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Fantasy

She Built A Brick… Mouse…

No better way to explain Mouse Guard: The Art of Bricks than this article over at Comics Alliance: “Last year at Emerald City Comic Con, toy brick artisan Alice Finch and her incredibly detail-oriented team put together an awe-inspiring display of David Petersen’s Mouse Guard dioramas built entirely out of toy bricks. At the time, we referred to it as one of the standouts of ECCC, and now Archaia is releasing a full-color hardcover packed with photos of the team’s incredible work. Finch, a member of the Seattle-based toy brick builder club ArchLUG, has already drawn acclaim for her recreations of Hogwarts and Rivendell alongside fellow ArchLUG member David Frank, but her team’s work on these Mouse Guard dioramas are a cut above.”

image c. 2016 Archaia

image c. 2016 Archaia

Rover the Rainbow

Action Labs Entertainment are now the official U.S. distributors of the Soft Spots line of toys — 36 colorful puppies for kids to collect. Now this month Action Lab is premiering a new Soft Spots full-color comic book series for young readers, written and illustrated by M. Alice LeGrow. “The Soft Spots toy line gets the Action Lab treatment as young Sophia learns lessons of friendship with her colorful cast of pets… the Soft Spots!” According to Previews, each issue comes bundled with one Soft Spot Puppy plush.

image c. 2016 Action Labs

image c. 2016 Action Labs

One Man is Many Monsters

Later this month IDW will be premiering a new creator-owned full-color comic book series called Brutal Nature. “A collection of masks transforms the young man known as Ich into innumerable different beasts and monsters. Using this ancient power, he embarks on a battle that pits the indigenous people of Colombia against the encroaching Spanish empire. But can one man hope to beat back the massive forces of the conquering Spaniards? [Writer] Luciano Saracino and [artist] Ariel Olivetti (Venom: Space Knight) bring readers a stunningly illustrated story of beasts and men fighting for the soul of a nation!” Comics Alliance has more information.

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

One Crazy-Brave Raccoon

Christopher Locke has worked for many years in the television industry. In 2004 he read the book Fast Food Nation and went through a personal transformation… emerging as a passionate animal rights advocate. He also decided to have a go at writing full-time for a living. The result is a new trilogy of fanciful fiction for young adults called The Enlightenment Adventures. The first book in the series, published in 2015, is called Persimmon Takes on Humanity. “What would you do if you saw someone committing unimaginable acts of cruelty? Turn the other way or defend those in need—no matter the cost? That’s the dilemma thrust upon Persimmon, a clever and compassionate raccoon, and her loyal forest friends. Instantly, the courageous critters spring into action, risking their own lives to rescue any animal they see suffering at the hands of humans. What the team doesn’t know is just how rampant this violence really is, and soon their exciting rescue missions turn shockingly dangerous and deadly. Will they succeed in saving the animals of the world from humans’ brutality, or will they fall victim to the powerful system of abuse they’re trying so desperately to end?” Persimmon is available now at Amazon, and you can find out more about the series at the author’s web site.

image c. 2016 Fathoming Press

image c. 2016 Fathoming Press

 

Ruh Roh!

If you haven’t caught the word, this May DC Comics and Hanna Barbera plan to take Scooby Doo and the gang in a very… different direction, with the premier of the new full-color comic book series Scooby Apocalypse. “Those meddling kids — Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and their dog, Scooby-Doo — get more ghost-debunking than they bargained for when faced with a fundamental change in their world. The apocalypse has happened. Old rules about logic no longer apply. The creatures of the night are among us, and the crew of the Magical Mystery Machine has to fight to survive—because in the apocalyptic badlands of the near-future, the horrors are real! This new monthly series takes Scooby and the gang to a whole new level and features character designs by comics superstar Jim Lee!” Plus writing by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, with regular art by Howard Porter. Read an interview with Mr. Giffen over at Newsarama.

image c. 2016 DC Comics

image c. 2016 DC Comics

The Dream Team Won’t Make You Scream

Brendan McCarthy is an artist and designer well known as one of the creators of 2015’s hit movie Mad Max: Fury Road. In the meantime he also created a full-color comic called Dream Gang, which was serialized in Dark Horse Presents. “A group of psychics project themselves into the dream worlds at night, exploring other people’s dreams. But they uncover a conspiracy to invade and enslave humanity from within by a malevolent force from the dark side of the mind.” As  you can see, anthropomorphic characters also play a role in the gang! Now Dark Horse have assembled the complete Dream Gang series into a single trade paperback graphic novel. Check out Dark Horse’s preview over at their web site, and look for Dream Gang this July.

image c. 2016 Dark Horse Comics

image c. 2016 Dark Horse Comics

And Speaking of Kitties…

Watch out! We’re about to get flooded by announcements for new sampler comics coming out for Free Comic Book Day — in just a couple of weeks on May 7th. Bleeding Cool has several lists of the titles being released. As usual, there are several titles of furry interest in there if you look, including Awake, Sonic, Grumpy Cat, Sanjay & Craig, The Stuff of Legend, and more. Here’s one that caught our eye: The Pink Panther, released by American Mythology. “He’s been the coolest cat in all of cartoondom for over 50 years! The Pink Panther is back in brand new adventures to tickle your funny bone and test the sanity of The Little Man! Join all of Pink’s pals from the DePatie-Freleng stable including The Inspector and The Ant and The Aardvark, as we welcome The Pink Panther to 21st Century comic books in style! This special FCBD issue is chock-full of fun with new and classic Pink Panther adventures, including the hilarious antics of The Mighty Pan-Thor!” We’ll see, in a couple of weeks!

image c. 2016 American Mythology

image c. 2016 American Mythology

The Sunny State Gets Schooled

You’d be hard-pressed to think of more famous “ancient world” anthropomorphic stories than the fables of Aesop. Needless to say, they’ve had numerous illustrated presentations over the centuries! Well here’s a very recent take with a particular spin to it: Doug Hansen is a California native and an art instructor at California State University at Fresno. In his spare time he created a new hardcover illustrated book called Aesop in California. “Guess who just arrived in California? Aesop! Here among the plants, animals, and places of the Golden State, his timeless fables from ancient Greece take on a new vitality and immediacy. From blackberry-munching grizzlies to Hollywood house mice, this is a book to delight the eye, stimulate the imagination, and teach us some very important lessons.” Find out more about the book and the artist at the publisher’s web site. (Hot tip: He also created a book called Mother Goose in California!)

image c. 2016 Heyday Books

image c. 2016 Heyday Books

Shapeshifters Have Rights Too!

Imagine a world with no domesticated dogs — only were-dogs. That’s what the artist known as Kez thought up for his largely monochrome on-line comic Until The Last Dog Dies. “Port Jude is a utopia… if you’re human. In a world split down the middle between humans and dog shapeshifters, there is little justice to be had when domesticated dogs have no rights, no citizenship and no life to call their own. Cage is a wild dog who has always seen himself as free, until he strikes a bargain with the devil in the form of a wealthy businessman named Dmitri Molokov. Now, he must risk his life with the cruelties of the illustrious dog fighting rings for his one shot at a better life for himself and his family.” The official web site has the continuing comic, as well as backstory and a link to an introduction video on YouTube.

image c. 2016 by Kez

image c. 2016 by Kez