Now here’s something different: A werewolf comic book with decidedly political overtones, taking on the current hot-button topic of illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States in a very unusual manner. Here’s Fangoria.com’s description of the first Feeding Ground hardcover graphic novel: “Pretending to be asleep, Flaca Busqueda watches her father leave just before going back to work. Dad, tired and poor, promises her that this will be his ‘one last cross’. Flaca sneakily gets up from her bed and spontaneously decides to follow him. She never expects to be cruelly kidnapped at the Mexican/American border, known to locals as ‘The Devil’s Highway’. In a race against time, Flaca’s parents, her brother and uncle are on a desperate search to find their missing girl before anything horrible happens to her. When the family finally locates their lost daughter, Flaca has become different and strangely odd. They find her scarred with bloody scratches and claw marks on her back, as if she were attacked by a wolf. Flaca’s body is changing at such a tender adolescent age. Her coming-of-age tale represents the werewolf’s ever-present transformation. In the backdrop of this horror story, there are political and social commentaries about the timely issue of illegal immigration. Creators Swifty Lang, Michael Lapinski, and Chris Mangun provide different perspectives on the subject, but never actually give a definite opinion on the topic, as if they are giving the readers a chance to discuss and choose for themselves. ” Feeding Ground is coming our way in full color, this August from Archaia Entertainment. Fittingly, it’s available in English and Spanish.
Hardcover Books
The Tiger and the Girl
Fans of the Twilight series and fans of animal transformation would do well to check out the novels of Colleen Houck. Her first book, Tiger’s Curse, introduces us to a teenage girl named Kelsey. She’s been given a very unusual assignment: Accompany a rare white tiger as he is shipped back to his native India. As soon as she lands though, things begin to get strange right away. Turns out that Ren, the former circus superstar, is not actually a tiger at all: He’s an Indian prince trapped under a bizarre magical curse which only allows him to assume his human form for 24 minutes a day. What’s more, Kelsey has been chosen by a powerful Indian goddess to be the girl who is destined to help Ren defeat the curse. Some assignment! Splinter released Tiger’s Curse in hardcover last January, and recently they released Tiger’s Quest, the second book in the series. In it, Kelsey must return to India to assist Ren’s less-than-savory brother Kishan, who has also fallen prey to the tiger’s curse. You can find out about these books and more in the series at Colleen Houck’s web site.
The Turtles are Back!
IDW Publishing have recently announced that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles make their return to regular comic books this coming August, with one of the original Turtles creators on board. According to their announcement, Kevin Eastman is creating the new ongoing full-color series, along with writer Tom Waltz and artist Dan Duncan. All four of the original turtles are back — Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, and Michaelangelo — along with their human friends April and Casey, and their mentor — the rat known as Splinter. They pit their ninja skills against a new villain, a mutant alley cat known as Old Hob. The first issue of the new series — which is set to premier this August — will feature one of four available covers, each with a different turtle, created by Sam Keith (The Maxx). There will also be a limited edition variant cover by Kevin Eastman available, as well as a super-rare “Kevin Eastman hand-sketched variant cover”. Then in September, IDW adds to the line by bringing us Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection, Volume 1. This new hardcover book collects the original Mirage Studios black & white TMNT comics issues #1 – #7, as well as the Raphael one-shot, created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
The Adventures of Bigby Wolf
By now people should be aware that the comic book series Fables — created by Bill Willingham and published by DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint — is a very unusual take on the fairy tale genre, to say the least. That trend continues with a brand-new hardcover graphic novel. Here’s how they describe it on Amazon: “Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland is a riveting original graphic novel that is both an integral part of the Fables mythology and an entry point to the long-running, best selling series. Bigby Wolf takes center stage in the most brutal, action-packed Fables story to date. Sent out into modern day America at large, Bigby’s on a quest for possible locations for a new Fabletown. In his wanderings, Bigby stumbles across a small town named Luperville, somewhere in American’s vast heartland, that, amazingly enough, seems to be populated by werewolves. These werewolves are descendants of a World War II German project to create an army of werewolf super soldiers, some of whom who were infected with Bigby’s tainted blood. And even more unfortunate the fact that they’ve captured, caged and tortured the most popular and important canine in history: Bigby Wolf”. Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland was written by Bill Willingham, and illustrated by Jim Fern, Craig Hamilton, and Ray Snyder. Look for it this coming October.
