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Comedy

Comic Funny Animals

If you regularly read Previews magalog to find out the latest about upcoming comic books (and graphic novels and so forth) you might be familiar with Comic Shop Tales, a funny animal comic strip (written by Andy Mueller and illustrated by Scoot McMahon) about the strange and funny goings-on at a comic book shop both run and frequented by furries. Well now Previews has finally decided to release a collection of Comic Shop Tales in a new paperback collection. Check it out: “It’s all work and lots of fun at the fictional Berke’s Comic Shop, where owner Berke the Badger tries to keep his crazy band of comic shop goers and employees like Phil the Hippo and Kit the Cat in order! This 64-page book collects the madcap comic strip adventures as printed each month in the Previews catalog and single gag strips from previewsworld.com.” Comic Shop Tales: Book 1 – Grand Opening is coming to shops itself this November.

 

image c. 2017 Previews

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Classic Adventures in Penguin Lust

As you may have heard, a couple years ago Berke Breathed once again fired up his seminal comic strip Bloom County. Well for those among us who remember the first go-round, IDW has brought together a special box set called Bloom County: Real, Classy, & Compleat, 1980-1989. Here’s the press release: “Presenting every Bloom County daily and Sunday strip in chronological order from the first to the last! Bloom County debuted in late 1980 and ran until August 1989. Featuring an exceedingly quirky cast of characters, including the sweetly naive Opus the penguin, the flea-bitten Bill the cat, womanizing attorney Steve Dallas, Milo Bloom, Cutter John, and many others, Bloom County soon became one of the most popular comic strips in history, appearing in over 1200 newspapers. Then, at the peak of its popularity, Berkeley Breathed did something unprecedented… he walked away. Now, more than 25 years later, the complete collection of the Pulitzer Prize-winning comic strip is collected into a deluxe, two-volume box set.” It’s available now at your local comic book store.

image c. 2017 IDW Publishing

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Update on a Goose

We mentioned before about an upcoming animated film called Duck Duck Goose, one of several films being financed the Chinese firm Original Force with the intention of releasing in North America. Well now, according to an article at Cartoon Brew, Duck Duck Goose has a release date — April 20th, 2018 — and a teaser trailer up on YouTube. “Chris Jenkins, a veteran Disney effects animator who more recently shifted to the producing side (Dreamworks’ Home, Sony’s Surf’s Up), makes his feature directorial debut on Duck Duck Goose. Jenkins co-wrote the film with Rob Muir… The film follows the adventures of a ‘high-flying bachelor goose’ named Peng (voiced by Jim Gaffigan) who finds himself in charge of two ducklings (voiced by Zendaya and Lance Lim) that he must take along on a long journey south. Other voices are provided by Greg Proops, Natasha Leggero, Reggie Watts, Diedrich Bader, Jennifer Grey, Rick Overton, Craig Ferguson, Stephen Fry, and Carl Reiner.” Distribution is being handled by Open Road Films, the same outfit that released The Nut Job and its recent sequel here in the States.

image c. 2017 Original Force

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Fruit of the Looney Tunes

Um, we’ll let the folks at Kechal Comics explain it: “Placed in men’s tightie whitie underwear on a whim by the scientist who captures him, Baxter the monkey does the only logical thing possible – he instantly develops consciousness and the ability to speak. Because… SCIENCE!!! Excited by his discovery, the scientist decides to see if other animals react as well as Baxter. Gaining intelligence, rational thought and an innate understanding of justice and fairnesss. Let’s just say further experiments do not go as well. Join Baxter as he navigates a world he’s just starting to understand, a world full of fearful humans, zany animals, and one seriously deranged bunny rabbit.” See? We told you they’d say it better! Underwars #1 was written by Kevin Joseph and illustrated in black & white by C.M. Brennan, based on a series of paintings he did.

