By far one of the Grand-Daddies of anthropomorphic science fiction (as opposed to furry fantasy or children’s stories) is the Fuzzy series by the late H. Beam Piper. Beginning with Little Fuzzy in 1962, Piper introduced us to the short, fur-covered in inhabitants of the planet Zarathustra, and what happens when humans colonizing the planet stumble across them. (Yes, we’re certain that George Lucas read the book as a young man, too.) Piper wrote a second Fuzzy book (Fuzzy Sapiens), but then he committed suicide in 1964, seemingly bringing the series to an end. However, the books continued to grow in popularity, becoming nearly required reading for up-and-coming science fiction fans in the 1970’s and 80’s. Eventually, Ace Books hired William Tuning to write a third book in the series, and Fuzzy Bones was the result. Some time later, Ardath Mayar wrote a book called Golden Dreams: A Fuzzy Odyssey, which told of the planet Zarathustra from the point of view of the fuzzies themselves — and postulated that they were actually a space-fairing race. Then, strangely enough, H. Beam Piper’s missing third Fuzzy book turned up, Fuzzies and Other People, and the history of Zarathustra was changed all over again. So, why are we telling you all this now? Well, it seems that author John Scalzi has decided to “reboot” the Fuzzy series all over again with his new book, Fuzzy Nation. It’s available now from Tor Books. According to the press release, it tells the story of one Jack Holloway, who discovers a wealth of gems on the planet Zarathustra. They belong to company that hired Jack, so long as there are no sentient species on the planet. Then, these fuzzy little aliens show up in Jack’s camp…
Science Fiction
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
As we noted recently, 20th Century Fox is once again taking us to the Planet of the Apes — this time, in what is essentially a re-make of the 1972 film Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Once again, it tells the story of Caesar, a chimpanzee who comes to lead a rebellion of apes against humans in a battle for supremacy. In the new Rise of the Planet of the Apes, however, he is not the child of apes from the future, but the result of a brain-enhancing drug experiment “gone wrong”. The new film is directed by Rupert Wyatt. It stars Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) as Caesar (via motion-capture technology), and James Franco (127 Hours) as the scientist who brings about Caesar’s advance. Fox Studios seem to have a little bit of trouble settling on a release date though: IMDB.com still lists it as August 5th, but other sites have mentioned release dates as late as Thanksgiving. Meanwhile as you figure that out you can look for the official trailer, currently making the rounds on YouTube.
Thundercats Return with a Roar
Looks like they’re getting serious about the return of Thundercats this time around… This footage was recently shown at Wondercon — to, reportedly, thunderous applause. It’s interesting to note that this new show from Cartoon Network looks much more anime in style than the old original series. It also spends a lot more time setting things up on the Thundercats’ home world. We’ll find out more when Thundercats comes to Cartoon Network this July.
image c. 2011 Cartoon Network
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.
Go Back to the Planet of the Apes — Again
It seems like we just can’t get away from those damned dirty apes — not that a lot of us actually want to! Now BOOM Studios is premiering a brand-new Planet of the Apes full-color comic book series this April, written by Daryl Gregory (an award-winning novelist) and illustrated by Carlos Magno. The story this time takes place prior to the original 1968 Planet of the Apes movie, a time when humans and apes have formed an unsteady truce — very unsteady, it seems. Ape Central.net (a division of ComicBookMovie.com) has the story, as well as links to the brand new Planet of the Apes movie Ceasar: Rise of the Apes, starring James Franco and directed by Rupert Wyatt. Recently the film’s premier was moved back from this summer to this coming Thanksgiving.
image c. 2011 BOOM Studios
Here Comes Super Dinosaur!
This April the creative team behind The Astounding Wolf Man, writer Robert Kirkman and artist Jason Howard, return with a brand-new full-color comic book series for Image Comics called Super Dinosaur. Mr. Kirkman refers to the series as “a Pixar movie on paper”, which is sort of a clue that the violence quotient will likely be much lower than in their previous comic series. The story goes like this: The evil Max Maximus wants to rule Inner Earth, home of the last remaining dinosaurs (who have become largely anthropomorphic). Standing in his way is a 10-year-old human boy and his best friend, a 9-foot tall T-Rex in a suit of battle armor. Meet Derek Dynamo and Super Dinosaur!
image c. 2011 by Jason Howard
WE3 Return. Run!
WE3 was a well-known and well-received 3-issue comic book miniseries written by Grant Morrison (Animal Man) and illustrated by Frank Quitely (New X-Men). This full-color comic was first published by DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint in 2004, and was first gathered together as a trade paperback graphic novel in 2005. Now, the graphic novel version returns, again published by Vertigo. This time it’s a brand-new hardcover edition, featuring new story pages by the creators. It’s scheduled for release this coming June 15th. The story of WE3 follows three stray animals — a dog, a cat, and a rabbit — who are captured by a secret military organization and transformed into cybernetic weapon-animals. Now they have limited speech, they are covered in body-armor, and they are armed to the teeth with deadly weapons. When they learn they are to be decommissioned, they make a break for freedom — pursued not only by the military, but by other cybernetic animals. Interestingly, the WE3 entry on Wikipedia mentions that in 2006 WE3 was optioned for development as a CGI film by New Line Cinema. Then came the word (in late 2008) that New Line was no longer involved in the project, but that John Stevenson (co-director of Kung Fu Panda) was now attached to the film as director.
Godzilla is Back — And He Brought Friends!
This March, IDW Publishing will bring us a brand new comic book series celebrating the King of the Monsters himself, Godzilla — or Gojira, to his original fans in Japan! Godzilla: Monster World is a new full-color series following the exploits (and explosions) of Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and a host of other giant city-stomping monsters made famous by Toho Movie Studios since 1955. The Goon creator Eric Marsh is writing and illustrating the first story arc, assisted by Tracy Marsh and Phil Hester. Fifty percent of the issues released will feature a special variant cover by the celebrated artist Alex Ross. IDW has a preview and press release on their web site.
Elephantmen: Cover Stories
This coming February, in preparation for the return of artist Ladronn to the pages of Elephantmen, Image Comics will be presenting a special art collection, Elephantmen: Cover Stories. It’s 64 pages of Elephantmen and Hip Flask covers and cover sketches by Ladronn, page-flipped with covers and cover sketches by current Elephantmen artist Boo Cook. The collection also includes a 5-page preview of Elephantmen Volume 4 by Ladronn.
Cover to Elephantmen Volume 4 by Boo Cook, c. 2010
