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Hardcover Books

When Mice Do More Than Point and Click

Dec 13th, 2011
by rodney.
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We can’t make this stuff up folks (if we could we’d be out there doing it!). Here’s the publisher’s description of Mousenet,  the first novel by Prudence Breitrose: “When ten-year-old Megan helps her uncle invent the Thumbtop, the world’s smallest computer, mice are overjoyed, and they want one for every mouse hole. The Big Cheese, leader of the Mouse Nation, has orders: follow that girl—even if it means high-tailing it to Megan’s new home on the other side of the country. While Megan struggles as the new girl, the mice watch, waiting for their chance. But when they tell Megan the biggest secret in the history of the world—mice have evolved, and they need her help—she isn’t sure anyone will believe her. With all of Mouse Nation behind her, Megan could become the most powerful girl alive, but just how will she create a Thumptop for every mouse?” It’s illustrated throughout by Stephanie Yue, and it’s available in hardcover (at Amazon and everywhere else) from Hyperion Books.

image c. 2011 Hyperion Books

Stately Mice at Sea

Dec 5th, 2011
by rodney.
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Richard Peck is a prolific author of fiction for adult and young readers. His latest book would likely be considered for the latter, but his style includes a lot of sly winks at human society that grown-ups are likely to pick up on too. Secrets at Sea is available now in hardcover from Dial Books. It’s illustrated throughout by Kelly Murphy. Here’s the publisher’s description: “In the beloved tradition of The Borrowers, The Tale of Desperaux, and The Cricket in Times Square, here is an irresistible adventure story of the tiny individuals who secretly live among us humans. Helena is the oldest of four mouse siblings who live in the walls of the Cranston estate. It is 1887 when the nouveau riche Cranstons decide to take a cruise ship to England in search of a husband for their awkward older daughter. The Cranston mice stow away in the luggage . . . and so begins the time of their lives, as they meet intriguing, cosmopolitan mice onboard and take it upon themselves to help the human Cranston daughters find love.” There are more reviews available at Amazon.

image c. 2011 by Kelly Murphy

Pixar Scripts in Color

Nov 21st, 2011
by rodney.
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Folks who’d like to learn more about how animation is made — especially award-winning, box-0ffice conquering animation — might want to check out The Art of Pixar: Complete Color Scripts from 25 Years of Animation, written by Pixar Studio’s own John Lasseter and edited by Cartoon Brew’s own Amid Amidi. It’s available now in hardcover from Chronicle Books. Here’s the write-up from Amazon: “Over the past 25 years, Pixar s team of artists, writers, and directors have shaped the world of contemporary animation with their feature films and shorts. From classics such as Toy Story and A Bug s Life to recent masterpieces such as Up, Toy Story 3, and Cars 2, this comprehensive collection offers a behind-the-scenes tour of every Pixar film to date. Featuring a foreword by Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, the complete color scripts for every film published in full for the first time as well as stunning visual development art, The Art of Pixar is a treasure trove of rare artwork and an essential addition to the library of animation fans and Pixar enthusiasts.”

Sled Dogs with Issues

Nov 13th, 2011
by rodney.
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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

Toons Take It Out On Us!

Oct 26th, 2011
by rodney.
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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

Not Furry At All, But…

Oct 16th, 2011
by rodney.
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Here’s a non-furry item by a world-famous furry icon we think you all should know about. Chuck Jones, aka Charles M. Jones (1912-2002) was, in case you’ve been living on another planet for the past few decades, one of the master animators and directors at Warner Brothers animation in the 20th Century. He not only helped to refine the personalities of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, he also created the enduring characters of Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, and Pepe Le Pew the skunk. After his time at Warner Brothers, one of Jones’ many projects was a newspaper comic strip called Crawford, which he toiled on for 27 years before it had a brief run in 1978. Now, IDW Publishing brings us Chuck Jones: The Dream That Never Was, a new hardcover book that not only collects the Crawford strips, but also gives us the story of its creation with numerous original sketches, drawings, storyboards, and production notes. It’s a look into the mind of one of the greats of animation. The book was edited by Kurtis Findlay and Dean Mullaney, and designed by Lorraine Turner. According to Amazon, it comes to shelves this December.

image c. 2011 Chuck Jones and IDW Publishing

Stay Furry, My Friends

Oct 10th, 2011
by rodney.
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We don’t need to tell you much about Puss in Boots from Dreamworks. “The Most Interesting Cat in the World”, his mini-trailers have gone viral all over YouTube and elsewhere already. So we’ll just clue you in on a few interesting factoids. The movie stars Antonio Banderas (of course!) as Puss and Salma Hayek as the curvaceous Kitty Softpaws, as well as the voices of Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris, Constance Marie, and Guillermo del Toro. It’s directed by Chris Miller, who’s an old hand at Dreamworks by now: Besides having directed Shrek the 3rd, he’s also known as the voice of Kowalski the penguin in the Madagascar movies. (Popular voice actor Jeff Bennett voices Kowalski in the Penguins of Madagascar TV series though. Back in the day, Chris Miller was also very well known for an animated short he created, Lea Press-On Limbs.) And of course, the most important news: It’s coming to theaters on Friday, October 28th. Right after seeing the movie, you might want to check out The Art of Puss in Boots, edited by Ramin Zahed and available in hardcover this November from Insight Editions.

image c. 2011 Dreamworks Animation

More Art Instruction

Oct 8th, 2011
by rodney.
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There never seems to be enough of these, and frankly that’s just fine with us! The Explorer’s Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures is a new hardcover art instruction book, written and illustrated by Emily Fiegenschuh. She holds a degree from Ringling College of Art & Design, and in the past she’s illustrated numerous Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks for Wizards of the Coast. Now her new book (published by F + W Media) guides the would-be fantasy artist through not only rendering fantastic creatures of myth, legend, and nightmare, but also breathing life into the finished pictures. According to the publisher’s notes, the book includes: “25 step-by-step demonstrations for creating a bevy of beasts that roam air, land and sea; important basics of drawing, proportion and perspective to help you bring believability to your creatures; instruction for adding living, breating color to finished sketches; and expert tips on finding inspiration, developing personalities, designing costumes and more”. It’s on the shelves now.

image c. 2011 Emily Fiegenschuh

Behind the Maus

Oct 4th, 2011
by rodney.
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Considered by many critics and fans to be one of the most significant (as in, socially relevant) anthropomorphic works of the 20th Century, Art Spiegelman’s Maus: A Survivor’s Tale brought us the story of a Jewish family struggling to stay alive and together in the horror of Nazi Germany during World War II. And it did so through the medium of funny animal comics — but oh, were funny animals ever so not funny… In the years since the publication of Maus (and after numerous awards), Art Spiegelman has been hounded by questions: Why the Holocaust? Why mice? And why a comic book?  Now, he attempts to take those questions head-on in his new hardcover book, Metamaus: A Look Inside A Modern Classic, Maus, which is available now from Pantheon Books. The book and accompanying DVD not only include an on-screen version of The Complete Maus, but also interviews with the creator’s father, memories of his mother (both his parents were held prisoner in concentration camps) by folks who knew her, scholarly essays on Maus, loads of background sketches, and much more.

image c. 2011 Art Spiegelman

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