Once again the Japanese are proving themselves ahead of the curve a bit… Solatorobo is a new adventure video game created for the Nintendo DS by CyberConnect2. It’s scheduled to be released in Japan on October 28th. The game is basically a sequel to the popular Tail Concerto game series, and it’s already creating a lot of buzz and discussion among on-line gaming fans and furry fans also. No word yet if the creators plan to release the game in English or in North America, but there is at least one YouTube video where you can preview the Japanese version.
October, 2010:
Friends from the Strangest of Places
James Burks has written and illustrated a new full-color graphic novel for young readers called Gabby & Gator. It’s available now, in hardcover, from Yen Press. “Gabby is a shy vegetarian whose hobbies include recycling, gardening, and playing the tuba. Gator is, well, an alligator whose pastimes include blogging and snacking on house-pets. Both feel lonely and misunderstood, she for having “uncool” interests, he for capitulating to his hunting instincts. When a bully steals Gabby’s hat and mocks her, Gator intercedes on her behalf, thus initiating a sweet, if improbable, friendship.” There’s a good, detailed review of Gabby & Gator at the School Library Journal.
image c. 2010 James Burks
Stu Bear in the 25th Century
Viper Comics has a notably unusual sort of graphic novel that’s available now. Here’s how they describe Stu Bear in the 25th Century: “A freak avalanche turns Stu Bear’s annual hibernation into a 500 year frozen sleep. Rediscovered and thawed, Stu finds evolved, hairless, intelligent bears, descendants of Stu’s brother, the new dominant species; living in floating cities above the Earth. But as a seemingly incurable plague threatens to destroy all life, Stu finds he’s the only one who can save the day.” The story was created by Jeff Bushell, who previously wrote the screenplay for the feature film Beverly Hills Chihuahua. The full-color art was created by Beware of the Art Studios. The Viper Comics web site includes a link to a YouTube video preview of this softcover book.
Furries for a Good Cause
It’s always nice to see funny animal projects supporting charity — there are, of course, a lot of them out there! This particular one from Alterna Comics has the rather lengthy title of The Unlikely Trio: Last Barn on the Left. Their web site describes this one-shot black & white comic (written by Scott and Callie West and illustrated by Scott) like this: “A story of three unlikely friends, Lil’Bit the mouse, Mrs. Butters the cat, and Abby the Collie dog that join together to brave the last barn on the left in their small town. The only problem is that a scary monster is said to lurk in the shadows of the barn! Printed in black and white (so kids can be the colorist!) and featuring fun activities in the back of the book, The Unlikely Trio will be sure to entertain even after you’re done reading!” Best of all, $2.00 from the sale of each book will be donated to the ASPCA. The Alterna Comics page also features a preview of the comic, and a link to The Unlikely Trio’s official web site.
Duncan the Wonder Dog
Here’s how Adhouse describes writer and artist Adam Hines’ new graphic novel miniseries, Duncan the Wonder Dog: “What if animals could talk? Would some of them form a militant group in reaction to how humans treat them? Would humans treat them different? Come explore this dense tome of an alternate universe where the lavish renderings recall Dave McKean. 2009 Xeric winning Duncan the Wonder Dog WILL be one of the most talked about books of 2010.” Really now. We’ll certainly see. The first 400-page, softcover volume of this black & white series is available now from Adhouse. There’s also a multi-page preview available for viewing at Newsarama.com.
Return of the Love Skunk
And they just keep coming… Now word is out from Hollywood that Warner Brothers will soon be starting work on a live-action-with-CGI Pepe Le Pew feature film. In other words, a world of humans where only the amorous skunk Pepe and his feline love-target, Penelope, would be animated. New York Magazine is reporting that none other than Shrek himself, Mike Myers, will be voicing Pepe le Pew for the movie (rather than Joe Alaskey or Maurice LaMarche, who’ve voiced him in other recent animation projects). The point of all of this, of course, is to re-brand Warner Brothers characters like Pepe before they run out their copyrights, and to get them back in the public’s eye so they will again start moving merchandise. No word yet on a planned release date for the film. The folks over at Cartoon Brew don’t seem very happy about this whole development.
New, Upcoming Graphic Novel
The furry artist known as Touch My Badger is working on a new anthropomorphic story. Here’s how she describes it on the web site: “Peachy-Keen is a new graphic novel, set in sunny California in 1955. Clover and Logainne are about to graduate high school and can’t be more excited to get on with their lives. When Clover misspeaks and gives the impression that she is asking Logainne to the year-end dance, word spreads like wildfire that Clover and Logainne are… more than just friends. Quite the scandal rocks the 1955 graduating class, and Clover and Logainne are in hot water. Will the girls be able to graduate with their friendship and permanent record in tact? Will Clover and Logainne’s friendship ever be the same again?” As you can see from the picture, Clover is a deer and Logainne is a sea otter — not a commonly-seen species in furry stories. No word yet on a planned publication date, but stay tooned here for more details — as we get them, we’ll pass them along!
Image c. 2010 Touch My Badger
Pack Away Your Wolves and Foxes…
Yes, it’s Halloween season… but with stores already starting to think about Christmas, we thought we might help you out with a little pre-holiday shopping. Something we stumbled across thanks to FurAffinity.net: Ikea has these interesting wolf-and-fox themed desk organizers (about 12-inches tall together) for sale, called Barnslig Ringdans (“Childish Ring Dance”). Note the interesting art style. The Ikea ad proudly notes that together they hold 52 CD’s!
Barnslig Ringdans c. Ikea
