small screen with the debut of a tie-in animated series on Cartoon Network. Now, he’s making the leap to the printed page in Ape Entertainment’s Dragons: Riders of Berk comic series, expected to hit newsstands in December.” The new full-color comic book series is written by Aaron Sparrow and illustrated by James Silvani, who previously teamed up on Disney’s Darkwing Duck for BOOM! Studios. You can also read an interview with them about the new comic at Animation World Network.

image c. 2012 Ape Entertainment

The Mane Six in the Spotlight

On the hooves of releasing the wildly successful My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic book tie-in series (which sold hundreds of thousands of copies while it was still in pre-order!) IDW have announced a new My Little Pony Micro-Series. Each of these six full-color issues while feature one of the “Mane Six” characters from the series in their own showcase adventure. First up is Twilight Sparkle — ably assisted by her dragon friend Spike, of course. “Twilight Sparkle becomes enthralled in a literary masterpiece. Dismayed to hear the series never continued, Twilight goes on a quest to hunt down the reclusive author, Jade Singer. The first issue was written and illustrated by Thom Zahler. Look for it in February, or pre-order it (before everyone else does!) at Mail Order Comics.

image c. 2012 IDW Publishing

There are Dragons Among Us

Here’s something new that hit the shelves this summer: Seraphina, the debut novel by Rachel Hartman. Here’s the description from Amazon: “Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty’s anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high. Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen’s Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.” Seraphina is available in hardcover from Random House.

image c. 2012 Random House

Dragons on TV

After a few years and much talk, Dreamworks Animation are ready to premier their new TV series Dragons: Riders of Berk.  Re-named from the more simple Dragons, this new series brings us further adventures of the young viking Hiccup, his dragon friend Toothless, and other characters from the Ursa Major Award-winning feature film How to Train Your Dragon. Jay Baruchel (as Hiccup), America Ferrera (as Astrid), and several other voice actors from the feature film reprise their roles for this new TV series. Unlike previous Dreamworks series like The Penguins of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, this new Dragons series will be shown on Cartoon Network instead of Nickelodeon. A special preview episode will air on Cartoon Network starting Tuesday, August 7th. Check out their Wikipedia entry too.

image c. 2012 Dreamworks Animation

Save Yourself

Here’s a different take on the traditional princess vs. dragon story: “Princeless is about Princess Adrienne who lives in a land of fairy-tale castles.  When the Princesses reach age 16 they are put in a tower guarded by a fearsome dragon, where they languish until a dashing would-be Prince comes to rescue them.  It’s traditional.  Apparently knowing which end of a sword to stick in a dragon is a fit test for kingship…  Adrienne isn’t pleased with this state of affairs, and after one particularly luckless knight turns up she decides she’s had enough.  Chatting late into the night with Sparky (the dragon) they decide to abandon the castle, fake her own death and set off on a quest to save her sisters from their towers.” Fantasy creatures and fantasy tropes show up aplenty in this series, and none of them looked at in the traditional way. Now Action Lab Comics have released Princeless: Save Yourself, which collects the first story arc of the series (written by Jeremy Whitley and illustrated by M. Goodwin) into one handy full-color trade paperback. Check out their blog.

image c. 2012 Action Lab Comics

Dragons on your i-Phone

Dreamworks Animation have announced the release of a new video game for the iPad and iPhone called Dragons: Tap Dragon Drop (get it?).  Players take on the role of Hiccup and Toothless from the How to Train Your Dragon movie series. As a terrible storm approaches the village of Berk, the vikings hurry to move their sheep to safety. But the sheep are scattered all over the island! Hiccup needs to train his dragon Toothless to herd (and in many cases, air-lift) the sheep away from danger while losing as few of them as possible. Dreamworks has a YouTube video preview of the game up now.

image c. 2012 Dreamworks Animation

It’s the Year of the Dragon

Tales from the Chinese Zodiac is a new series of twelve (of course) full-color illustrated children’s books, each written by Oliver Chin and all of them published by Immedium. In each book we meet on of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac (dog, pig, rat, monkey, etc.) as a youngster, and each of them must learn how to represent their aspect of the zodiac as he or she grows to adulthood. Illustrators for the series include Jeremiah Alcorn, Justin Roth, and Jennifer Wood. Your ever-lovin’ ed-otter especially liked The Year of the Dragon (illustrated by Ms. Wood, and reviewed here on Book Dragon, of course). Not only because 2012 is one, but also because it’s his Chinese Zodiac sign!

image c. 2012 Immedium

Avoid the Yak-Nog…

And speaking of dragons, this one managed to sneak on by us… They’re fast critters sometimes! Following the current trend of releasing holiday-themed specials, Dreamworks Animation has released Dragons: The Gift of the Night Fury direct to Blu-Ray and DVD. Directed by Tom Owens, this short film introduces us to holiday traditions in the viking village of Berk, where folk are now living in peace with dragons. But, when the dragons mysteriously all fly off one day, the kids try to think up new traditions to cheer up the devastated village-folk. Some work… some, not so much. Also on the DVD is the short film Book of Dragons (directed by Steve Hickner), a sort of dragon encyclopedia overview guided by Hiccup and his friends. Of note to furry fans: Unlike Legend of the Boneknapper, these two shorts feature Toothless the Night Fury — a lot.

image c. 2011 Dreamworks Animation