Up next at the Festival of Books was the Dogfish series of illustrated books, written by Rita Reed and with art by Craig Cartwright. Starting off with Dogfish Saves The Ocean: “Dogfish is enjoying a beautiful day in the ocean when suddenly he sees his friend Turtle with a straw stuck in his snout! After he calls his friends to help, they all discover that ocean pollution is a BIG problem! Join Dogfish and his friends as they learn more about pollution and what they can do to help.” All the books are available now from Fine Eye Media, including Dogfish Stands Up To Bullying and Dogfish: Just Be You!
April, 2023:
Wild, Wild Planet
Recently made a visit to the L.A. Times Festival of Books in Los Angeles (of course), and as usual came across some interesting furry items we want to tell you about. First up is the Red’s Planet series of graphic novels by Eddie Pittman — a Disney animator who worked on films like Emperor’s New Groove and Lilo & Stitch, as well as TV series like Phineas and Ferb. Here’s the run down: “Meet Red, a quirky, headstrong 10-year-old who longs to live in her own perfect paradise far away from her annoying foster family. But when a UFO mistakenly kidnaps her, Red finds herself farther away than she could have possibly imagined—across the galaxy and aboard an enormous spaceship owned by the Aquilari, an ancient creature with a taste for rare and unusual treasures. Before Red can be discovered as a stowaway, the great ship crashes on a small deserted planet, leaving her marooned with a menagerie of misfit aliens. With her newfound friend, a small gray alien named Tawee, Red must find a way to survive the hostile castaways, evade the ravenous wildlife, and contend with Goose, the planet’s grumpy, felinoid custodian. Surely this can’t be the paradise she’s been hoping for.” Three hardcover books are out so far from Amulet.
Protect the People
Atlas Games has created a new all-ages role-playing game called Magical Kitties Save The Day. Which is precisely what it’s about! “You are Cute. You are Cunning. You are Fierce. You are Magical Kitties, and it’s time to Save the Day! Every Magical Kitty has a human. Every human has a Problem. In Magical Kitties Save the Day, you need to use your magical powers to solve problems and save the day! But kitties live in Hometowns that are filled with Troubles like witches, aliens, and hyper-intelligent raccoons. Troubles make Problems worse, so the kitties need to go on adventures to take care of the Troubles before that can happen.” After a successful Kickstarter campaign (with several stretch goals already acheived!), the game is available on-line now.
Getting Started On His Own
Recently at AnaCon (held each year at the Anaheim Main Public Library!) we came across Sebastian Dorn. A self-described “cartoonist with autism”, Sebastian moved to Southern California with his family, with the goal of creating his own comic book. Recently he gave us Turbofox, a new black & white science fiction comic released through Sebastian’s own imprint, Dorn Comics. “A wicked wolf sorcerer named Jacobus Lupus vows to conquer and destroy the planet Foxtopia, where he was banished from a thousand years ago. And so the Fox Squad — consisting of Jet McFox, Tonito, Sparky, and Vicki Vixen — head off into space to stop the villain”. Guess what? There’s even animation now!
Lisa Cheese, What Happened To You??
We got this announcement sent right to us from the source! Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar: Attack of the Snack is a new upcoming graphic novel from Top Shelf, written and illustrated by Kevin Alvir. “In Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar, a sweet unicorn girl from another dimension moves to Earth City hoping to make a name for herself as a folk singer…but her very first open mic is a disaster, leaving her with a bionic arm and an identity crisis. Now she’s starting a crummy office job, her parents back in their home dimension are laying on the guilt trip, and the cool girl at the record store leaves her tongue-tied. But once she’s drawn into a knock-down, drag-out encounter with a gang of hamburger-headed goons from the sinister megacorporation Beef is Burger, Lisa must rally a ragtag band of supernatural hipsters, conspiracy freaks, and burnt-out office coworkers to thwart their diabolical ambitions!” Might all make more sense if you check out the preview pages over at Major Spoilers. Lisa Cheese hits the shelves this September.
Animal Folk Tales from Around the World
Capstone Press recently gave us a new series of full-color graphic novels for young comic readers, featuring folktales from cultures all over the globe. And of course, many of them are furry. For example: The Sky Fox, A Peruvian Graphic Folktale, written by Alberto Rayo and illustrated by Fabiana Faiallo. “What happens to a fox that won’t stop teasing the others animals? Read this Peruvian tale to find out.” Other books in the series include The Magpie’s Tale (Sweden), The Turtle and The Geese (India), and The Tortoise and The Hare (West Africa). Each of the titles features writing and art by folk from the culture in question.
It’s All So Pretty…
Magnetic Press brings us a new graphic novel: Loonicorns, a fantasy from a different angle. “Looniland is a joyful and colorful world populated by mythical and extinct creatures: Unicorns, cyclops, dodos… But behind this facade hides a highly unequal society: From an early age, each inhabitant of Looniland is categorized as ‘beautiful’ or ‘ugly’ according to certain subjective criteria. The life of the ‘beautiful’ is idyllic, while that of the ‘ugly’ is filled with drudgery and danger. But the balance of society will be upturned by the arrival of Penny, an amnesic human child.” Loonicorns is written by Ced, and illustrated by Waltch and Gorobei. No, we don’t know them either! But take a look!