Mark McKenna’s strange (but nice) little monkey Banana Tail returns in Banana Tail’s Colorful Adventure, a new full-color hardcover book for young readers (coming in April from Image Comics). Banana Tail, if you didn’t know, is a young monkey who is made fun of for his bright and shiny yellow tail. So, he spends his days hanging around with other unusual young animals in the jungle, including a checkerboard zebra and a rhino who changes colors with her mood. Mark McKenna, if you didn’t know, is a comic book artist who’s worked for both DC and Marvel for decades. Now he brings back his popular children’s book character in a new 3D CGI format with the help of Steve Akehurst and the artists at The Fourth Armada.
Funny Animal
Badgers, Foxes, and Guinea Pigs!
New for very young readers, from Lerner Publishing Group: Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye is a full-color trade paperback series for kids, created by Colleen Venable and Stephanie Yue. Sasspants the guinea pig P.I. attempts to solve the mystery of the missing sandwich with the help of her sidekick, Hamisher the hamster, and a menagerie of pet-store suspects. Each book in this series is peppered with clues, and features a collection of animal facts at the end. Then there’s Mr. Badger and Mrs. Fox, a new series (also in full color) by Brittie Luciani and Eve Tharlet. In Volume 1: The Meeting, Mrs. Fox and her daughter Ginger are chased out of their home by a vicious hunter’s dog. They end up seeking shelter in the home of Mr. Badger, his two squabbling sons, and his toddler daughter. It’s a series about making friends and getting along in families of different backgrounds. Both new series are coming this March.
Donald Duck… Secret Agent?
Once again, the folks at Boom! Kids take things in a whole new direction… Donald Duck and Friends Volume 1: Double Duck is a new trade paperback (also available in hardcover) that collects the recent issues of this comic book series… featuring everyone’s favorite cranky duck as a top-flight secret agent, out to save the world from a madman bent on melting the world’s polar ice caps! The story is by Fausto Vitaliano and Marco Bosco, with various folks contributing the full-color art. The books are scheduled to come out in early May.
c. 2010, Boom! Studios. Not the final art... but oooo!
Copper
More on-line comics making their way into the world on dead trees! Kazu Kibuishi (well-known as the editor of the Flight series of fantasy anthologies) has brought out his full-color on-line comic Copper in book form, available this January in softcover or hardcover from Graphix. From the publisher’s notes at Amazon.com: “Copper is curious, Fred is fearful. And together boy and dog are off on a series of adventures through marvelous worlds, powered by Copper’s limitless enthusiasm and imagination. Each Copper and Fred story in this graphic novel collection is a complete vignette, filled with richly detailed settings and told with a wry sense of humor. These two enormously likable characters build ships and planes to travel to surprising destinations and have a knack for getting into all sorts of odd situations. Copper’s good cheer always smoothes the way—and Fred can usually be won over if there’s food involved.”
The Booming of Boom!
Every time we turn around, Boom! Studios has more interesting new product for furry fans. Following in the steps of The Muppet Robin Hood comes The Muppet King Arthur, telling the tale of the ancient king as only Kermit the Frog and his friends can — in full color, every month. It’s brought to you by Paul Benjamin, Patrick Storck, and David Alvarez. You should also check out Wizards of Mickey, yet another break-out full-color comic book series that started in the pages of Mickey Mouse and Friends. When Mickey Mouse, the sorcerer’s apprentice, loses a valuable magic talisman, he must assemble a team of fellow magic-learners to retrieve it from evil hands. But when your allies are Donald Duck and Goofy, what chance have you got? Find out! While you’re at it, look for Wizards of Mickey Volume 1: Mouse Magic in hardcover. It collects the original four-part series in one full-color book. Wizards of Mickey comes to us from Stefano Ambrosio and Lorenzo Pastrovicchio.
Coming to Save Your Tail Feathers!
This January, Boom! Studios brings us the new Disney’s Hero Squad full-color comic, from the minds of writer Riccardo Secchi and artist Stefano Turconi. From the pages of Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories: Super Goof! The Duck Avenger! Eega Beeva! The Red Bat! And more — see Disney’s mightiest heroes in their own comic book title. Wonder where all this came from? Then make sure to check out the Disney’s Hero Squad Volume 1: Save The World hardcover collection. The greatest superheroes in the Disney universe come together when the world’s greatest super-villain sets his sights on Scrooge McDuck’s entire fortune!
A Portrait of Jeff Smith
The Cartoonist is a new DVD documentary that brings us the life, times, and thoughts of Columbus-based cartoonist and Bone-creator Jeff Smith. The film survey’s Mr. Smith’s career during the run of Bone, and also captures the moment when he shifted focus from completing his popular epic to beginning new projects like Rasl. The film also includes interviews with many of Mr. Smith’s contemporaries in the world of cartooning: People like Harvey Pekar, Terry Moore, Paul Pope, Scott McCloud, and more. The Cartoonist is scheduled for release on DVD this coming January.
Want to Draw Furries?
Manga artists Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges (Peach Fuzz) have put together a new paperback art how-to book called Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals. This is from Lindsay’s blog: “In a nutshell, Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals is a how-to book that goes over drawing anthropomorphic and animal characters. We cover anatomy and poses, step-by-step, for feline, canine, equine, rodent and avian characters, plus coloring and backgrounds. The book is coming out around November 2009.” Meanwhile, Amazon.com lists the book as coming out in early December, from Impact. Here’s the description: “What do you get when you cross a human with a horse (or a hamster, or a hummingbird)? You get any one of a number of fun anthropomorphic animals, also known as “furries” to their friends. From facial expressions to creative coloring, this book contains all the know-how you need to create anthropomorphic cat, dog, horse, rodent and bird characters. Step by step, you’ll learn how to:
- Draw species-appropriate tails, eyes, wings and other fun details
- Give your characters clothes, poses and personalities
- Create the perfect backgrounds for your furry antics – with two start-to-finish demonstrations showing how
Packed with tons of inspiration – from teeny-bopper bunnies and yorky glamour queens to Ninja squirrels and lion kings – Draw Furries will help you create a world of crazy, cool characters just waiting to burst out of your imagination.”
More Celebrations for the Turtles’ 25th
More items keep turning up in celebration of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ 25th anniversary. First up, Mirage Studios present a special re-release of the original TMNT first issue by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, now rendered in full color by long-time Mirage Studios colorist Steve Lavigne.
And then, there’s this… Turtles Forever is a new direct-to-DVD animated feature film, directed by Roy Burdine and Lloyd Goldfine and produced by 4Kids Entertainment. It features a novel concept: What if the ‘new’, gritty, 2000’s animated Turtles (from the 2D animated series, not the 3D theatrical feature) met up with the more cartoony, silly 1980’s animated Turtles (from the original 2D animated TV series, not the live action feature films — stay with us here!). That’s what happens here, thanks to a handy dimensional rift. Not only that, but various other characters from both series show up in the tangle. (Two Aprils! Two Caseys! One each Rocksteady and Bebop!) Turtles Forever was originally scheduled to be released in late October, but as of this writing contractual disputes between Mirage and 4Kids have forced the release to be postponed. Keep your eyes on InFurNation to find out when they work things out. Or, you could follow the film’s story and updates here.