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Young Readers

North, But Not Alaska

And the Christmas comic flood continues, this time with a new title from Action Lab — Northstars Volume 1: Welcome to Snowville. “Holly, the daughter of Santa Claus, and Frostina, the Yeti Princess, must put their differences aside to save the town of Snowville before Christmas is lost forever. They travel through an exotic underground world to save Christmas from the devious Krampus and his oafish Straw Lads.” Krampus who looks like an evil reindeer, it seems. They also said this: “Northstars is what you get if you combine Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with Adventure Time. Like the classic Rankin/Bass specials, it’s a wonderful world where holiday characters such as Santa and his daughter, Holly, rub shoulders with winter warlocks, snow dragons and fall fairies. Like Adventure Time, there is a wry sense of humor and a colorful, quirky cast of characters that both kids and adults will enjoy.” The first ultra-sized hardcover issue is written by Jim Shelley and Haigen Shelley, with illustration by Anna Liisa Jones. Look for it later this month.

image c. 2017 Action Lab

Classic Christmas from Classic Artists

It’s not too early to be thinking about Christmas, is it? (Our local department store certainly doesn’t think so…) In that spirit (Ha Ha), IDW have once again compiled The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories, edited by Craig Yoe. What’s especially interesting about this collection is some of the artists represented: Among them are Walt Kelly (creator of Pogo), Richard Scarry (famous creator of funny animal books for kids), John Stanley (Little Lulu), and many others. It’s coming out in trade paperback this November, and there’s a review over at the Graphic Novel Reporter site.

image c. 2017 IDW

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The Fox Returns

According to Previews, a classic British black & white wildlife comic called Marney the Fox is available again, now in a hardcover collection. We got this from Blimey, the Blog of British Comics: “Just to cover the basics; Marney the Fox appeared in Buster weekly from the issue dated 22nd June 1974 to 11th September 1976. This fictional story of a wandering fox cub was written by Scott Goodall and illustrated by John Stokes. The artwork was absolutely superb and many consider it to be amongst Stokes’ best work. (The artist himself regards it as some of his best too.) One thing that made Marney the Fox exceptional is that, unlike most other Buster adventure strips, it played up the emotional content.” The new collection is available now from Rebellion/2000AD.

image c. 2017 Rebellion/2000AD

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Once Upon A Time There Was A Wolf

Lion Forge have brought a new dark fantasy for young readers to North America with the English edition of The Little Red Wolf, written and illustrated Amelie Flechais. As edited and translated by Andrea Colvin, it goes like this: “A young wolf, on a journey to bring his grandmother a rabbit, is charmed by the nice little girl who offers to help him… but nice is not the same as good. A haunting fairy tale for children and adults alike.” It’s available now in hardcover.

image c. 2017 Lion Forge

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They’re Back to Move It Move It

Our zoo friends from New York… er, Africa… er, Monte Carlo… WHATEVER are back in a new full-color comic collection. Madagascar: Escape Plans brings together issues #1 through #4 of the comic book series from Joe Books in one trade paperback. “Join Marty, Alex, Melman and the whole Madagascar crew on hilarious adventures… Featuring a buddy-cop adventure starring Alex and his arch nemesis Nana, a zany escape plan from Madagascar, a struggle between King Julien and the usurper who’s stolen his throne, and more!” Written by Patrick Storck and illustrated by Rik Hoskin, it’s coming on October 10th.

image c. 2017 Joe Books

Beware of the Crow King

Well, somehow this passed under our noses… fortunately, they brought it back! We’ve talked before about the comic Hero Cats of Stellar City. Turns out that issues #16 to #18 took things in a whole new direction. Now Action Labs Entertainment have collected those issues together in a single trade paperback, Hero Cats of Skyworld. Bandit (a Hero Cat from Earth) and his robot friend (of course) are transported to Skyworld, a magical realm ruled with a scaly fist by Corvus the Crow King. There, Bandit meets a whole new group of Hero Cats and enlists their aid in his quest. Written by Kyle Puttkammer and illustrated by Omaka Schultz, this new graphic novel is available now. There’s an extensive review over at Comicosity, including several preview pages.

image c. 2017 Action Lab

Woo-Hoo!

Looks as if IDW gets the honor of publishing the tie-in comic for Disney’s new DuckTales animated series. After a preview “issue #0” this last summer, the first issue of Disney DuckTales hit the shelves recently. “In ‘The Great Experiment of the Washing Machine, Donald and the Nephews visit a top-secret lab, chock-full of crazy inventions to make life easier… but might make them shorter, instead! And then, learn ‘The Chilling Secret of the Lighthouse!'” The comic is written by Joe Caramagna and illustrated by Luca Usai and Gianfranco Florio.

image c. 2017 IDW Comics

Family Means Diversity

And yet more stuff from France for young readers, this time imported by Lerner Publishing Group. “Enjoy lively, colorful, fairy-tale-style fun with the Whiskers Sisters! Maya has antlers. Mia’s a cat. And May can’t quite talk yet. But they’re all family! They live in the woods with their grandfather, the Guardian of the Forest – and they get into all kinds of adventures with the chatty animals that live nearby. A letter from Mrs. Owl, the Whiskers Sisters’ mail carrier, prompts Mia and Maya to plan a celebration. But their little sister, May, has been swept up in Mrs. Owl’s mailbag! Soon May is in the woods having a wild afternoon. But will she make it home in time for the party?” Written and illustrated by Miss Paty, The Whiskers Sisters Volume 1: May’s Wild Walk is coming just after Christmas. Check out this new paperback over at Previews.

image c. 2017 Lerner Publishing

Stone in Paris

Humanoids (the publisher!) have imported a new hardcover graphic novel series for young readers called Gregory and the Gargoyles. We got this from Previews: “Young Gregory is unhappy and restless when his family moves to a new neighborhood, opposite a cathedral. Bullied by other kids, and left to his own devices at home, he discovers a strange medallion with a drawing of the church on it, and sets out explore the great building and the giant stone statues that rest on top. Before he knows it, Gregory is hurled back to 17th-century France, smack-dab in the middle of gargoyles, dragons, and sorcerers locked in an ongoing battle against dark forces. A hilarious, magical tale from master storyteller Denis-Pierre Filippi (Muse, Marshals) and artists J. Etienne (Brussli: Way of the Dragon Boy) and Silvio Camboni.” It’s in stores now.

image c. 2017 Humanoids