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Funny Animal

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sonic

… and his friends. And his adversaries. At least so far as the Archie Comics universe is concerned. The Sonic the Hedgehog Who’s Who is a project that has been in the works since 2010, and put on hiatus several times as Sega Games decided to become involved. Now Archie Comics have announced that the newly-named Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Comic Encyclopedia will be released as a full-color trade paperback this October. “For the Sonic fan on the go and those who want to know it like the pros, this is the long-awaited official source for Sonic the Hedgehog comic info! Includes new, exclusive information not yet revealed in the comic itself and packed with entertaining character and locations listings that definitely explain Sonic’s world, Mobius. It’s a big place that has been featured in hundreds of issues of stories – the longest running video-game inspired hit comic ever!” Written and edited by Ian Flynn, it features art by Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante and several others.

image c. 2012 Archie Comics

He’s Earthworm, Jim

Fans of the animated TV series Earthworm Jim (created, of course, by the one-and-only Doug TenNapel) can now rejoice as Earthworm Jim: The Complete Series has been released as a 3-DVD box set. “Jim was a multi-celled life form happily burrowing through the topsoil. His life changed in a flash when an extraterrestrial super-suit fell out of the sky. Instantly transformed from a 98 gram weakling into a muscular worm endowed with superpowers, extraordinary strength and the ability to leap incredible heights and distances, the suit renders him invulnerable. Earthworm Jim – daring defender of Earth, the cosmos and everything in between!” Got all that? Trust us it only gets stranger when you watch it. The Earthworm Jim DVD box set from Visual Entertainment Inc. is available at Amazon.com.

image c. 2012 Visual Entertainment

Chevalier Returns

We received this note from Darryl Hughes and Monique MacNaughton:The furry fantasy adventure Chevalier: The Queen’s Mouseketeer, which ran from 2010 to 2011 before abruptly disappearing after the loss of it’s publishing deal, is returning in the fall. Character design sketches of the new look cast for the reboot have been posted here.” Following the link you find Coydog’s Den, which is a hosting site for several on-line comic adventures — anthropomorphic and otherwise.

image c. 2012 by Darryl Hughes and Monique MacNaughton

 

This Year’s Winning Frog

The July issue of Animation Magazine featured the 2012 Pitch Party, which has become an annual event.  The idea is simple: Entrants purchase a 1/16th-page ad in the magazine, and submit a one-panel “pitch” for a new animated TV series or feature. A panel of animation industry experts, the staff of Animation Magazine, and on-line readers each get a chance to pick their favorites.  Those industry folk this year included names from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, PBS, and the Hub among others. And the top pick from both those bigwigs and the Animation staff was Jimmy Legs: The Down and Out Frog, created by Daniel Contois — the story of a cartoon frog living in America following a nuclear apocalypse. Oh what fun! And you can see the development of it at Dan’s web site.  But there were plenty of other entries of possible interest to furry fans, including Detective Cats (web site), Little Monsters (web site), Road Kill Heroes (web site), Swamp Stalkers (web site), Mad Cow (web site), Samurai Chinchilla (web site), and Bad Penguin (web site). And of course check out Animation’s web site to find out more about this year’s Pitch Party, and next year’s too.

image c. 2012 by Daniel Contois

 

Oh, Hiya!

OHiya, the Art of Making Friends is the name for a concept created by illustrator Jason Tharp and a group of fellow artists who live in Ohio (get it?). The idea is to use funny animals and other strange creatures to encourage people to greet one another — be they friends or strangers — and learn more about one another and how to make friends. The creatures of Ohiya each have their own unique personality quirks, and how they learn to get along together with so many differences provides the lessons in friendship that Ohiya is all about. To start things off Mr. Tharp and his associates have created a set of t-shirts, buttons, and posters featuring characters like Mythaken the sasquatch, Zoomi-Pop the panda, and Katinja the… well, cat ninja! More is on the way, and you can see it all at the Ohiya Friends web site.

image c. 2012 by Jason Tharp

Turn into a Newt! It’s Better.

Gud Fit Entertainment is a rather new comic book company which produces colorful comic books and on-line comics with young readers in mind — but everyone is certainly welcome to check them out. Among their current titles is Dorse and Doose, the story of a horse (Dorse) raised by a dog (Doose) trying to find his way living on a farm. More along the traditional comic book line is Super Newts, the story of Cool and Cute: Two super-powered amphibians sworn to protect the inhabitants of Amphibiland from all dangers. Check out the Gud Fit web site to find out more about these and other upcoming projects.

image c. 2012 Gud Fit

Sanctuary! Sanctuary!

Actually, Sanctuary is a black & white on-line comic book by Stephen Coughlin, published as part of Slave Labor Graphics on-line comics initiative. It’s a funny animal adventure, but also a murder mystery. ” A research station on a secluded island houses a game reserve/sanctuary where the animals seem to be just a tad smarter than the human researchers observing them. The arrival of a Panda bear threatens to upset the delicate balance of life for everyone involved.” Word is out that Sanctuary will also be released soon on dead trees.  For now, check it out at SLG’s page.

image c. 2012 by Stephen Coughlin

Join the Zoo

Animator Chris Ayers became well-known for his Daily Zoo project, in which he drew one new animal character every day for a year — therapy while he recovered from a life-threatening illness.  Two Daily Zoo books have been released so far… but his latest book takes a different tack. My Daily Zoo is a softcover book featuring over 96 pages of interactive black & white drawing exercises where you unleash your creativity and draw new cartoon animals. You can find out more about Chris, his inspiring story, and his works at his web site.

image c. 2012 Chris Ayers

Shut Up and Watch These!

Shut Up Cartoons is a YouTube channel of original animated series put together by the Smosh Channel, which claims to be the third largest Channel on YouTube.  In amongst titles like Oishi High School Battle and Zombies vs. Ninja are a couple of shows that furry fans might want to take notice of. Krogzilla is one of the newest. “Born as an unknown mutation of aquatic lizard, Krogzilla was a 200-foot tall fire-breathing sea monster that terrorized coastal cities all over the world, until a team of scientists defeated him by shrinking. Now reduced to only six feet in height, Krogzilla has to figure out how to become a functioning member of society. First thing Krog needs to do is find a job”. The series updates every Thursday, and you can find it on YouTube here. While you’re there you might also want to check out the preview trailer for Weasel Town, which premiers next week.

image c. 2012 Smosh Channel