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Funny Animal

He’s a Titan of Kung Fu!

Back in 2011 Kizoic Comics created a tie-in comic book line for Kung Fu Panda, anticipating the release of the Kung Fu Panda 2 animated film that year. Well now in anticipation of next January’s upcoming release of Kung Fu Panda 3, Titan Comics are having a go with their own full-color Kung Fu Panda comic, written by Simon Furman and illustrated by Lee Robinson. “Po has been a busy Kung-Fu Panda! He’s had 2 hit movies, a successful TV show, and there’s another exciting movie on the way! And now he’s set to get even busier in his own brand new comic! Join Po, The Furious Five and Shifu – and all their enemies – for their own comic strip adventures! This issue kicks off a  special two-part story: Wake Me Up Before You Po-Po!” Seriously. It’s on the shelves now!

image c. 2015 Titan Comics

image c. 2015 Titan Comics

Sing For All Species!

And the embarrassment of riches for anthropomorphic animal movies that is 2016… continues! Once again Cartoon Brew brings us big news: Illumination (home of the Minions and the upcoming Secret Life of Pets) have announced a new CGI film called Sing, coming to theaters in December of 2016. “Of all the animal kingdom films, Sing might be the quirkiest of the bunch. Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri explained during an Annecy keynote earlier this year that conceptually ‘The starting point for the movie was, for me at least, looking at what the role of a producer is’. The producer in Sing will be a koala named Buster Moon, voiced by Matthew McConaughey, who runs a vaudeville-style theater. ‘He creates wonderful entertainment out of nothing’ Meledandri said at Annecy. If a paean to producers sounds like an unusual topic for an animated film, so does the fact that the movie will have over 85 songs in it. Here’s the set-up which allows that to happen: Buster’s theater has fallen on hard times, and he comes up with an idea to save it by staging a singing competition. Eventually, five lead contestants emerge: A mouse (Seth MacFarlane) who croons as smoothly as he cons, a timid teenage elephant (Tori Kelly) with an enormous case of stage fright, an overtaxed mother (Reese Witherspoon) run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets, a young gangster gorilla (Taron Egerton) looking to break free of his family’s felonies, and a punk-rock porcupine (Scarlett Johansson) struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo. Each animal arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life. John C. Reilly will also lend a voice as Buster’s black sheep pal Eddie.” Got all that? Whew! We’ll keep you informed as we learn more.

image c. Illumination Entertainment

image c. Illumination Entertainment

Pretty Little Dead Things

Furrybones is a skeleton. A playful little skeleton, who likes to dress up in animal costumes. A wide variety of animal costumes, in fact! That’s the story behind Furrybones, a 3D art collection created by the artist Misaki Sawada. In the way of all things, Furrybones have become quite a collectible — and of course there are a few limited edition items in the collection. Recently the artist has also branched out into plush stuffies, jewelry, and a host of other Furrybones merchandise. It’s all at her official web site for you to haunt.

image c. 2015 by Misaki Sawada

image c. 2015 by Misaki Sawada

It’s A Catastrophe!

[We are so, so sorry for that one…] Earlier this year you may recall we mentioned an upcoming animated feature called Blazing Samurai. Well now thanks to Cartoon Brew we have a lot more information about it! “Arriving stateside August 4, 2017, from AMC Entertainment and Regal Entertainment’s Open Road Films, Blazing Samurai stars Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, George Takei, Gabriel Iglesias, Aasif Mandvi, Djimon Hounsou, Michelle Yeoh, Sandra Tsing Loh, Mel B., Heavenly Joy Jerkins, and Mel Brooks himself as a madcap array of cats and dogs comedically battling for samurai supremacy not in the Wild West but the faraway Japanese East. Co-directed by Alvin and the Chipmunks and Garfield animation supervisor Chris Bailey and veteran Disney animator Mark Koetsier, Blazing Samurai also features art direction from New Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show and Steven Universe’s Kevin Dart. Toronto, Canada-based CG animation and visual effects shop Arc Productions (Gnomeo & Juliet) is the lead animation house.” What’s more, Lion King / Mr. Peabody & Sherman director Rob Minkoff is on board as one of the producers. Quite a lot of big names attached to this project!

