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Bugs and Books

Somehow we missed the Sir Ladybug stories by award-winning creator Corey L. Tabor, but now they’re out with the third volume in this series of graphic novels for young readers. Here’s what the publisher says about Sir Ladybug and the Bookworms: “Sir Ladybug — the duke of the dandelion patch, champion of truth and justice — must fulfill a most noble duty! Upon his knightly honor, Sir Ladybug vows to return his library book before it is overdue. But some diabolical creatures dare to stop this hero and his friends… Beware of the Bookworms!” All the books are available now in hardcover from Harper Collins.

image c. 2023 Balzer + Bray

What Doe, Ye Varlot!

Animation World Network recently ran an article about the upcoming slate of new animation headed to Cartoon Network this fall. Among them are new episodes of returning popular shows like Bugs Bunny Builders, Batwheels, and We Baby Bears. And one completely new show — at least to us: The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe. (Whew, long title!) ” The series tells the tale of Prince Ivandoe, a self-assured and delusional young buck, joined by his dedicated and clever squire, Bert, on a magical and hilarious hero’s quest, through kingdoms filled with swashbuckling, royal rivalries, and magical fairy tale creatures.” Prince Ivandoe will be arriving on Max this coming November.

image c. 2023 Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe

Stella!!

Here’s a new graphic novel for young folks we came across in Previews: The Cosmic Adventures of Astrid and Stella. “Meet Astrid and Stella! These best friends are ready to fire up the turbo blasters and take off into the stratosphere! They’ll just need a few things before it’s time to go: their special space suits, lots and lots of snacks, and their trusty robot Bobo… In their very first adventure, Astrid and Stella will discover the cute and cuddly planet Caturn and the beach-covered planet Bloop. At each stop, they’ll meet new pals, solve friendship conundrums, and stop one evil tyrant—with lots of dance breaks and snack attacks along the way.” It’s available now in hardcover from Amulet books, written by Sabrina Moyle, with art by Eunice Moyle.

image c. 2023 Amulet Books

First They Look Like You…

For a while now Archaia Comics have been bringing us new series based on Jim Henson’s 1980’s TV series The Storyteller, staring John Hurt and Brian Henson. The latest addition is The Storyteller: Shapeshifters mini-series. And now, Archaia have collected all four issues together in a single hardcover omnibus. Sure enough, the stories feature everything from kids turned into swans to tricky fox-people. “Locus Award-winning writer Darcie Little Badger (A Snake Falls to Earth, Marvel’s Voices: Indigenous Voices #1), and esteemed writers Andre R. Frattino (Simon Says: Nazi Hunter) and Deron Bennett, along with up-and-coming artists Nori Retherford, Alexandra Fastovets, Dani Pendergast, and celebrated cartoonist Emilia Cilento (INGOVY) bring together a timeless collection of tales about shapeshifters from around the world.” Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Shapeshifters is available from Simon & Schuster.

image c. 2023 Archaia

The Mouse That Whirrrrred

Multiple Ursa Major Award winner Rick Griffin recently self-published the novel Ani-Droids, a radical re-imagining of his popular science fiction novel Argo from 2011. “In violation of the will of the Collective, Mira McAllister set out to create a new breed of ani-droids that can think for themselves. But when she discovers a mouse-droid with unusual quirks to her programming — and darker secrets besides — she may have set in motion an accidental rebellion… The Collective must not find out. But the Collective is every other ani-droid on Earth.” Ani-Droids is available now in e-book, paperback, and Kindle editions.

image c. 2023 by Rick Griffin

VR to the Next Level

We just learned about Shangri-La Frontier, a black & white manga written by Katarina and illustrated by Ryosuke Fuji. “Second-year high school student Rakuro Hizutome loves nothing more than finding so-called ‘trash games’ and beating the crap out of them. When he decides to change things up by playing a new, ‘god-tier’ VR game known as Shangri-La Frontier (a.k.a. SLF), he does what he does best: Min-maxes, skips the prologue, and jumps straight into action! Clad in nothing but shorts and a bird mask, Rakuro (player name: Sunraku) launches into the world of SLF. Things are going well at first as he takes down a goblin, a bunny, and even a python. But then Sunraku comes up against a huge, hard-hitting wolf known as Lycagon the Nightslayer. Will Sunraku’s years of ‘trash game’ experience be enough, or is he about to suffer a rude awakening just a few hours into his SLF adventure?” The series is available now from Kodansha International. What’s more, there’s already an anime adaptation series available on Crunchyroll — and YouTube has a preview.

image c. 2023 Kodansha International

Outer Space from the Ground, Up

Underground Oracle Publishing got in touch with us about Wyld Space, a new tabletop RPG they are producing. According to them, “Wyld Space is a high-adventure sci-fi setting where you take on the role of wylds fighting back against a corrupt government and the megacorps controlling them in the distant reaches of space.” We’ll let Jess Pendley of UOP explain where they’re at now: “The way our publishing model works, is we release a developing early-access pdf that we update each month with additional materials for our supporters over a six-month cycle, then we crowdfund production of the shelf-ready version of the book to sell on storefronts. During the production cycle, we provide our patrons with exclusive playtest and feedback surveys, so they have a real impact on the setting before it hits the shelves. Each of our early access pdfs contains all of the rules that you need to play (using the Cypher System), so they don’t require owning any additional books.” Got that? Currently they have not one but two special Patreon drives for Wyld Space in progress.

image c. 2023 Underground Oracle Publishing

The Cat of Cali

Remember when we told you about P-22, the famous “Hollywood Puma”, whom we lost in 2022? Well author Henry Hoke has a very special take on a similar urban cat in his novel called Open Throat. “A queer and dangerously hungry mountain lion lives in the drought-devastated land under the Hollywood sign. Lonely and fascinated by humanity’s foibles, the lion spends their days protecting a nearby homeless encampment, observing hikers complain about their trauma, and, in quiet moments, grappling with the complexities of their gender identity, memories of a vicious father, and the indignities of sentience. When a man-made fire engulfs the encampment, the lion is forced from the hills down into the city the hikers call ‘ellay’. As the lion confronts a carousel of temptations and threats, they take us on a tour that spans the cruel inequalities of Los Angeles and the toll of climate grief.” Find out more in this new hardcover best-seller.

image c. 2023 MacMillan Publishing

Bok to the Future

Sometimes manga can go in marvelously strange directions. Like things go in Rooster Fighter by Shu Sakuratami. “The neighborhood cock of the walk is more than just an ordinary rooster — he’s humanity’s greatest defender! His opponents may be ten stories tall, but nothing is bigger than his stout heart and his fearsome battle cry — cock-a-doodle-doo!” You don’t say? Well that’s what Viz Media tell us anyhow! Several black & white issues are out now.

image c. 2023 Viz Media