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Young Readers

The Monsters of Rock?

Sep 24th, 2014
by rodney.
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Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s the late Jim Henson and his associate Jerry Juhl wrote many interesting screenplays for development as projects for The Muppets, and many of them were never produced. Among the latter was a story called The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow, which went like this: “Turkey Hollow is a picturesque town where hundreds of years ago, unbeknownst to the citizens, a meteorite landed nearby a small brook on the outskirts of town. One Thanksgiving, while young Timmy Henderson practices his guitar, he’s accompanied by strange, unearthly, musical sounds. That meteorite wasn’t a rock at all but an egg holding seven furry, goofy monsters, each with a unique musical sound. After the initial shock, Timmy befriends the lovable creatures following him all around Turkey Hollow. Not everyone takes a liking to the visitors though and it’s up to Timmy to protect his new friends and save Thanksgiving!” Now Archaia Comics have partnered once again with illustrator Roger Langridge (Snarked, The Muppet Show) to bring these Musical Monsters to life in a brand new full-color graphic novel coming in hardcover this October. What’s more, according to an article in USA Today, Lisa Henson (Jim’s daughter and CEO of Henson Company) has confirmed that the original script is being developed into a holiday TV special — possibly for release as early as this Thanksgiving!

image c. 2014 Archaia Comics

image c. 2014 Archaia Comics

He Vants to Eat Bananas!

Sep 21st, 2014
by rodney.
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Some of you may remember Banana Tail, an illustrated children’s book created by animator Mark McKenna. It told the story of  Banana Tail, a poor young brown monkey born with a shiny yellow tail. He feels like an outcast among his troupe, until he finds two equally unusual friends: Reena the pink rhinoceros and Tic Tac the checkerboard zebra. Well now Mark McKenna, Jim Calafiore, and several artistic friends bring us The Boonanna Tail Halloween Special, a one-shot full-color comic with Banana Tail and his friends celebrating the season in high style. Find out more about it at Bleeding Cool. Of course it comes out in October, with several variant covers available.

image c. 2014 Banana Tale Press

image c. 2014 Banana Tale Press

Spyro And His Cohorts Come To Comics

Sep 20th, 2014
by rodney.
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Celebrating the release of the new game Skylanders Trap Team, IDW have brought Spyro the Dragon and his friends to comic books for the first time ever. Skylanders #1 will premier this October. It’s written by Ron Marz and David A. Rodriguez, with full-color art by Mike Bowden, David Baldeon, and others. At the same time IDW will release Skylanders: The Kaos Trap, which will collect the first three issues of the comic together with the special issue #0 that was only available at San Diego Comic Con — all in a single hardcover collection. Take a look at the IDW web site for more.

image c. 2014 IDW

image c. 2014 IDW Publishing

One Lonely Shrew

Sep 18th, 2014
by rodney.
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Disney/Pixar have launched their new Studio Artist Showcase series with Over There, a full-color hardcover book for young readers written and illustrated by Steve Pilcher. “Shredder is a little shrew who lives by himself, and while he loves his forest home, he gets a bit lonely. There must be something more, he thinks. So when he sees a ‘silver line twinkling in the distance,’ he decides to find out what it is. He discovers a beautiful stream, but then he gets caught up in the current! Luckily, a mole named Nosey saves him. As they explore, Shredder begins to miss the forest, so he and Nosey return together, and Shredder realizes that all he really needed was a friend.” Over There is available later this month, and it’s been reviewed over at Publishers Weekly.

image c. 2014 Disney Publishing

image c. 2014 Disney Publishing

Daddy is Purring

Sep 17th, 2014
by rodney.
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Sometimes, you just gotta let the thing speak for itself: “Miri and Luey have a dilemma. Their dad’s been turned into a cat and their closet is a garden full of goblins. There is only one thing for them to do — grab their friend Phil the frog and dive headfirst into a wild, woolly and wacky adventure.” Cat Dad, King of the Goblins was written and illustrated by Canadian artist Britt Wilson. This full-color short graphic novel is available now from Koyama Press. Check out the preview over at Publishers Weekly.

image c. 2014 Koyama Press

image c. 2014 Koyama Press

Bird (Woo!) and Squirrel (Eek!)

Sep 16th, 2014
by rodney.
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Here’s one we missed, so let’s get caught up with it now. Bird & Squirrel are the creation of writer and artist James Burks (creator of Gabby & Gator). According to the publishers, “Squirrel is afraid of his own shadow. Bird doesn’t have a care in the world. And Cat wants to eat Bird and Squirrel. Of course, he’ll have to catch them first, and that’s not going to be easy.” In their first full-color graphic novel, Bird & Squirrel on the Run, you can “join this trio as they head south for the winter in a hilarious road trip. But watch out! Cat is waiting around every bend, and he’s one pesky feline.” Now comes word of a new graphic novel, Bird & Squirrel On Ice, in which our oddly-matched heroes crash-land in Antarctica, finding themselves taking part in a secret penguin ritual. Both are published by Graphix, and you can find them care of Barnes & Noble.

image c. 2014 Graphix

image c. 2014 Graphix

Out! Out! Damned Spotty Cat…

Sep 15th, 2014
by rodney.
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The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth. A title like that is gonna catch your attention, yes? Thought so. According to the publishers, “The Stratford Zoo looks like a normal zoo… until the gates shut at night. That’s when the animals come out of their cages to stage elaborate performances of Shakespeare’s greatest works. They might not be the most accomplished thespians, but they’ve got what counts: Heart. Also fangs, feathers, scales, and tails, in The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth. Ian Lendler’s hilarious tale of after-hours animal stagecraft is perfectly paired with the adorable, accessible artwork of Zack Giallongo (Broxo, Ewoks). And with Romeo and Juliet coming in book two, this is a promising new series of graphic novels for young readers.” The book is coming out later this month in hardcover and trade paperback editions, both from First Second.

image c. 2014 First Second

image c. 2014 First Second

Friendship is POWER!

Sep 4th, 2014
by rodney.
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This year’s annual one-shot for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic takes a different tack, so to speak: One for the superhero fans! “Check out the original Power Ponies in action! When the Mane-iac assembles an all-star team of villains, the Power Ponies may be outmatched! It will take a familiar face from Equestria to even the odds! Get ready for super powered adventure like you’ve never seen it!” Or so they say over at Previews. Brought to you by writer Ted Anderson and artist Ben Bates, My Little Pony Annual 2014 comes blasting your way in full color this month from IDW!! (Sorry, we had to…)

image c. 2014 IDW Comics

image c. 2014 IDW Comics

Mom and Dad are Rats

Aug 30th, 2014
by rodney.
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Canadian artist and writer Eric Orchard makes quite a big splash with his first graphic novel, Maddy Kettle: The Adventures of the Thimblewitch. This is from Previews: “Maddy is an eleven year old girl with a pet toad named Ralph. And they’re on a rather big adventure right now, as her parents are currently kangaroo rats – having been put under a spell. On their way to find the Thimblewitch to sort everything out, they battle Spider Goblins and befriend two endearing Cloud Mappers, Harry the bear and Silvio the raccoon, who help them get where they’re going. We won’t tell you what happens next, but we can assure you that it’s a beautiful and magical ride.” Top Shelf Productions will release this full-color all-ages fantasy in trade paperback this October.

image c. 2014 Top Shelf

image c. 2014 Top Shelf Productions

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