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Science Fiction

Help for the Creator of Rocket Raccoon

Feb 21st, 2014
by rodney.
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With all of the attention that Rocket Raccoon and his fellow Guardians of the Galaxy have been getting, some attention has also begun to shine on a nearly forgotten name: Bill Mantlo. Back in 1976, Bill teamed up with Keith Giffen to introduce the original Rocket Raccoon in the pages of Marvel Preview #7. Not long after Rocket would team up with the Incredible Hulk, of all things, before moving on to his own comic book miniseries. In 1992, Bill Mantlo was struck by a car while he was out roller-blading, and he remained in a coma for many years after the accident. He has since regained consciousness, but he suffered brain damage from the accident and now requires full-time medical attention. Many Marvel fans and comic book professionals are urging Marvel (and Disney, Marvel’s parent company now) to contribute part of the likely sky-high profits from the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie towards Bill’s medical needs. Comic book writer Greg Pak has a web-site devoted to the cause of raising money for Bill’s care. Meanwhile, if you haven’t seen it: Marvel has released a new mini-preview of Guardians that includes a bit of Rocket’s voice, Bradley Cooper. It’s interesting to hear the film’s director James Gunn describe Rocket as “the heart of the movie in a lot of ways”.

image c. 2014 Marvel Comics

Blasting Your Way — For Free!

Feb 17th, 2014
by rodney.
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Signs of the upcoming Free Comic Book Day for 2014 are beginning to show up in Previews and other places. One of the furrier ones on the horizon comes from Marvel: None other than the furries’ favorite Guardian of the Galaxy (unless you’re really into trees), Rocket Raccoon. Written by Joe Caramagna and illustrated by Adam Archer (with a cover by Skottie Young), this 32-page full-color mini-comic features the power procyonid in his own space adventure in anticipation of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie this August. Digital Spy has the story. Don’t forget, Free Comic Book Day comes to a comic book shop near you on May 3rd.

image c. 2014 Marvel Comics

The Vampire Is The Nice One

Jan 26th, 2014
by rodney.
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It’s the far future, and one of the most popular viewing experiences out there is a deadly reality show called The Last Res0rt, where criminals from various worlds and species try to kill each other. Into this mix comes Jigsaw, a furry, who’s also a violinist — and a vampire. Or so she just discovered. She honestly wishes that she’d known that before she volunteered to be on the show! All of this comes from the mind of graphic artist Rachel Keslensky, and it’s all available for viewing at the Last Res0rt comic strip web-site. As well as in several paperback book collections Rachel has put together from previous material — books which also include extra new art work, of course. The web site also includes a handy new reader’s guide for those who need to catch up with the story and the characters.

image c. 2014 by Rachel Keslensky

image c. 2014 by Rachel Keslensky

Raccoon in Space!

Jan 2nd, 2014
by rodney.
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Welcome to 2014! Today, Disney/Marvel released the first official publicity photo from the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film, and it features the clearest view yet of Rocket Raccoon that you don’t have to still-frame to get. They also put out the following synopsis for the movie: “An action-packed epic space adventure, Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits — Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora, and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Peter discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand — with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.” Those of you who have followed the Guardians comic book may recall that Rocket Raccoon develops a close bond with Groot the tree-guy through the series. We’ll see what happens here. Guardians is blasting off in theaters this August.

image c. 2014 Marvel Productions

Monkeys of Different Tribes

Dec 20th, 2013
by rodney.
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A brand new trailer is making the rounds for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, coming to theaters in July of 2014. It seems that the virus revealed at the end of 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes did not in fact wipe out Humanity, though it gave it the old college try. Now the remaining humans and the tribe of evolved apes (lead, of course, by Caesar) have gone to war, and then formed an uneasy truce. That peace is fragile though, and war seems like it is always just on the horizon. Once again, Caesar the CGI chimp is modeled by the multi-talented actor Andy Serkis. Taking over the reins for Rise’s director Rupert Wyatt this time is newcomer Matt Reeves, perhaps best known as the director of the “reality monster movie” Cloverfield. Currently 20th Century Fox’s official site for the film only has the trailer up, but that will probably be added to as we swing into the new year.  See what we did there?