image c. 2015 Open Road Films

image c. 2015 Open Road Films

Doggies and Dragons for You

Ed Swanson and his wife Nitha Swanson are crafters from Southern California who specialize in making various cloth items for sale at street fairs and conventions. Items including: Life-sized dachshunds and not-life-sized dragons (well, unless your dragons are very small!) in various colors. Including some rather psychedelic-colored leopard prints. Head on over to their web site and see what else The Dragon Flame Shop has to offer.

image c. 2015 The Dragon Flame Shop

image c. 2015 The Dragon Flame Shop

Children’s Stories Can Be Deadly

In case you missed it, Paul Jenkin’s Fiction Squad comic book mini-series was a continuation of his Fablewood concept: A place where all fairy tales and bedtime stories live side by side. Now Boom! Studios have collected the entire 6-issue series in a new Fiction Squad trade paperback. “Fablewood is a pretty dangerous place, but no area is more dangerous than the City of Rimes, deep in the heart of the Children’s Realm. After transferring in from the Realm of Mystery, a failed detective from an unfinished prose novel, Frankie Mack, is about to uncover a conspiracy that could unmake storytelling itself. After Humpty Dumpty is pushed to crack and Jack (of Jack and Jill) goes AWOL, Frankie and his partner, Simple Simon, are put on the case.” With full color illustrations by Ramon Bachs, the book is 160 pages and it’s coming very soon. Take a look over at the Boom! web site. Anthropomorphic animals (and many other things!) abound.

image c. 2015 Boom! Studios

image c. 2015 Boom! Studios

Sir BigFrontTeeth

“What can an ordinary hamster do in a kingdom filled with magical hamsters?” That’s the question poised by the Ivan the Hamster Knight series of illustrated books for young readers, created by Helen Penpen. “Ivan is the only hamster with no magic powers, and he finds himself in a very awkward position. Not able to fit in, Ivan is ordered to leave by the hamster queen. His adventure then begins…” Ivan and its sequel, Ivan and the Hamster Knights of the Acorn Table, are available in hardcover over at Barnes & Noble.

image c. 2015 by Helen Penpen

image c. 2015 by Helen Penpen

All The Wide, Wide Universe

“Cosmic Dash is a webcomic with science fiction and space opera influences that updates every Friday. The comic deals with a massive galaxy called the Silver Spiral that is being explored by many different alien races and three principal factions. The comic focuses on Dash Kameku and his crew-mates as they transport cargo around the known galactic territories and beyond.” Got all that? The series is created and illustrated by David A. Davis with the help of Deft Beck (writer) and Tobias Van Den Bergh (inker). The Cosmic Dash web site is kind enough to have an extensive “New Reader Guide” page and archives to help you get caught up.

image c. 2015 by David A. Davis

image c. 2015 by David A. Davis

And This Cat Complains

Salem Hyde is a black & white fantasy comic series written and illustrated by Frank Cammuso — which he’s published in 5 collections since 2013. Here’s the description of the first volume, The Misadventures of Salem Hyde, Book One: Spelling Trouble: “Salem Hyde just isn’t like other kids. For one thing, she’s stubborn, independent, and impulsive. For another, she’s a witch. Salem acts first and thinks later—which means most of her thinking involves coming up with excuses! Good thing she’s been assigned an animal companion, Lord Percival J. Whamsford III. This over-anxious cat doesn’t like Salem calling him ‘Whammy,’ and Salem doesn’t like listening to his long-winded explanations as to why she shouldn’t do something . . . like enter the class spelling bee.” Of course he’ll try to explain to her they mean something different by “spelling”. Good luck! Check out the first book (available in hardcover and paperback) over at Barnes & Noble, then follow the links to find the rest. They’re published by Amulet Books.

image c. 2015 Amulet Books

image c. 2015 Amulet Books