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Fantasy

Gotta Catch ’em… Waitaminit…

Becky Dreistadt (Adventure Time 2014 Annual) and Frank Gibson (The Amazing World of Gumball) are well-known in the on-line art community for a collaborative art project called Tiny Kitten Teeth. Well now their newest collaboration is being released in full color by Boom! Studios: Capture Creatures. “Over a hundred wonderful and terrifying creatures have suddenly appeared on earth. Two teens investigate the origins of these curious creatures and how they can stop those who are trying to destroy them.” If you want to find out more, Becky and Frank have an official Capture Creatures web page, while Comics Alliance have a preview of the first issue with cover variations by guest artists.

Image c. 2014 Boom! Studios

Image c. 2014 Boom! Studios

The Mouse Guard Were Young Once

For several years now David Petersen (creator, writer, and artist of the award-winning Mouse Guard series) has annually been putting together an illustrated fable from the Mouse Guard universe for Free Comic Book Day. Now Archaia Comics have brought together four of them (along with two new stories) in Baldwin the Brave and Other Tales, a new full-color hardback. “Every hero was once a child, listening to stories of the heroes who came before them. It is the same with the Mouse Guard. Six mouse fables are spun to a few familiar young furs, reminding us all to be brave, stay true to ourselves, and follow our hearts. Brand new stories include ‘Service to Seyan,’ set in the land where Mouse warriors travel after death, and ‘Oh Day Away,’ a tale of the insect faeries of the Mouse world!” Archaia have an interview with the creator himself over on their web page. Baldwin the Brave comes out this November.

image c. 2014 Archaia Comics

image c. 2014 Archaia Comics

All the Moomins of Our Lives

During World War II, Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson determined that she wanted to create something that would help to make people happy — which, needless to say, was in short supply at the time. But all accounts she succeeded wonderfully. For more than 60 years after they debuted in the London Evening News her creations, the Moomin Trolls, have delighted audience the world over — entertaining children with their colorful adventures, and adults with their sly commentaries on society and family life. Now to celebrate the late Tove Jansson’s 100 birthday Drawn & Quarterly have brought together more than 400 pages of her full-color work in a new hard-bound slip-covered collection, the Moomin Deluxe Anniversary Edition. Find out more at D & Q’s preview web site for the book.

image c. 2014 Drawn & Quarterly

image c. 2014 Drawn & Quarterly

Animal Empires Collide

Tooth & Claw is a new severely-anthropomorphic full-color comic book series from Image Comics, coming our way this November. Check out the preview pages over at Image’s web site. “Tooth & Claw, the exciting new series from bestselling writer Kurt Busiek (Marvels, Astro City), artist Benjamin Dewey (I Was the Cat, Tragedy Series), Eisner-winning colorist Jordie Bellaire (The Manhattan Projects, Pretty Deadly), and letterer John Roshell of Comicraft that was announced at Image Expo in July, will launch on November 5. The highly anticipated fantasy epic can best be described as Conan meets Kamandi with a Game of Thrones-style storytelling experience. In Tooth & Claw, a secret conclave of wizards brings a legendary champion forward through time from the forgotten past to save the world—with disastrous consequences. Featuring swords, sorcery, beast-wizards, gods, sprawling animal empires, golems of radioactive decay, crystalline badlands, con women, ancient armories, young love, mystery, blood and death and treachery and destiny… Tooth & Claw is the sprawling, world-building fantasy series readers have been waiting for.” It should be noted that this new comic is being marketed as aiming for mature readers — meaning it will not scrimp on the violence or the nudity. And this is from Image!

image c.  2014 Image Comics

image c. 2014 Image Comics

Listen to the Cat With Wings

Another notable-for-furry-fans young adult fantasy adventure series from author Kevin Gerard: Conor and the Crossworlds. “A Boy, a Mystical Creature, and the Journey of a Lifetime . . . Conor: An innocent ten year-old boy, not unlike other boys anywhere . . . Purugama: Immense, powerful, magical, a towering champion of the crossworlds . . . A young boy subconsciously calls forth the power of the crossworlds creators. They send the mystical beast, Purugama, to accompany him on a fantastic journey. After revealing a number of possible futures to his young companion, Purugama prepares to return him to his home. His plans are interrupted when Drazian, Purugama’s mortal enemy, faces the immense cougar in a ferocious battle. The prize? Conor’s life, or death, depending on the ultimate outcome . . .” As with his other series Diego’s Dragon, the author has created a Conor home page that features video previews and lots of other bits of information. The series is published by Author House.

