This September, Vertico Comics premiers Sweet Tooth, a brand new full-color comic series written and illustrated by Jeff Lemire. Gus is a young boy with deer-like features and ears… and antlers growing out of his head. It seems that Gus is one of a number of hybrid children who have appeared in the wake of a devastating plague that swept the world. Mysteriously, Gus and the other “hybrids” are immune to the effects of the disease. Gus lives out in the wilderness with his father, nervous but happy — until the day his father dies. Now Gus is alone and frightened in the big world… until he meets Jeppard. A ruthless, violent drifter, Jeppard nonetheless offers to take Gus to “The Preserve”, a hidden sanctuary for hybrid children. Can Jeppard be trusted? Can anyone in this strange new world?
Science Fiction
Zillford’s Comics and More
The artist known as Zillford has two new (very-) adult-themed furry comics avilable at his web site. Altruistic Complex is a violent tale of a dark future where a dangerous new technology is threatening to take over the minds and souls of the entire world — and one plucky raccoon lady is determined to stop it, even if she has to join it to do so! Meanwhile, Krista Claret is an adults-only comic about a mouse who is… a different sort of plucky lady. “There’s a race to be won and Krista aims to make it hers! She’s not above cheating, but what happens when it lands her smack on top of another rule-bender?
Krista Claret is one frisky mouse on a life-long quest for the answer to life. Either that, or a good time and some horny guys!” The first issues of each comic are available on the web site, along with a special full-color Krista Claret poster.
Peter Laird Speaks!
The June 2009 issue of Previews magalog featured an interview with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Peter Laird. Among other things, they asked him “What are you reading?”. Here’s what Peter had to say: “I don’t read many comics these days, but the two that stick out are Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai and Runners by Sean Wang. UsagiYojimbo has been around as long as the Turtles, and Stan Sakai has performed the admirable feat of doing it all himself for the last twenty-five years, and just getting better at it as he continues. I’d say Usagi Yojimbo is pretty much the gold standard for serious anthropomorphic comics. [Might have something to do with why it won the Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book for five years running — Ye Ed-Otter] Runners is a much younger book — I think Sean Wang has only been doing it for the last decade or so — and it doesn’t come out on a regular basis. But when it does, I eagerly read it, as it combines great, detailed art with a very clever science fiction storyline. [Visit Sean’s web site to find out more.] At the risk of sounding self-serving, there’s another book (published by Mirage Studios) that, in my opinion, is worth checking out — Tales of the TMNT. It’s not a series with an ongoing continuity like my TMNT comic, but rather a more free-ranging exercise in which pretty much each issue is a single story. This series features a wide array of different artists and writers, some Mirage veterans, and others new to the business. It’s an exciting mix.” So says one of the originals, folks.
It’s a Blast from the Past! Run Away!!
About Comics brings us the first graphic-novel complilation of the original black & white Weasel Patrol comics by Ken Macklin and Lela Dowling. Premiering as a back-up comic in the science fiction comic Fusion (itself very popular with furry fans) back in the 1980’s, The Weasel Patrol follows the insane adventures of “Willie, Leroy, and the other genetically altered weasels who work as an amazingly incompetent yet surprisingly effective force against the criminal elements among us”. Eventually the weasels graduated to their own (short-lived) comic title, before they finally rode off forever into the universe. Now all of their original adventures (long and short tales, as it were) are collected here in one soft-cover book. Never forget: Protect! Serve! Run away!
New from Boom!
Boom! Studios has quite a roster of full-color comic book mini-series coming along that should be of interest to furry fans of many stripes. Disney/Pixar’s Cars (by Alan J. Porter and Albert Carreres) takes us back to the origins of superstar (supercar?) Lightning McQueen. The Muppet Show (by Roger Langridge) takes us behind the scenes as Fozzie, Ms. Piggy, Gonzo, and the rest try to lift Kermit the Frog out of a deep blue funk — in the most surreal ways imaginable. And Farscape: Strange Detractors (by series creator Rockne S. O’Bannon, with Keith DeCandido and Will Sliney) brings us new adventures (and new dangers) for the crew of the living ship known and Moya. While you’re at it, look for the Farscape Volume 1 hardcover collection, which brings together the first four issues of the Farscape comic by O’Bannon, DeCandido, and Tommy Patterson. All of them should be on the shelves now.
The Return of Milikardo Knights
Matt Henry, also known as Cutter McCoy or El Badjah, has decided to revive his black & white furry science fiction comic book series Milikardo Knights. Originally published in 1997 by Steel Badger Studios (with illustrations by Freddy A-Son, Richard Bartrop, and Steve Adelsee), the story involves an elite multi-species team of interplanetary fighter pilots battling to save their homeworld from the forces of a corrupt planet-stealing corporation. Currently, El Badjah is re-working the story and looking for interested artists. Visit www.myspace.com/elbadjah to find out more.
DinoWars Trade Paperback
DinoWars, the full-color science fiction manga series written and illustrated by Rod Espinosa, is now available as a digest-sized trade paperback collection from Antarctic Press. We thought they dinosaurs were dead — but they had simply left our planet. Now a new species of evolved dinosaur has returned… to invade and conquer the Earth!
