“Brought to you by the New York Times bestselling author of the My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish series!” Now there’s a fact you’re not going to hear very often, are you? It’s Agent Moose, a new full color graphic novel for young readers written by Mo O’Hara and illustrated by Jess Bradley. “Agent Moose, the best (worst) secret agent in the Big Forest, and his slightly-more-intelligent sidekick Owlfred are on the case in this new full color graphic novel chapter book series… Something fishy is going on at the South Shore. Folks just disappear and are never seen again. But when Agent Moose learns that a key witness has gone missing, he and Owlfred ride to the rescue. Will they find the missing turtle before time runs out?” Find out more over at MacMillan Publishers.
Bird
Birds and Bubbles Go Boom
They’re still a thing, and they just keep getting stranger. This we got from Animation World Network: “Rovio Entertainment has released the first season of Angry Birds Bubble Trouble, a bite-sized 3D-animated series where the young Angry Birds flock – Red, Bomb, Chuck, Stella and Silver – let their imaginations ‘go wild’ in their bubble garden. They play games and solve problems together, while getting into all kinds of trouble.” The first season of 1-minute animated shorts is up now on Amazon FreeTime Unlimited. The AWN article includes an introductory video, which shows just how odd this series can be!
Danger! Duck!
One of Sonic the Hedgehog’s non-human adversaries gets his moment to shine in Sonic The Hedgehog: Bad Guys, a new full-color comic miniseries written by Ian Flynn and illustrated by Jack Lawrence. “The Shadowy Scientist is back to his evil antics… And what better place to concoct nefarious plans than one of Dr. Eggman’s abandoned bases? But that is easier said than done when badniks are guarding the entrance! Dr. Starline knows he can’t do it alone, so he decides to recruit some familiar and not-so-friendly faces.” Coming soon from IDW.
Real Pigeons Fight Crime
There is no way we could come up with a better lead-in than simply giving you the title of this new series! This is from Animation Scoop: “Nickelodeon has struck a multi-platform deal with James Corden and Ben Winston, and their production company Fulwell 73, to produce an animated movie and TV series based on the recently released children’s book title, Real Pigeons Fight Crime. The movie and TV series are being developed to air on all Nickelodeon platforms… Added Ramsey Naito, Executive VP, Nickelodeon Animation Production and Dev., ‘Real Pigeons Fight Crime is about a secret squad of crime-fighting pigeons, with high stakes and true hilarity making it a perfect fit for our audience. By fusing the humor and expertise of this the incredible team at Fulwell 73 Productions, we are ready to show kids what pigeons really do–fight crime, solve mysteries, take down bad guys, and keep neighborhoods safe!'” In case you were wondering. Oh! Check out the original book over at Penguin Random House.
Careful — They’re Organized
Animation World Network let us know that a sequel to the hit animated film Chicken Run is finally in the works. (Did you know that Chicken Run was the highest-grossing stop-motion animated movie ever?) “The unnamed sequel is set to enter full production in 2021 with Sam Fell (Flushed Away, ParaNorman) at the helm. Aardman co-founder and creative director Peter Lord, long-time Aardman producer Carla Shelley (Shaun the Sheep Movie, The Pirates! Band of Misfits) and Karey Kirkpatrick (Smallfoot) are returning as executive producers; Steve Pegram (Arthur Christmas) is producing. The script is being written by Kirkpatrick, John O’ Farrell and Rachel Tunnard. Nick Park, the Oscar-winning creator of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, will consult on the film… The sequel will revisit the world of Ginger, who has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl named Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk – this time, they’re breaking in!” Stay tooned for more information on a release date as we get it.
Beware of Fowl Language
Well this slipped by us back in March — and here it is, from Archie Comics no less! “If you like comic books designed to make you laugh that also feature bright and colorful super hero action, giant robots piloted by evil billionaires, and looking at ducks dressed like people, you’ll love Super Duck #1! Super Duck is the greatest hero of New Duck City. Brash, arrogant and virtually unbeatable, he’s defeated all threats to the city and routinely foils the schemes of his greatest rival, criminal genius and corporate billionaire Dapper Duck. However, when Dapper takes to the streets with a giant mechanical monster, will Super Duck prove once more to be the heroic champion everyone knows and loves or is his goose finally cooked?” Super Duck is written by Frank Tieri and Ian Flynn, with art by Ryan Jampole and Matt Herms. As you can see, the publishers go out of their way to point out this comic is for mature readers!
Coffee and Canine
At a recent convention (remember those??) we came across End/City, a new full color comic series set in a post-apocalyptic world. “Starbuck, a young maned wolf delights in the finding, understanding, and use of leftover human artifacts. His latest find: An entire coffee shop. With the help from his Read Bird partner Wifi, Ketkii the coatimundi, and Cha the rat, he’s going to open up shop to the animals of the town. Let’s end this city.” Written and Illustrated by Keryn Everett; you can check it out over at IndyPlanet.
No, the OTHER Amazon…!
Once again, a cool new cartoon on Netflix — that’s only shown in countries other than the USA. From Animation Magazine: “New Brazillian animated series Tainá and the Amazon’s Guardians, produced by Hype Animation, Sincrocine, and the Viacom group, is making its streaming debut on Netflix across all of Latin America. Aimed at preschool audiences, the show follows the adventures of a young Indigenous girl named Tainá and her animal friends: The monkey Catu, the king vulture Pepe, and the little hedgehog Suri. With little heroes who are always ready to take care of the forest and their friends, Tainá and the Amazon’s Guardians brings messages of respect, friendship and care for nature to the streaming platform.” The article includes a video of the opening.
This Book Was Going To Be Perfect…
What have we been missing? Apparently an on-line phenomenon called Fanlee and Spatzle. Well now Silver Sprocket bring us the Fanlee and Spatzle: Make Something Perfect full-color graphic novel. “Fanlee and Spätzle is a funny, emotional slice-of-life comic about a bear and a duck who are best friends, despite having very different approaches to life, relationships, and gender identity. Something Perfect collects the Twitter hit @pseudonymjones from 2014 to 2019, through adventures in creation, bad things, and being gay.” You heard it here. Now see it in softcover over there.