Here’s a bit of comic and Disney history we picked up from Fantagraphics Books. “When Disney Legend Floyd Gottfredson stopped creating new Mickey Mouse adventures in 1955, Italian Disney maestro Romano Scarpa (1927–2005) picked up the Mickey mantle — and he quickly proved himself a worthy successor, spinning out decades’ worth of new Mickey action epics — most of which have never been available in English! Now Fantagraphics is translating and anthologizing Scarpa’s best! This volume also reunites Mickey, Atomo, and Pete for Scarpa’s ‘The Bleep-Bleep 15’ and ‘The Fabulous Kingdom of Shan-Grilla,’ two internationally famous tales making their North American debut!” Disney Masters Vol. 1 Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse: The Delta Dimension is available now.
Comic Book News
Return to the Rock
Whoops! This passed us by last summer… but here it is, thanks to Boom! Studios. “In honor of the 35th Anniversary of Fraggle Rock, the Fraggles are back in all-new stand-alone adventures, each by distinct creative voices and presented in an 8″ x 8″ format perfect for longtime fans to share with the next generation. It all begins with a story written and illustrated in beautiful watercolor by Jared Cullum (Jim Henson’s Labyrinth 2017 Special), as Mokey Fraggle is losing her love for creating her art and needs her friends’ help to rediscover her inspiration. Fraggle Rock #1 features a cover by Jared Cullum, along with a connecting subscription cover by Jake Myler (Fraggle Rock: Journey to the Everspring). Each issue of Fraggle Rock will have a connecting subscription cover featuring a different Fraggle.” This 4-issue limited series is in stores now.
Junior Sleuths of Equestria
Whoa Nelly! We missed a new My Little Pony tie-in? Yes we did — Naughty us! Well here it is: IDW have a new comic miniseries. My Little Pony: Ponyville Mysteries is written by Christina Rice, with art from Agnes Garbowska and Heather Breckel (all of them MLP veterans). “Welcome to a new series of mystery and intrigue! The Cutie Mark Crusaders discover their inner detectives and solve crimes nopony else can! Will they be able to discover who is stealing supplies from Ponyville hospital and get their schoolwork done at the same time?” Turns out this all fits in with the Ponyville Mysteries series of books as well.
Beauty and the Beast King
Now from Yen Press we find a new black & white manga series with the descriptive title of Sacrificial Princess & The King of Beasts, written and illustrated by Yu Tomofuji. “A young girl has resigned herself to being he next sacrificial meal for the Beast King…but the king is no mere monster! Love is more than skin-deep in this gorgeous fantasy manga.” Which is available at Amazon.
Golden Boy of the Water World
Here’s something else we missed. Goldfisch is a new-ish black & white manga from TokyoPop. “Say hi to Morrey Gibbs! A fisher-boy in a flooded world overrun with mutated animals known as “anomals”, he’s got more problems than just giant fish to deal with. Namely, how everything he touches turns to gold! Sure it sounds great, but gold underpants aren’t exactly stylish… or comfortable. Together with his otter buddy Otta and new inventor friend Shelly, Morrey’s on a quest to rid himself of his blessing-turned-curse, and try to find a solution for the tragedy he unwittingly caused…” Hardly a complicated plot is it? Here’s an interesting fact: The artist and writer, Nana Yaa, is from Germany.
Kung Fu Fighting. Well, Not Exactly.
Somehow we missed this when it came around last year. Team Taekwondo is a black & white graphic novel series for younger readers, published by Rodale Kids. The first volume is called Ara’s Rocky Road to White Belt. It goes like this: “Ara is the odd turtle out in his family, preferring his rock collection to new or wild adventures—until he meets Baeoh, a confident tiger who practices martial arts. Unsure if he has what it takes to join Baeoh’s taekwondo team, Ara must learn how to come out of his shell, persist through failure, and accept the help of his new friends to complete the Tiger Fitness Challenge.” They go on further to say, “The Team Taekwondo series combines the appeal of graphic novels and martial arts to deliver action-filled, character-building stories. Each book also includes one free lesson at any participating licensed ATA Martial Arts location.” Each book in the series is written by Master Taekwon Lee and Jeffrey Nodelman, and illustrated by Ethen Beavers. Now the second volume, Baeoh and the Bully, was just released to stores as well.
The Bird Pays Him Back
The King of Birds is a new hardcover graphic novel, written and illustrated in full color by Alexander Utkin. It’s published by Nobrow Press: “The King of Birds has victoriously defeated the King of Animals, but he is left gravely injured. He promises a merchant a great reward if he can nurse him back to health. Upon his recovery, they travel far across the land to the domains of the King’s three sisters to claim the merchant’s prize… but can his sisters overcome their greed and give up that which is most precious to them?” This is the first story in the new Gamayun Tales series of Russian folk tales — hosted by the titular Gamayun, a human-faced bird who tells stories. Check out the review over at Broken Frontier. The book is available now.
A Slow Friendship
Now there’s a new full-color graphic novel for young readers, written and illustrated by Graham Annable (director of The Box Trolls). Peter & Ernesto: A Tale Of Two Sloths — pretty straightforward, yes? “Peter and Ernesto are sloths. Peter and Ernesto are friends. But Peter and Ernesto are nothing alike. Peter loves their tree and never wants to leave, while Ernesto loves the sky and wants to see it from every place on Earth. When Ernesto leaves to have a grand adventure, Peter stays behind and frets. The two friends grow even closer in separation, as Peter the homebody expands his horizons and Ernesto the wanderer learns the value of home.” It’s available now from First Second.
Bear and Butterfly
Jim Benton is a comic creator known for titles like Dear Dumb Diary, It’s Happy Bunny, and other titles for younger readers with a sense of humor. Now IDW is previewing his latest graphic novel, simply titled Clyde. According to Comics Beat: “Arriving in February from IDW / Yoe Book, Jim Benton’s Clyde is an original graphic novel that follow Clyde the Bear as he moves from Cubville to Grizzly City (with an ex-juvenile delinquent butterfly) to see if The Bad Life is for him”. It’s a ways off still, but look for it in paperback next February.