image c. 2017 Kechal Comics

Bajo El Mar, Bajo El Mar…

From out of nowhere… actually, from out of Spain. The Think Lab is an animation production house in Madrid, and they recently completed their first CGI feature film, Deep, directed by Julio Soto Gurpide. “In 2100, when humanity has abandoned the earth, a colony of extravagant creatures still thrives in the deepest abyss of the ocean. Deep, an adventurous ‘dumbo’ octopus and the last one of his kind lives there with his two unconditional friends: Evo, a nerdy and clumsy angler fish, and Alice, a neurotic deep-sea shrimp. When an accident destroys their home, the guardian of the abyss, The Kraken, will send Deep and his friends on a perilous journey to find a new home. In their mission, they will be joined by Maura – a voracious moray eel – and together they will travel to amazing places like the submerged city of New York, the Titanic, or the Arctic, facing formidable enemies and hilarious situations.” No talk of a release here, but the IMDB page lists all English-speaking actors, and the trailer is in English too.

image c. 2017 The Think Lab

She Followed Them Home One Night

We got this one from Animation magazine too: “BES Animation (Monster Beach) has made a deal with Jetpack Distribution to distribute its new [2D] animated series, Kitty Is Not a Cat, internationally… Kitty Is Not a Cat centers on a co-op of stray cats living together in a dilapidated mansion, left to them by an eccentric baroness. The cats’ life of constant partying is abruptly interrupted when they answer a knock at the door to find ‘Kitty’ — a cute little girl in an orange catsuit who followed one of them home. Determined to behave like a feline and not help the cats find her proper human home, Kitty becomes a part of the ‘family’ with hilarious results.” There’s a preview clip up on YouTube. Par for the course: No word yet on any distribution in North America.

image c. 2017 BES Animation

That Spaceship Looks Like A Banana!

Here’s another one that somehow flew over the moon yet under our radar for some time. Rocket Monkeys was a 2D animated series from Canada (they get SO many interesting shows up there!) created by Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson. According to Wikipedia, “Brothers Gus and Wally are monkey astronauts. They’re not the brightest or coolest astronauts, but since they’re the only ones around, they are called upon to go into space and carry out different kinds of important missions—including battling rogue black holes and vengeful aliens. Other members of the brothers’ crew include bossy astrophysicist Dr. Chimpsky, who gives the monkeys their assignments; YAY-OK, a devoted robot that is slightly outdated and is the brothers’ only hope to help keep them on course; and Inky, a space octopus and artist who communicates through his ink drawings.” Looks as if the show ended it’s run in the US back in 2016. Fortunately, lots of episodes are still up and about on YouTube.

image c. 2017 Atomic Cartoons

It’s Time to Night the Nights

Back from Comic Con, with lots to talk about. So why not start off with something delightfully odd? This fall, the Muppets return in a new illustrated book, Muppets Meet The Classics: The Phantom Of The Opera. Seriously. “This classic tale of love, intrigue, and jealousy at the Paris Opera House, which has thrilled readers, musical lovers, and movie goers for more than a century, has now been reimagined with the cast of the Muppets. Readers will gasp, cry, laugh, and laugh again as Kermit (as Raoul), Miss Piggy (as Christine), Uncle Deadly (as the phantom), and the chickens (as the ballet corps) give a whole new meaning to the word classic.” You read it here. Gaston LeRoux’s famous work has been adapted for the Muppets by Erik Forrest Jackson, and it’s illustrated by Owen Richardson. Look for it in paperback this October.

image c. 2017 Penguin Workshop

Space Adventure on Tuesday

Coming in August, Top Shelf Comix bring us this: “Spacebat, the galaxy’s greatest misfit, is pressed into service by three children to battle a mad scientist, his army of ill-mannered robots, and (worst of all) a universe-bending machine. Romp across reality in a wide-ranging escapade for all ages from acclaimed cartoonist Chris Sheridan (Motorcycle Samurai, Plants Vs. Zombies), featuring bold lines, quirky characters, outer-space adventures… and tacos.” Spacebat and the Fugitives Book One: Tacos at the End of the World (whew!) is a full-color graphic novel, available soon in softcover.

image c. 2017 Top Shelf Comix