Jurassic Strike Force is a brand new full-color comic book series from Zenescope Entertainment. Written by Joe Brusha and illustrated by Julian Aguilera, it’s the first original title in Zenescope’s new Silver Dragon Books imprint of all-ages comic book titles. Here’s the publisher’s description: “For over 165 million years dinosaurs ruled the earth, until the alien overlord Zalex discovered the planet 100 million years ago. In search of an army to conquer the universe Zalex finds the perfect candidates to mutate into his ultimate soldiers in earth’s Jurassic reptiles. With his new army nothing can stop Zalex from ruling the galaxy and the universe beyond it… nothing but a team of mutated dinosaur heroes”. A special preview issue #0 is scheduled for release later this month, with issues #1 and #2 set to follow in December.
Dinosaur
Cats vs. Lizards
Exiled: Clan of the Claw is a new series of connected science fiction novellas, edited by Bill Fawcett and coming this August from Baen Books. The writers collected in Book One include S.M. Stirling, Harry Turtledove, John Ringo, and Jody Lynn Nye. An alternative history of ancient Earth, the series tells of a race of evolved cats fighting against the descendants of dinosaurs. Hmm, is it just us or does that echo the new Thundercats animated series on Cartoon Network? Well, here’s the description from Amazon: “After the extinction asteroid doesn’t strike Earth, the dinosaurs keep evolving – but so do the mammals. We mammals have achieved human-like shapes, but now it’s cold-blooded, magic-using reptiles against the hot-blooded, hot-tempered descendants of cats. In a heroic, bronze-age world similar to 300, the Mrem Clan of the Claw and its sister warbands are expanding their rough-and-tumble territory, but now they face the Lishkash, masters of a cold-blooded empire of slave armies and magic. It’s mammalian courage and adaptation against reptile cunning in a clash of steel and will that will determine which line shall inherit the Earth.” Read it next month and decide for yourself.
Sauron — The Dinosaur
Here’s another one for fans of super-villains, or dinosaurs: The Classic Marvel Figurine Collection now presents Sauron, swooping down this July. “Infected with a genetic virus, that forced him to drain the life essence of others to survive, Dr. Kyle Lykos was changed forever when he drained the mutant energies of the X-Man Havok. Mutating into a pterodactyl-like monster, Karl chose to use his powers for evil, naming himself after the arch-nemesis from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings novels – Sauron! This special 20-page magazine comes with a hand-sculptured figurine with exclusive slipcase and double-sided poster.” Check out the figurine below, and visit Mile High Comics to find out more about ordering.
Kids Do Comics
Now this is something different: A comic book written by a 6-year-old boy, professionally published. That boy would be young Malachai Nicolle, and the comic would be Axe Cop, currently available from Dark Horse Press — illustrated, no less, by Malachai’s 30-year-0ld brother Ethan Nicolle. Axe Cop has been a hit on line since its premier in January of 2010, and now Dark Horse is releasing it as a three-issue full-color miniseries. Fur fans should note: Several interesting anthro characters make their way in and out of the story, including Axe Cop’s reptilian partner, Dinosaur Soldier.
The Ballad of Nessie
And yet more interesting news on Cartoon Brew: The Ballad of Nessie is a brand new, 2-D animated short from Walt Disney Pictures. It’s scheduled to be released in front of the upcoming Winnie the Pooh movie this summer, which you may recall is also in 2-D. The film is directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters, who both worked on How to Hook Up Your Home Theater and Prep and Landing. Several well-known animators worked on Nessie, including Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Dale Baer, and Rubin Aquino. No video sneaks yet, but Cartoon Brew has pictures from the film, including the one you see below.
Here Comes Super Dinosaur!
This April the creative team behind The Astounding Wolf Man, writer Robert Kirkman and artist Jason Howard, return with a brand-new full-color comic book series for Image Comics called Super Dinosaur. Mr. Kirkman refers to the series as “a Pixar movie on paper”, which is sort of a clue that the violence quotient will likely be much lower than in their previous comic series. The story goes like this: The evil Max Maximus wants to rule Inner Earth, home of the last remaining dinosaurs (who have become largely anthropomorphic). Standing in his way is a 10-year-old human boy and his best friend, a 9-foot tall T-Rex in a suit of battle armor. Meet Derek Dynamo and Super Dinosaur!
Godzilla is Back — And He Brought Friends!
This March, IDW Publishing will bring us a brand new comic book series celebrating the King of the Monsters himself, Godzilla — or Gojira, to his original fans in Japan! Godzilla: Monster World is a new full-color series following the exploits (and explosions) of Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and a host of other giant city-stomping monsters made famous by Toho Movie Studios since 1955. The Goon creator Eric Marsh is writing and illustrating the first story arc, assisted by Tracy Marsh and Phil Hester. Fifty percent of the issues released will feature a special variant cover by the celebrated artist Alex Ross. IDW has a preview and press release on their web site.
The Age of Reptiles Omnibus
It may seem only sideways anthropomorphic, but Ricardo Delgado’s Age of Reptiles comic book series earns a place here by virtue of its viewpoint: Life seen through the eyes of dinosaurs, and many species of dinosaurs at that. Besides, Ricardo Delgado himself was a guest speaker at several early furry fandom conventions! Now Dark Horse Comics is releasing the Age of Reptiles Omnibus, collecting the long out-of-print Age of Reptiles original series, the Age of Reptiles: The Hunt follow-up, and the never-before-collected third series, Age of Reptiles: The Journey. It’s a full-color trade paperback, and it’s coming to stores this February.
Imaginative Realism
James Gurney, creator and artist of the world-famous Dinotopia series of books, has written and illustrated a new art how-to book called Imaginative Realism. It’s coming this October in paperback from Andrews McMeel Publishing. Subtitled “How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist”, it features step-by-step lessons in the practical aspects of creating believable full-color pictures of fantasy creatures and settings — like talking dinosaurs, alien creatures, and distant worlds.