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Usagi Turns 200

Sep 18th, 2011
by rodney.
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Issue #141 of the multi-award-winning black & white comic book Usagi Yojimbo marks a special milestone: It’s the 200th issue over-all of the series created, as always, by Stan Sakai. And to celebrate, Stan has created a special self-contained story for this historic issue, 200 Buddhas. “With a ruthless gang terrorizing his small town, a humble stonecutter receives a vision and sets out to carve two hundred stone figures. Just as he has finished the 199th, a long-eared stranger comes to his door seeking shelter from the rain!” That long-eared stranger, of course, is the warrior rabbit that furry fans love. Usagi Yojimbo #141 hits the stands from Dark Horse Press this October.

image c. 2011 Stan Sakai

An Elephant in a Fedora

Sep 11th, 2011
by rodney.
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You can’t get much more straight-forward than this description of Big City Otto: Elephants Never Forget. “Otto is a lumbering, sweet-natured elephant who can’t forget his childhood chum Georgie, a smiley-faced chimpanzee who was abducted and shipped away from their forest home by the mysterious and sinister Man with the Wooden Nose. Accompanied by a wisecracking but protective parrot named Crackers, Otto decides to hop a plane and look for Georgie in America. But once they hit the wild streets of the concrete jungle, Otto and Crackers court trouble at every turn — even becoming unwittingly involved in the seedy alligator underworld dominating the city sewers. And little do these out-of-place out-of-towners realize that they, too, are being doggedly pursued across the city — by the local police! Will the authorities catch Otto and Crackers? Will Otto and Crackers find Georgie? Who is the Man with the Wooden Nose? And what’s an elephant doing sporting a trench-coat and fedora?” It’s a brand-new softcover graphic novel written and illustrated by Bill Slavin, and recently published by Kids Can Press.

image c. 2011 Bill Slavin

Classic Comic Strips Collected

Sep 9th, 2011
by rodney.
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Fantagraphics Books has two new collected editions of famous and historically significant comic strips available. Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse brings together the 1930’s comic strips created by Floyd Gottfredson, newly edited by David Gerstein and Gary Groth. Besides nearly 600 pages of black & white Mickey Mouse adventures, each hardcover volume also features more than 50 pages of supplemental material including behind-the-scenes art, vintage publicity material, and commentary by Disney historians. Volume 1, Race to Death Valley, was released last June, and Volume 2, Trapped on Treasure Island, is coming this October. Then in December, be on the lookout for Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips, Volume 1, “Through the Wild Blue Yonder” (whew!) by the inimitable Walt Kelly, of course. This hardcover edition goes back as far as the 1940’s Pogo strips, and also features a biographical introduction, an extensive glossary by comics historian R. C. Harvey, and a forward by the legendary columnist Jimmy Breslin.

Zee Best of Pepe Le Pew

Sep 5th, 2011
by rodney.
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Thanks to the folks at Cartoon Brew and TV on DVD, we now know that the next release in Warner Brothers’ Looney Tunes Super Stars series will be Pepe Le Pew: Zee Best of Zee Best. In spite of what this single-DVD collection’s box cover says, it actually contains 17 cartoons: All 15 of Chuck Jones’ Pepe cartoons, a one-off directed by Art Davis (Odor of the Day), and one Tweety Bird cartoon (Dog Pounded, directed by Friz Freleng) in which Pepe makes a cameo appearance. Everyone’s favorite romantic skunk with zee accent of LOVE comes to DVD on December 27th.

image c. 2011 Warner Brothers

More Chickens, and an Old Dog

Aug 16th, 2011
by rodney.
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We really can’t top this description (from Amazon) for The Trouble with Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery, so we’ll not try. “J.J. Tully is a former search-and rescue dog who is trying to enjoy his retirement after years of performing daring missions saving lives. So he’s not terribly impressed when two chicks named Dirt and Sugar (who look like popcorn on legs) and their chicken mom show up demanding his help to track down their missing siblings. Driven by the promise of a cheeseburger, J.J. begins to track down clues. Is Vince the Funnel hiding something? Are there dark forces at work—or is J.J. not smelling the evidence that’s right in front of him?  Bestselling author Doreen Cronin uses her deadpan humor to pitch-perfect effect in her first novel for young readers. Heavily illustrated with black-and-white artwork from Kevin Cornell, this new series is destined to become a classic.” It’s in hardcover from Balzer & Bray. The Amazon entry also features a video ad that Doreen Cronin put together for the book.

