We came across a brand-new comic from Boom! Studios called Animal Pound. It goes like this: “When animals grow tired of being caged, killed, and sold off-it’s only a matter of time before they’ve had enough… When an uprising puts a pound in control of the animals, they quickly find themselves as comrades, united against everything that walks on two legs. But with this newfound power comes a sudden challenge: how best to lay the groundwork for this new democracy as they write their first constitution!” Written by Tom King (Love Everlasting) and illustrated by award-winning artist Peter Gross (The Books of Magic), Animal Pound comes to comic shops later this week.
Boom! Studios
The Senses of a Dog
Here’s an interesting new hardcover graphic novel from Boom! Studios. Simply called Bear, it’s actually based on scientific research into the brains of animals. “Bear is a service dog who would do anything for his owner and best friend Patrick who is blind. But when Bear suddenly loses his vision, he worries he’s lost his purpose in life—protecting Patrick! Following the misguided advice from some self-serving raccoons, Bear embarks on a transformative journey to regain his eyesight. Out of both necessity and survival, he learns to tap into his other senses and begins to see the world from a new perspective that is at times more rich and colorful than the world he’s always known.” Written by Ben Queen (Disney/Pixar’s Cars 2 and Cars 3) and illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton (A Mouse Called Julian), Bear is available now from Simon & Schuster.
Oh, You Know, Girls and Horses…
Boom! Studios (through their Kaboom! imprint) recently released a new full-color graphic novel called Wonder Pony, written and illustrated by Marie Spénale. “For Louison, going back to school for sixth grade looks set to be eventful to say the least . . . not only is it time to face the terrifying world of boarding school and making friends, but it turns out she has superpowers! Thanks to her friend Jean-Pierre – who happens to be a pink pony – Louison gains the ability to transform herself into a superheroine: Wonder Pony. Her mission? To watch over the school, and protect her classmates and friends from any dangers that might arise . . .” Boom! have an extensive preview at their web site. (Interesting how the ad says “Discover the Magical Power of Friendship…” Hee hee hee.)
Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone…?
Bags (or a story thereof) is a new full color graphic novel from Boom! Studios. We’ll let them tell you about it: “This is the tale of John Motts. He is a man who had a dog, but now that dog is gone. John searches his house, his street, and his town, but the dog is nowhere to be found. John soon realizes that he must travel further, past the road and into the trees if he’s ever to find out the truth of what happened to his dog. BAGS (or a story thereof) is a journey of love and suspense as John Motts searches through the world he knows, and a world he doesn’t, weaved together beautifully by Pat McHale, creator of the Emmy Award-winning Cartoon Network series, Over The Garden Wall, and Gavin Fullerton (Disney’s Space Chickens in Space).” Look for it now — and check out the free preview over at Boom! as well.
G’Death, Mate!
Something rather different — and even though it came out earlier this year, it’s timely for the season too! Rocko’s Modern Afterlife is a new 4-issue comic miniseries from Boom! Studios. “Something is turning the good people of O-Town into mindless zombies and Rocko wants nothing to do with it. He barricades himself and Spunky in their home and is determined to outlast the hoards outside. But desperate times calls for desperate measures when Rocko’s best friend Heffer becomes infected, Rocko will have to risk it all to save his friends and his city.” It’s written by Anthony Burch (Borderlands 2) and illustrated by Mattia Di Meo (Ben 10: For Science!), and it’s on the shelves now. Beware!
New Adventures Brought Together
Boom! Studios recently collected two different comic book series of furry note (both of which we’ve talked about before!) into trade paperbacks. Ruinworld: Eye For An Eye brings together issues 1 through 5 of this funny animal fantasy series by Derek Laufman. “Join Pogo and Rex as they set out on a quest to hunt for valuable artifacts and magical weapons across the land. Along with plenty of not-always faithful companions, our heroes must battle dangerous tribes of Toadies, survive giant stone Golems, and stop a catastrophic world-ending disaster, all while evading a cunning gang of thieves as they race towards the biggest treasure of all time.” And then there’s Midas, a truly strange 8-issue science fiction series by Ryan North, Braden Lamb, and Shelli Paroline. “Space captain Joey, navigator Fatima, and scientist (and dinosaur) Cooper are headed to Earth—a planet completely sectioned off, abandoned, and covered in gold—and are confronted by the most powerful weapon in the universe: Some ancient dead guy’s body?! Now they gotta keep King Midas’s body from being dropped on planets across the universe, and figure out exactly what to do with a gross dead dude with one truly ridiculous superpower.” Yes, and a talking dinosaur too. Both collections are available now.
Carrying On with Finn and Jake
Now it’s KaBOOM! Studios’ turn to get back on the animation bandwagon with their new series Adventure Time Season 11. Here’s what they say: “Cartoon Network’s award-winning animated series Adventure Time will conclude this fall with Season 10-but this October, KaBOOM! proudly continues telling the stories of Finn and Jake in a new Season 11 comic series! In the aftermath of The Great Gum War, Finn, Jake, and the entire land of Ooo begin to pick up the pieces with some new and unexpected friends. Written by Eisner Award-winning writer Sonny Liew (The Art of Charlie Hock Chye) and illustrated by Marina Julia (Lumberjanes: Faire and Square), this is the only place fans can get new stories in the land of Ooo!” There are several issues out already now.
Submitted for Your Approval: A Planet of Apes
Bit of trivia you might not be aware of: In the late 1960’s Rod Serling (creator of The Twilight Zone) was the first person picked to adapt a screenplay from Pierre Boulle’s science fiction novel Planet of the Apes. Which he did — unfortunately his version (closer to Boulle’s book, featuring apes in a modern high-tech world) was considered un-filmable at the time, and a new adaptation by Michael Wilson was used instead for the famous 1968 film starring Charlton Heston. Well now, Boom! Studios have created Planet of the Apes: Visionaries, a new full-color graphic novel of Serling’s original script. Put into comic book form by Dana Gould and illustrated by Chad Lewis, it arrives in stores this August. Previews has an interview with the Boom! Studios folk all about it.
One Nervous Wallaby
Whoops! A little present from the holidays we missed: Boom! Studios and Nickelodeon have announced the first Rocko’s Modern Life full-color comic book series. It’s “…a new ongoing comic book series based on the popular animated show about everyone’s favorite wallaby! Writer Ryan Ferrier (Regular Show, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) and artist Ian McGinty (Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors) team to launch the first comic book in the series… Each issue will also feature bonus short stories by different illustrators, including Tony Millionaire (Sock Monkey), KC Green (Invader Zim), and David DeGrand (SpongeBob Comics). Rocko, Spunky, Heffer, Filburt, the Bigheads, and the entire cast of O-Town are back, but all is not well. The town is facing a job shortage and Rocko is hit hard. With unemployment and potential homelessness on the horizon, Rocko’s problems are just beginning. But with help from his best friends Heffer and Filbert and his faithful dog Spunky, Rocko is (mostly) ready to take on the world (maybe).” The first issue is already on the shelves.