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Comic Books

Raccoon-Dogs Attack!

Never sure what to make of anthropomorphic works where the furry folk are specifically presented as the villains… but anyway, here’s this: A classic manga fantasy, re-printed and translated into English (for the first time) by Drawn & Quarterly. “Kitaro and the Great Tanuki War features adventures of Shigeru Mizuki’s beloved yokai boy. In the epic title story, Kitaro battles the tanuki, a Japanese animal that features prominently in the country’s yokai legends. The furry beasts draw on the power of the blood moon to awaken the monstrous catfish that lives in the depths of the Earth. The twisting of the catfish causes earthquakes that threaten to destroy all of Japan. With his yokai allies captured, Kitaro is the only one left who can take on the great tanuki and his army. Will he be up for the challenge?” It’s available now at the D & Q web site.

image c. 2017 Drawn & Quarterly

 

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Sexy Furs of Many Shapes and Sizes

Some of the folks involved with Lemonbrat.com have started a new venture — for a decidedly adult audience. Growl After Dark is described as “Sex-positive smut for people who want something different. Our aim is to celebrate different body types, sexualities, and relationship styles in our sultry tales, focusing on character and story as much as our art.” To that end writer/illustrator Jezebel Tart and writer Riley Black have created a series of digest-sized graphic paperbacks containing both illustrated stories and comics. Furriest among them by far is The Woods, but all of their works have something of interest to furry fans — or collectors of erotica. Needless to say, their web site is for Adults Only!

image c. 2017 Growl After Dark

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Gimmee My Apple!

A new full-color one-shot comic from Antartic Press: “A chill dude washes up on a totally radical island: Majestic waterfalls, rainbow apples, and crazily great swimming holes. But when a hilarious monkey steals this mellow (but starving) dudes’s rainbow apple, a chase through a jungle results in an radder discovery. Welcome to Rad Island!” What more do you need to know? Well, maybe that it’s written and illustrated by Javier Fox. And it’s available now.

image c. 2017 Antarctic Press

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He’ll Just Have To Bear With It

Recently, Andrews McMeel Publishing brought us the new adventures of a young bear having a really bad time. Here’s what they say about Tucker Grizzwell’s Worst Week Ever: “The Berenstain Bears meets The Simpsons in this rollicking yarn about one really, really terrible week. Tucker Grizzwell is having the worst week ever. He is due to attend the annual Jaws & Claws weekend with his dad, where young grizzlies learn how to be terrifying predators. Problem is, Tucker doesn’t even like to eat meat, let alone have to kill it first! Plus, didn’t some kid get eaten last year during the dumpster-diving lesson?” Things only get more complicated in this full-color graphic novel for all ages, written by Bill Schorr and illustrated by Ralph Smith.

image c. 2017 Andrews McMeel

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The Monster at the Back of This Barn

A new reprint of something we seem to have missed the first time around: A coloring book adventure comic called The Unlikley Trio — Last Barn On The Left. Here’s what we found in Previews: “Lil’Bit the mouse, Mrs. Butters the cat, and Abby the Collie dog join together to confront a scary monster that lives in the barn of their small town. Can the three friends overcome their fears and get through this adventure? Kids can be the colorist in this black and white adventure that features fun activities in the back of the book. Alterna will be donating all proceeds to the ASPCA foundation to help protect animals in need!” It’s written and illustrated by Scott West, with writing help from Callie West. On-line there’s all kinds of contradictory information about when this was published, but hopefully Alterna Comics should have it back in stores soon.

image c. 2017 Alterna Comics

 

Just A Woman And Her Kitty-Khat

Rose is a new full-color fantasy comic series from Image. Here’s what they say about it: “A classic fantasy tale about a girl trying to restore balance to a broken world. Rose must connect with her Khat — Thorne — to become the Guardian the world needs. But things aren’t easy for Rose and Thorne: The powerful sorcerous Drucilla has many powerful and demonic allies — all of them focused on stopping one scared little girl who’s desperately trying to stay alive and do what’s right. Written by Meredith Finch (Wonder Woman, Little Mermaid), and drawn by fan-favorite artist Ig Guara (Batman: Arkham Knight, Blue Beetle).” If you’re curious, Comic Book Roundup has a whole series of reviews for Rose.

image c. 2017 Image Comics

The Secret History of Equestria

IDW has brought forth yet another new title in the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic family, following the success of Guardians of Harmony. Now there’s My Little Pony: Legends of Magic, which premiered last month. “The origins of cutie marks, friendships, magic and more are available in this new ongoing series devoted to revealing the secret history of Equestria! In this opening story arc, we travel back in time to uncover the secrets of Starswirl the Bearded and his magical friends!” It’s always good to see him turn up. Written by Jeremy Whitley with art by well-known pony artist Brenda Hickey.

image c. 2017 IDW Publishing

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Watch, Out!

In the about-time department, perhaps, IDW have published a new Yo-Kai Watch full-color comic book series this spring. According to them: “The hit anime, manga and toy sensation from Japan comes to North American comics! Join Nate and his Yo-Kai, Whisper, as they battle against ill-intentioned Yo-Kai causing terrible trouble in their hometown!” Previously, Viz Media licensed the original Yo-Kai Watch manga by Noriyuki Konishi for release in North America. This new comic, however, is completely home grown: Eric M. Esquivel (Bravest Warriors) is the writer, with art by Tina Franscisco (Strawberry Shortcake) and Dono Sanchez Almara (Turbo Defiant). It’s available now. And, of course, the Yo-Kai Watch anime series is running on Disney XD, if you didn’t know. (Our thanks to Anime News Network for help with this article).

image c. 2017 IDW Publishing

 

Listen to the Masked One!

More tie-in stuff coming our way as we get closer to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol.2. Now Marvel Press give us a new hardcover illustrated book called Rocket’s Rules. “Ever wonder how to navigate a quantum asteroid field? Escape a deep-space maximum-security prison? Insult a powerful adversary without anyone catching on? You’re in luck! In this ultimate intergalactic survival guide, Rocket covers everything you need to know – including what it takes to be a good member of a team. So pay attention and read up!” It hits the shelves (like a missile!) right before the movie comes out, but you can pre-order it now over at Simon & Schuster. [Tip #1: Don’t call him a raccoon!]

image c. 2017 Marvel Press