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Graphic Novel

Dream a Little Dream of Dogs

We couldn’t even begin to describe this one, folks. So we’ll leave that up to the publisher, Drawn & Quarterly: “Dogs and Water chronicles a piece of a lonely journey, without origin or destination. A young man wandering a nameless path has only a stuffed bear as a companion, which inertly endures his desperation, anger and musings along the way. The landscape is cold and bleak with few landmarks, and offers only precarious encounters with animals and armed men. These interactions are rife with instinct, the drive for survival, and human ethics concerning the killed and injured. He finds acceptance with a pack of dogs, though their nature is wild and their potential threat is as unsettling as the sudden presence of a massive pipeline on the horizon. In a dreamlike state, the endless land becomes a vast body of water where his boat is destroyed and his body floats in a subconscious space. On land, the road disappears and only blind circumstance remains. All is uncertain and all can be lost, but he continues on regardless. Created by Anders Nilsen, it’s available now in hardcover.

image c. 2016 Drawn & Quarterly

image c. 2016 Drawn & Quarterly

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Mickey, In The Beginning?

Mysterious Melody, or How Mickey Met Minnie is a brand new take on the world’s most famous mouse, once again brought to us by IDW. “What was life like for Mickey before 1928… before Hollywood stardom struck? In this riveting, phantasmagorical ‘what-if” tale, we follow the Mouse from his humble origins – as Oswald Rabbit’s screenwriter! – through a tangled web of trains, rocket ships, and stolen Shakespeare scripts! Will a haunting tune bring Mickey and Minnie together for the first time? Will Goofy find success as a… ferryboat driver? Or will big boss Mr. Casey and relentless Peg-leg Pete strike again? Award-winning Swiss cartoonist Bernard Cosey (Lost in the Alps) brings us an amazing Mouse adventure with a thoughtful, emotive twist.” According to Previews, it’s coming our way in full color and hardcover this December. Gosh!

 

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

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Helping Children Cope

More from Toon Books, this time on a much more serious subject. It’s a full-color comic-style book called Benny and Penny in How to Say Goodbye. “Why won’t Benny care? Penny finds a dead salamander, but her brother Benny doesn’t want anything to do with it. Is it silly to have a ceremony for Little Red, or could the loss of this tiny animal mean much more to the lovable siblings? With his unique knack for portraying children’s emotional turmoil, Geisel Award-winner Geoffrey Hayes shares this gentle tale of an early encounter with death.” The latest Benny and Penny book is available now in hardcover.

image c. 2016 Toon Books

image c. 2016 Toon Books

A Girl and her Bear in the Country

Here’s one from Japan we almost missed. Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear is a black & white manga series by Masume Yoshimoto, originally published by Media Factory. Now One Peace Books are bringing the collected first series to North America in digest form. It’s the story of a young teenage girl named Machi who lives in a remote mountain village. She’s a Miko (a shinto shrine maiden) and she has never left her idyllic native home.  But now she’s thinking about moving to the big city to attend high school. That doesn’t sit well with her best friend: Natsu Kumai, a talking bear. A tie-in anime series of Kuma Miko premiered in Japan this year; maybe we’ll get to see that our way soon too!

image c. 2016 Media Factory

image c. 2016 Media Factory

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Dog and Squirrel Are Friends

We’ve mentioned Magnetic Press before: The international distributors of the Love series of wordless wildlife graphic novels scripted by Frederic Brremaud and illustrated by Federico Bertolucci. Well now the same creative team have a new series of full-color hardcover graphic novels for young readers called Little Tails, and once again Magnetic Press has brought them to us here in North America. Here’s what the publisher says: “Chipper and Squizzo are a precocious puppy and squirrel who love to explore new and exciting environments, flying their cardboard box airplane to wondrous worlds full of fascinating animals and creatures.  In each volume of this fun, educational series, they tour a different location, encountering the real-world animals found there in beautiful illustration and fun cartoon strip antics! In each volume of Little Tails Chipper & Squizzo set out on a journey to explore new and interesting environments full of fascinating animals and curious creatures.  The first volume in the series is Little Tails In The Forest, which finds Chipper & Squizzo venturing into a lush forest to visit Squizzo’s family. On their journey, the two animal pals discover and discuss a fantastic variety of bugs, birds, bears, & more!  The second volume, Little Tails In The Jungle, takes them around the world to the jungles of South America, Africa, and Asia, where they encounter tigers, elephants, snakes, and sloths!”