image c. 2014 Author House

image c. 2014 Author House

Guide the Dragons of the Sun

More new dragon fantasy books: Spirits of the Sun, Book One in the new Diego’s Dragon series by Kevin Gerard (published by Crying Cougar Press). “An eleven-year-old Latino boy wins a district-wide writing contest for sixth graders. When an author visits his school to award his prize, Diego Ramirez has no idea how much his life is about to change. Nathan Sullivan hands Diego his statue, a handsome, glistening black dragon. After hearing the name Magnifico spoken aloud by family and friends, Diego awards it to his new dragon. If he only knew how fitting the name was, he might have known what lay ahead: Magnifico is the leader of the Sol Dragones, dragons that live within the magical fires of the sun. Nathan Sullivan is the earth’s connection to the mysterious creatures. It is his task to find Magnifico’s guide. As Magnifico comes to life he becomes quite mischievous, playing tricks on Diego to embarrass him. As he discovers his bloodline, however, Diego assumes greater control over his dragon and his destiny.” There’s a video on YouTube introducing you to the series, and more information over on the official web site.

image c. 2014 Crying Cougar Press

image c. 2014 Crying Cougar Press

A Boy Becomes A Man… And A Dragon?

He Walks With Dragons is the first book in a new fantasy series of the same name by author and poet Stanley S. Thornton. As he points out, unlike your average fantasy series this does not take place in a fantasy land — it imagines dragons in our actual world, influencing human history and human evolution. “Draig, a boy on the verge of his manhood, is summoned to the majestic mountain by the Great Ones. There he finds out he is about to transcend the ages and risk his life to prevent the destruction of mankind. Born into the naïve innocence of ancient man, Draig lives a simple pastoral existence in a quiet, small village. But one day he is flung on a magical journey into a forbidden new world. There Draconos, a dragon, befriends the boy, training him in the art of warfare. From this day forward, the young boy finds himself in awe at the wonders the world holds for him. Not only has Draig become a man, but he is living like a dragon and learning their mystical powers… And when the time comes, will Draig be willing to lay down his life for the sake of saving the dragons? And when the dragons are gone, where will he go?” He Walks With Dragons and The Staff And The Orb, the 2nd book in the planned 4-book series, are available now. Visit the author’s web site to find out more about the series and when the next books are coming.

image c. 2014 Mystic Dragon Publishing

image c. 2014 Mystic Dragon Publishing

All the Pretty Corgis

Her summary: “Joie Brown is a visual storyteller, using her talents to help design theme parks, bring characters to life and entertain the masses with her hilarious concepts and whimsical illustrations. She recently graduated with an MFA in Illustration from the Academy of Art University, and currently resides in Los Angeles with her jolly, stump-legged corgi Rylee.” Who seems to be one of her major sources of inspiration — along with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Check out Joie’s web site to purchase prints and find links to her other art sites.

image c. 2014 by Joie Brown

image c. 2014 by Joie Brown

The Princess and the Beast

This October Viz Media will release Princess Mononoke: The First Story, “An oversized, lavishly illustrated storybook featuring original watercolor art by legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. This is the original  Princess  Mononoke  story created by Miyazaki in 1980 while he was first conceptualizing the landmark animated film that would later be released to universal acclaim seventeen years later. As an initial version of the tale, it offers a new and different perspective from the final version presented in the film: After a long, exhausting war, a samurai lost in a forest encounters a giant wildcat – a ‘mononoke’The beast saves his life, but at the price of his daughter’s hand in marriage… ” Read more about this new hardcover book over at Crunchyroll.

image c. 2014 Viz Media

image c. 2014 Viz Media