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Graphic Novel

He is Monkey!

One of the most popular and well-known furries in history (no, really, we mean it!) is Sun Wu Kong, the Monkey King of Chinese legend. His story, Journey to the West, has been covered in movies, TV, plays, and of course comic books many times. And now here we go again with the latter, in Monkey King Volume 1: Birth of the Stone Monkey, a new full-color graphic novel from JR Comics. “Cited as one of China’s greatest novels, Monkey King follows the adventures of Sun Wu Kong, born from a stone on Spring Mountain and given the title of Handsome Monkey King, who seeks to learn the secret of eternal life. Under the tutelage of Master Puti, Sun Wu Kong becomes incredibly powerful, but his hubris grows until he has run afoul of the gods, who dispatch an army to subdue the Monkey King.” Here’s a write-up from Sci Fi Genre. Monkey King is coming to stores at the end of November.

image c. 2011 JR Comics

Sled Dogs with Issues

There’s simply no way we could top the publisher’s description of Mush! Sled Dogs with Issues, a new hardcover graphic novel, so we’ll not try. “Venus wants Buddy to quit asking her to ‘make puppies’. Buddy wants Winston’s help wooing Venus. Winston wants Guy’s respect. Guy wants Dolly’s job. Dolly wants to know the meaning of it all. Nobody knows what Fiddler really wants, not even Fiddler. But mostly . . . these sled dogs just want to run. Sounds simple? It should be, but even dogs have their office politics. Office politics with sharp, sharp teeth. From Colbert Report writer Glenn Eichler and dog-channeling artist Joe ‘Fur’ Infurnari comes a postmodern tale of heroism on the tundra, epic romance, and yellow snow. (Hint: don’t eat it.) Mush! is Arrested Development meets Call of the Wild — two great tastes that taste pretty funny together.” There’s more about this silliness on Amazon, of course, and it’s mushing our way this December in full color from First Second.

image c. 2011 First Second

Offerings from Arcana

Arcana Studio has several paperback graphic novels of interest to Furry Fandom coming up soon. Dragons vs. Dinosaurs by Chris Eric Peterson is a fantasy adventure (of course!) featuring, well, dragons battling dinosaurs! With a title like that, who needs to be worried about the plot? It’s coming in early January. Lethal Instinct (by Soares, Thompson, Jadson, and Borges) tells the story of a werewolf police detective — who discovers that he’s not the only shape-shifter in town — and his new competition is attacking politicians. The moon also rises next January. Finally, in a completely different and less violent vein, there’s A Cat Named Haiku by Mark Poulton and Dexter Weeks. It follows the adventures of a mischievous cat told completely in, you guessed it, haiku poetry. It’s available now. You can read more about these titles on Amazon here, here, and here respectively.

image c. 2011 Arcana Studio

Toons Take It Out On Us!

Now here’s something kinda different: Toons go meta. Oni Press has announced that Rascal Raccoon’s Raging Revenge, a new full-color hardcover graphic novel, will be released in early December. Brendan Hay (of Robot Chicken fame) wrote the script, and Justin Wagner did the toony illustrations. Here’s the publisher’s description: “Welcome to Toonie Terrace, home of the fun-loving Merries and their jealous, bitter rivals, the Meanies. For all their shenanigans, no Meanie has ever murdered a Merrie… until now! After thousands of painful failed attempts, Rascal Raccoon has finally killed his arch-nemesis, the charming and adorable Jumpin’ Jackalope. Rascal is overjoyed, but there’s one problem: What does he do now? With nothing left to obsess over, Rascal’s life falls apart. Fortunately, he soon finds a new target for his anger: The animator who created him!” Comic Book Resources has an on-line preview where you can see just what kind of havoc these toons create when they come looking for the humans who draw delight from their troubles!