image c. 2016 Magnetic Press

image c. 2016 Magnetic Press

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Somebody Hug This Cat

From the Koyama Press web site we learn that “Steve Wolfhard… draws comics like Cat Rackham and Turtie Needs Work and works as a storyboard artist on the Emmy Award-winning animated television series Adventure Time.” Turns out that Cat Rackham has quite a following of its own. Not bad for “a deeply depressed cat”. Now Koyama brings us the new Cat Rackham full-color graphic novel. “The existential dread associated with getting out of bed terrifies Cat Rackham to his cat core. However, despite his efforts, he seems to consistently find himself dewclaw deep in trouble, often deeply strange trouble.” It’s available now in hardcover — featuring a poem by Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward.

image c. 2016 Koyama Press

image c. 2016 Koyama Press

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Creatures In The Out

Quirk’s Quest: Into The Outlands is a new full-color graphic novel for young readers from First Second. Here’s what the publishers have to say: “Setting out to explore the remote Outlands of Crutonia are the brave and multifarious crew of the H.M.S. Gwaniimander, under the command of Captain Quenterindy Quirk—a leader whose confidence exceeds his competence by several lengths of his own bushy tail. Quirk’s voyage of discovery is quickly plunged into disaster and mystery, as the expedition encounters carnivorous giants, an unstable sorceress, and a valley of indestructible creatures. With the crew decimated, the ship destroyed, and a malign force plotting worse fortune, can Quirk and his compatriots hold together their royal mission? Vividly illustrated and starring a cunningly designed cast of characters, Into the Outlands is a tale of adventure in a fully-imagined fantasy world ripe for exploration. This first graphic novel of Quirk’s Quest includes an illustrated roster of the important characters, a guide to the intrepid Sxervian Frog Brigade, and mission map of the Outlands.” Written by Robert Christie and illustrated by Deborah Lang (in a style that is very reminiscent of Fraggle Rock), this new trade paperback is available now.

image c. 2016 First Second

image c. 2016 First Second

Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night…

In Fox’s Forest is a new hardcover graphic novel published by Fantagraphics. According to them, here’s how it goes: “After a successful hunt with his mate, a male fox is captured by the ‘two leggers’ and thrust into captivity. There, he faces dangers more insidious than the simple eat-or-be-eaten laws of the forest: Complacency, fear of the unknown, pack mentality, and loss of identity. Fox’s struggle to remain unbroken and return to his home and his love makes this standalone graphic novel an all-ages fable in the tradition of Kipling’s The Jungle Book. Gorgeously rendered in a classic pen and ink style, the drawing is reminiscent of the Golden Age of children’s book illustration, and its delicacy is in contrast to the characters’ (a friendly blue jay, a philosophical chimp, and a gas-lighting dog) streetwise patter. Created by underground cartoonist and fine artist Guy Colwell (Inner City Romance), this instant classic is a metaphor for incarceration, and a meditation on masculinity.” And it’s on the shelves now.

image c. 2016 Fantagraphics

image c. 2016 Fantagraphics

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Zap! Pow! Bang! Graze!

Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy. Look, a title like that’s gonna grab your attention, and you know it. Here’s what they say about this new full-color graphic novel, over at AMP! Comics For Kids: “Batman and Robin meet Rocky and Bullwinkle. The forest is full of danger . . .  but help is here. Meet Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy, improbable pals who use their powers—laser vision and an unrelenting sense of optimism—to fight the forces of evil. Join the dynamic duo as they battle aliens, a mutant fish-bear, a cyborg porcupine, and a mechanical squirrel, learning along the way that looking on the bright side might be just as powerful as shooting a laser.  Get ready for hilarious, action-packed, laser-powered adventures written and drawn by Doug Savage, creator of the popular comic Savage Chickens.” It’s available and on the shelves now.

image c. 2016 Andrews_McMeel

image c. 2016 Andrews-McMeel