image c. 2011 Balzer & Bray

Hong Kong Phooey: The Movie

Aug 10th, 2011
by rodney.
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Forgive yourself if you don’t recall Hong Kong Phooey… The 1970’s Hanna Barbera cartoon seems to have developed a cultural fame that transcends its ratings or its running time (16 episodes total). The show regained some fame back in the mid-1990s when the band Sublime (just prior to singer Bradley Nowell’s untimely death) re-recorded the Hong Kong Phooey opening theme song, which had originally been recorded by Scatman Crothers. (Crothers was also the voice of the character). In the original series, the rather slow-witted funny animal dog named Penry worked as a janitor at a police station… but then in secret he would change to become Hong Kong Phooey, a rather slow-witted kung fu crimefighter. So why bring this all up now? Well it seems that Hollywood is at it again: A brand new Hong Kong Phooey live-action/animation movie is in the works. And taking over for the late Scatman Crothers? None other than the Donkey himself, Eddie Murphy. Cinemablend has a write-up that includes this: “The comedian will voice Hong Kong Phooey for Alcon Entertainment’s upcoming production, a live-action/animation hybrid (much like The Smurfs or Garfield) that will take its cues from the Saturday morning cartoon of our childhoods. Variety reports Murphy will lend his voice to Penry, a mild-mannered dog who stumbles into a secret ceremony and is accidentally granted mystical powers, including the ability to walk, talk and do kung fu.” Actually, it sounds more like the recent Underdog movies to us. Stay tooned for more.

image c. 2011 Hanna Barbera Productions

Snuggling Like Cats and Dogs

Aug 8th, 2011
by rodney.
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You’ve seen Feed the Kitty, right? The well-known Warner Brothers cartoon short (directed by Chuck Jones) starring Marc Antony (the big, burly, barking dog) and Pussyfoot (the ridiculously adorable kitten)? Well if somehow you haven’t, get your paws on any number of Warner Brothers cartoon collection, because this cartoon is a must for any and all furry fans! Marc Antony starts off trying to frighten the tiny kitten, but overcome by a wave of cuteness, the dog ends up falling in love with… him. Yes, him. Though the Wikipedia entry refers to Pussyfoot as a female, in the cartoon Marc Antony’s human owner distinctly refers to Pussyfoot as “he” and “him”. So, why bring all this up now? Because the Looney Tunes comic book (published by DC Comics) is featuring our smitten canine and feline pair in issue #202, on the shelves right now. It’s written by Bill Matheny, with cover art by Dave Santana.

image c. 2011 DC Comics

Wool Buddies

Aug 2nd, 2011
by rodney.
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Recently discovered at Comic Con: Jackie Huang is a 3D story artist and art teacher. In 2009, he took up the art of needle felting and created Wool Buddies, a collection of fuzzy animal dolls, sea creatures, and various friendly monsters. You can check out his various designs at the Wool Buddy web site, or else his work is available at several stores and art galleries in California. His work is also available in several “do it yourself” kits that teach you the art of needle felting.

image c. 2011 Jackie Huang

Muppets from Marvel

Jul 28th, 2011
by rodney.
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With the upcoming Muppets movie on the horizon, Disney has been exerting closer control once again over the Jim Henson properties… which means, among other things, that the various Muppet comic book series (many of them published by Boom! Studios) are now gone. So what did Disney do? Have new Muppet titles published by Marvel Comics of course — since they also own that! The Muppets Present: Family Reunion is a new full-color graphic novel, written and pencilled by Roger Langridge (creator of Get Snarked, which we also reviewed before). Once again it’s time for The Muppet Show, but this time there’s a new complication: Everyone has members of their family showing up for a visit, and every single one of them is trouble! Check it out this September.

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