image c. 2013 20th Century Fox

Their Friendship is a Little Rusty

Dec 9th, 2013
by rodney.
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“Richly endearing and full of surprises, Robot Dreams follows an ill-fated friendship between a dog and robot. After a Labor Day jaunt to the beach leaves Robot rusty and immobilized in the sand, Dog, unsure what to do, abandons him. As the seasons pass, Dog tries to replace his friend, making and losing a series of new ones, from a melting snowman to epicurean anteaters. Meanwhile, Robot passes his time daydreaming, escaping to better places…Through interwoven journeys, the two characters long to recover from their day at the beach.” Thanks to :01 First Second, this classic full-color graphic novel by Sara Varon is in print once again. It’s available in softcover on Amazon and elsewhere.

image c. 2013 :01 First Second

A Dandy in Space!

Dec 4th, 2013
by rodney.
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Lots of fandom folks (anime, furry, science fiction and otherwise) got excited this fall with the news that the team behind Cowboy BeBop had created a new, openly-silly science fiction anime called Space Dandy.  The teaser trailer started making the rounds on YouTube. Well now comes even better news: Thanks to the efforts of Funimation, Space Dandy will be the first ever anime to premier in Japan and dubbed on American TV, simultaneously. It’ll be part of Adult Swim’s Toonami collection. Here’s what the producers say: “Space Dandy is a dandy in space! This dreamy adventurer with a to-die-for pompadour travels across the galaxy in search of aliens no one has ever laid eyes on. Each new species he discovers earns him a hefty reward, but this dandy has to be quick on his feet because it’s first come – first served! Accompanied by his sidekicks, a rundown robot named QT and Meow the cat-looking space alien, Dandy bravely explores unknown worlds inhabited by a variety of aliens.” According to the folks at Cartoon Brew, “Anime auteur Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) heads up the direction of Space Dandy which is produced by Japanese animation studio Bones and written by Keiko Nobumoto (Wolf’s Rain, Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus), Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Eureka 7, Ergo Proxy) and Kimiko Ueno (Crayon Shin-chan).” Check out the new trailer on YouTube now!

image c. 2013 Bones

The World Has Turned To Gold

Dec 2nd, 2013
by rodney.
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Check out the plot summary for Ryan North’s new comic book series The Midas Flesh: “Fatima and her space crew have decided to return to Earth—a planet completely sectioned off, abandoned, and covered in gold—to find out exactly what happened to this once thriving planet and see if they can use that knowledge against the evil empire that’s tracking them down. As luck would have it, they just landed the most powerful weapon in the universe: Some ancient dead guy’s body.” Why should we care? Well, one of Fatima’s “space crew” appears to be a talking dinosaur with horn-rim glasses. That, and the fact that Ryan North is one of the creative minds behind the Adventure Time comic book series. He talks about this new full-color series at Comic Book Resources. The Midas Flesh is illustrated by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb, and the first issue is coming later this month from Boom! Studios.

image c. 2013 Boom! Studios

Mans’ Best Friend, After Man

Dec 1st, 2013
by rodney.
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When humans’ time is through, what will our companion animals do? Well, one version of events might be what we see in Garth Ennis’ new full-color 6-issue mini-series, Rover Red Charlie. “When a worldwide epidemic suddenly rids the Earth of all humans, what happens to man’s best friend?  Garth Ennis – the master wordsmith of Preacher and Crossed – delivers a story like no other, as a band of canines set out to survive on their own for the first time. This is the story of three best friends at the end of the World.   Charlie was a helper dog and he was good at getting his feeders safely around.  Now he and his pals Rover and Red must escape the failing New York City and find their way in this new order.  Ennis applies his incredible talent for creating rich and complex characters to a whole new species, with this shockingly original tale that is fully painted by Michael Dipascale. ” It’s due this month from Avatar Press. Check out the interview with Michael Dipascale over at Bleeding Cool.

image c. 2013 Avatar Press

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