image c. 2011 Oni Press

Puss in Boots vs. Giant Chicken

A prequel to a prequel! Can you feel the synergy? Ape Entertainment (through their Kizoic imprint) present the Puss in Boots Movie Prequel graphic novel, coming this November. Written by Troy Dye and Tom Kelesides, it features full-color art by the Kizoic crew. This is from Comics Continuum: “The exciting prequel to the Puss In Boots movie is here in this exclusive original graphic novel! Puss enters a secret sword fighting competition to determine who’s the best with a blade. Will he defeat the rabid rooster known as ‘El Pollo Mas Rapido’? Or will Chuey, the Chihuahua cat burglar, take top prize? And in a Bonus story, Puss unravels the mystery of the Maltese Gato!” Remember, the feline furry comes to theaters from Dreamworks on October 28th.

 

image c. 2011 Ape Entertainment

The Dog Who Fixes Cars

NBM Publishing is releasing two brand-new paperback volumes of Salvatore, a full-color graphic novel series by Nicholas De Crecy (translated into English). In an anthropomorphic world, a small dog named Salvatore is a mechanical genius, famed for his abilities to fix cars and construct all sorts of machines from car parts. And he longs to use his talents to construct an all-terrain vehicle which will take him around the world — or through it if need be — to reach South America, where his lady-love Julie has moved. That’s the plot of Volume 1, Transports of Love, which was released in January. In Volume 2, An Eventful Crossing (which arrives this December), our canine hero embarks on his journey, crossing up through Russia toward the pole — avoiding the seas, of which he’s deathly afraid — and meeting new friends and new adventures on the way. Check the whole thing out on Amazon.

image c. 2011 Nicholas de Crecy

Animal Land

An interesting black & white manga that we somehow missed last year… Now it’s being re-published in English by Kodansha Comics and Random House. In Animal Land (written and illustrated by Makoto Raiku) we are introduced to an alternate earth inhabited by only non-human animals. After losing her family to vicious predators, a tanuki (raccoon dog) named Monoko makes an amazing discovery in a river: A human baby! Now this strange, unknown creature will grow up among the animals and will soon begin to display amazing powers. Volume 1 was released in August, and Volume 2 is coming up soon in October. Here’s a review at Good Reads.

image c. 2011 Kodansha Comics

Sonic Goes Big

Archie Comics have announced the upcoming release of Sonic the Hedgehog Legacy, Volume 1 trade paperback this coming October. It’s part of a whole series of new Sonic the Hedgehog graphic novels that Archie will be releasing soon in a larger format to try and appeal to older readers. Publisher’s Weekly has the skinny on all of that. Meanwhile, Legacy features over 500 pages of Sonic and the Freedom Fighter’s early adventures, collecting together issues #0 – #3 of the original Sonic mini-series and issues #1 – #16 of the ongoing series.

image c. 2011 Archie Comics

Head Down the Mysterly River

Bill Willingham is best known as the creator of the Fables comic book series — which has, of course, taken more than a few furry turns itself. Now he’s trying his hand at a different sort of creation: A hardcover graphic novel for young readers called Down the Mysterly River, illustrated by Mark Buckingham. Here, we’ll let Amazon explain: “Max ‘the Wolf’ is a top-notch Boy Scout, an expert at orienteering and a master of being prepared. So it is a little odd that he suddenly finds himself, with no recollection of his immediate past, lost in an unfamiliar wood. Even odder still, he encounters a badger named Banderbrock, a black bear named Walden, and McTavish the Monster (who might also be an old barn cat)—all of whom talk—and who are as clueless as Max. Before long, Max and his friends are on the run from a relentless group of hunters and their deadly hounds. Armed with powerful blue swords and known as the Blue Cutters, these hunters capture and change the very essence of their prey. For what purpose, Max can’t guess. But unless he can solve the mystery of the strange forested world he’s landed in, Max may find himself and his friends changed beyond recognition, lost in a lost world… ” It’s available now from Starscape.

image c. 2011 Starscape