Across Thin Ice is Done
Across Thin Ice is the name of the newest full-color graphic novel created by the artist collective known as Blotch. It’s also the first volume in a three-volume series known as Nordguard. As Blotch explain on the Nordgaurd web site, the story is an action-adventure following a band of sled-dogs and their daily survival and struggles in the arctic of an anthropomorphic alternate Earth. Thin Ice will be released this summer by Sofawolf Press, first at AnthroCon in Pittsburgh and then at San Diego Comic Con in… well, where else? The reason we’re telling you this now is: While the regular edition of Across Thin Ice will be released in softcover, there is a limited run of hardcover copies that will also be released — and pre-orders are being taken now at the Sofawolf Press web site.
image c. 2011 by Blotch
Beware the Worgen
And now something for fans of the massive on-line role-playing game World of Warcraft — and also fans of werewolves. DC Comics is collecting the five-issue miniseries World of Warcraft: Curse of the Worgen into a single hardcover graphic novel, coming this September. This is from the publisher’s notes: “A series of grisly, animalistic murders have rocked the walled town of Gilneas. A famous detective sets out to discover the perpetrators and finds far more than he bargained for. To find the truth, he must delve through years of twisted history – both the history of his family and Gilneas itself.” The original series was written by Micky Neilson and James Waugh, and illustrated in full-color by Ludo Lullabi and Tony Washington.
image c. 2011 DC Comics
The Fat Cat is Back
Well this sort of came out of nowhere… A brand new CGI show featuring Jim Davis’ inescapable cat Garfield was made in France in 2008. Then, in 2009, episodes of The Garfield Show began airing in North America on Cartoon Network, with all-around voice actor Frank Welker voicing Garfield in place of the late Lorenzo Music. One of the main writers and voice directors for the series is Mark Evanier, who was also lead writer for the original 2D series Garfield and Friends in the 1980’s. Now it seems that Papercutz (home of the Geronimo Stilton series) is creating a series of hardcover full-color comic collections based on The Garfield Show. The collections are titled Garfield & Co., and they come to stores this May.
When Karl Barks did Barney Bear
Some rare and seldom-seen comic book work by Uncle Scrooge creator and artist Carl Barks is coming our way this June, thanks to IDW Publishing. It’s a new hardcover collection called Barks’ Bear Book. Here’s the publisher’s description from Amazon: “Carl Barks tops the list of greatest comic book artists of many devoted fans around the world. He has often been called ‘The Good Duck Artist’ by avid readers of all ages of his Disney Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics. Those Duck stories have been reprinted and loved again and again by millions. But, while the Duck oeuvre is easily obtainable, only a few elite fans have gotten rare glimpses of yet another fabulous, alternate universe that Barks created around the classic animation characters Barney Bear and Benny Burro. Hidden in rare, Golden Age comics only Scrooge McDuck could afford are wonderful, full-color fantasy and fun stories as only Barks can write and draw ’em! Collected for the first time in a deluxe, hardcover, full-color tome are all of these masterpieces, meticulously restored. The Barks’ Bear Book is edited and designed by Eisner-Award-winning comics historian Craig Yoe, with a fascinating introduction and special cover is by Barks-devotee Jeff Smith, the best-selling graphic novelist of the Bone comics series.”
image c. 2011 IDW Publishing
Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant
Rocket Raccoon has been a busy little mammal. He became known as one of the deadliest weapons experts in the galaxy in Marvel Comics’ Annihilation series, after saving the universe as one of the Guardians of the Galaxy. But before all that, he was the sworn guardian of the Keystone Quadrant in the original Rocket Raccoon mini-series — written by Bill Mantlo, with art by Marvel greats Keith Giffen, Mike Mignola, and Sal Buscema. Now Marvel has collected all four issues as well as the original appearance of Rocket Raccoon in the page of Incredible Hulk #271 (along with the follow-up from Marvel Previews #7) in one hardcover book. It’s 144 pages of full color, coming your way this August.
