Twilight Detective Agency is a new comic created by two very active fans of Disney’s Gargoyles TV series and comic. They must be: McAdam and Rieger call their publishing company “Two Gargoyles Graphics”. Twilight follows the adventures of a pair of “gargoyle gumshoes” working in a town that has much more magic afoot than most of the inhabitants are aware of. You can find out more about this and the team’s other comic titles, at the Two Gargs web site.
Fantasy
Ladies and Werewolves
Dark fantasy novelist Patricia Briggs has new books and new comic books coming out from Dabel Brothers Publishing. The premiere issue of Cry Wolfe (written by Patricia with David Lawrence, and illustrated by Jordon Gunderson) introduces us to a woman named Anna. She never believed in werewolves — until the night she became one herself. A rare “omega wolf”, Anna has spent years at the bottom of the pack as a humbled servant, until she catches the eye of a powerful alpha wolf who may see her true value. But what happens when alpha and omega get together? Meanwhile, Mercy Thompson: Homecoming (in hardcover) takes place in the days before Ms. Briggs’ best-selling novel series. We meet young Mercedes “Mercy” Thompson, a shape-shifter fresh out of college and looking for a job. She soon finds herself trapped in the middle of a war between werewolves and vampires, but the worst thing is having to face the dreaded job interview!
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.
Art is Magic
The internationally famous fantasy artist known as Ciruelo has released a new hardcover illustrated storybook called Faries and Dragons — Art is Magic. It’s available from DAC Editions. Weaving together Native American legends and European fantasy traditions, the book tells the tale of two young children — one fond of dragons, the other fond of faeries — who meet plenty of both as they travel far to help a sorceress thwart a forthcoming catastrophe. A review of the book from Amazon.com can be found here.
From Furry Fandom to the Art Stores
Kythera of Anevern is a fantasy artist who has become well-known in the world of Disney’s Gargoyles fandom. She also does anthropomorphic art from time to time — you can find her web site at http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kytheraoa. Now, she’s moved on to the fine art of… art instruction! Drawing Made Easy: Dragons and Fantasy is available in softcover from Walter Foster Publishing. It includes a brief summary of tools and materials, and tips on how to draw creature elements such as fur, horns, and scales, and 13 step-by-step “lesson”-style breakdowns of various fantasy creatures, including two types of dragons, centaur, gargoyle, mermaid, and minotaur. Visit her web site or http://anevern.artchicks.org/Images/Print/DME10/ to find out more about ordering the book.
Happily N’Ever After… the sequel?
Although it didn’t exactly burn things up at the box office (in terms of cash OR critical acclaim), evidently 2006’s Happily N’Ever After did well enough on DVD world-wide to rate its own direct-to-DVD sequel, Happily N’Ever After 2: Snow White’s A New Bite at the Apple (yes that’s the title). The new film is directed by Steven E. Gordon and Boyd Kirkland, and is being released to stores by Kickstart Productions this April. Furry fan favorites (?) Munk and Mambo return, this time trying to assist Snow White while the mighty wizard is, once again, out of town.
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
News from The Hollywood Reporter: “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be setting sail from a new port. The third installment of Walden’s Chronicles of Narnia franchise, which was let go by Disney last month, is landing at Fox 2000, which will develop it with an eye to release the movie in the holiday season of 2010. Many of the key players are expected to stay with the project, including director Michael Apted and actor Ben Barnes, though a new writer might come aboard. Elizabeth Gabler will oversee for the studio. Because of the epic scope — and accompanying production costs — of the books, Walden partnered with Disney to produce and co-finance the adaptations. Disney backed out of Dawn Treader after failing to come to an agreement with Walden over budgets and release-date issues. Although the first installment, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, was an unabashed hit, the second, Prince Caspian, ran over budget and performed below the studio’s expectations. Despite a couple of suitors, including Columbia, Walden only had eyes for Fox, with whom it partnered to market and distribute its fare under the Fox Walden banner after the first Narnia film. The third film faces creative as well as budgetary challenges. Although the C.S. Lewis book has quests, dragons and sea monsters galore, the story also has been criticized for lacking a clear antagonist.”
