Look, we’re just going to quote this direct from the folks over at Cartoonbrew — no way we could explain it any better. “Four new animated series based on Marvel characters are in the works at Hulu. The shows will collectively lead up to a special event bringing them all together titled The Offenders. All of these projects will target mature audiences. Jordan Blum (American Dad!) and comedian/actor Patton Oswalt are writing M.O.D.O.K., about an evil mastermind with limited body mass and big plans. Hit Monkey, with Josh Gordon and Will Speck as writers, follows a Japanese snow monkey transformed into a vengeful assassin in Tokyo’s criminal underworld. Set in Los Angeles, Tigra & Dazzler Show follows a pair of ‘woke’ female heroes pushing to stand out in a city full talented people. Comedian Chelsea Handler and Erica Rivinoja (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2) have been tasked with writing the project. Lastly, there is Howard the Duck, centered on the publisher’s notorious anthropomorphic bird trapped in the human world. Director Kevin Smith (Clerks) and Dave Willis (creator, Aqua Teen Hunger Force) are writing this dark comedy and will also executive produce. Comic writer Jeph Loeb (also a producer on Smallville and Lost) will act as executive producer on all four projects, as well as the crossover finale. No writers have been announced yet for the crossover finale, in which all of these characters will ‘form a team no one asked for’ to save the world.” Got all that? No word yet on a release date for these shows, but we’ll be watching!
February, 2019:
Spitting Out Pieces of his Broken Luck
And more death and darkness from Source Point Press! (Gee, aren’t furries fun??) Well at least this is from a more silly angle: The Dead Duck and Zombie Chick one-shot comic. “Master cartoonist Jay Fosgitt [My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (!) ] returns to his darkly comedic roots with the return of Dead Duck and Zombie Chick! Laugh along with the deadpan humor as Dead Duck does his best to keep up on his day job….delivering the souls of the dead for processing!” And it’s available for your viewing pleasure now.
Bad, Bad Bunny
And more dark stuff from the Long Beach Comic Expo. Remember when we talked about the graphic novel Wretched Things? Well it turns out that the publisher, Source Point Press, has another creepy anthropomorphic title in their crop: Rottentail. “This deranged graphic novel comes straight from the minds and hands of David C. Hayes, Kevin Moyers, Kurt Belcher, and Henrik Horvath. Geeky fertility researcher Peter Cotton is bitten by a mutant rabbit and changes into the half-man/half-bunny Rottentail. What’s a boy to do? Why, take a hippity, hoppity trip home of course! Peter begins a bloody killing spree of revenge that culminates in his childhood hometown of Easter Falls.” Ready for this? Rottentail has even been made into a film!
What Crawls Beneath
Definitely a darker sort of anthropomorphic story — that’s The Rats of Heaven, a new novel by J.J. Elliot. “The Rats of Heaven tells the story of the fallen angel Rahab, as he seeks revenge on the angels that exiled him to live out his existence on Earth as a rat. When the fallen angel meets a dying serial killer in the sewers they strike a deal that will terrorize a city. Only a 12 year-old boy knows what their secret and how to stop them. The Rats of Heaven will take the reader from the sewers of a modern city to the gardens of Heaven.” What a ride. Check it out over at Amazon.
Sincere Art
Also at Long Beach Comic Expo we met Samantha Sawyer. “Sincerely Sam” is an artist whose fantasy and furry works have graced the covers of various comics and convention books. She’s also been a guest at several comic book conventions. Visit her web site to see her gallery of works and more.
They’re Bad. Very Bad.
Recently we visited the Long Beach Comic Expo, and came across things like Devil’s Henchmen, “A comic about animals that misbehave”. And how! From the web site: “Welcome to The Devil’s Henchmen official site, a comic about a motley crew of dysfunctional bandits and their many misadventures. This comic is drawn and written by John Will Balsley” Sounds straightforward enough, but things get a lot weirder when you start to read it! The site includes not only the on-line comic itself but tons of background material and art.
Little Bear in London
And more good news coming to us from Animation World Network: “STUDIOCANAL, Nickelodeon, and award-winning producer David Heyman have announced a global deal and released a first look for a brand-new Paddington (working title) television series for preschoolers. Actor Ben Whishaw (Paddington 1 & 2) will reprise his role as the beloved voice of the title character in the new CG-animated series, which follows the adventures of a younger Paddington. Paddington will air on Nickelodeon’s networks worldwide in 2020… Fully animated in 3D, the new Paddington series sees a younger Paddington writing to Aunt Lucy from Windsor Gardens. Each episode will open and close with Paddington’s letters as he tells Aunt Lucy what he has learned about life through the day’s new exciting adventure.” Check out the article for more. Looking forward to this!
Does Whatever A Spider Pig Does
While we wait to see if Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse can turn its Golden Globe and Annie Awards into an Oscar triumph, word has come out that the film will be available digitally at the end of this month and on DVD March 19th. The official press release includes this interesting tidbit: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse arrives filled with engaging bonus materials that are fun for the whole family and give fans even more of the unique comic book style action that they loved in theaters with more than 90 minutes of bonus content. In his very own original short, Spider-Ham: Caught In a Ham, fan favorite Spider-Ham defeats his greatest foe, delivers sidesplitting puns, and get sucked into another dimension! It actually can get weirder!” Animation World Network has the full release and a link to the preview video for the new 2D short also.
From Back To Front
Honestly, we never knew this was back there — and now here it is right in front of us! Turns out that Aspen Comics have been running a series for young readers called Aspen Mascots as back-up stories in other comics for some time now. Finally, they have gathered them all together and put them out in Aspen Mascots: The Complete Collection. “Aspen Comics’ most popular mascots, critters and creatures star in this all in one jam-packed comic, coloring and activity book! Join Wormier, a fearless millipede, along with his lovable sidekick Griff, as they plot to go back in time in order to reverse the destruction of his worm village! Along the way, the pair will discover different eras, allies-and enemies! Plus, with over 5 incredible bonus stories, readers and fans alike will be able to color in the fun with added puzzles, exciting activities and a whole lot more!” Take a look over at Comixology.