Recently we discovered Crossroads, an urban fantasy comic series brought to you by Crossroads Comix — a collection of creative folks from San Jose State University in California. To hear them tell it, “This multimedia series takes place in the sleepy Pacific Northwest beach town of Crossroads. A washed-up college graduate named Como is at an impasse in his life, but his life is turned upside down as a series of unusual events start to follow him and his friends everywhere they go. Como and his friend Nina set out to find out what is really going on in Crossroads.” Multimedia means there’s an on-line comic, as well as upcoming animation and music videos. There’s even a trade paperback called The Art of Crossroads available. Visit their Tumblr site to find out more.
Fantasy
He’s Big, He’s White, He’s Lost
Just today we got the first full trailer for Abominable, the new animated feature from Dreamworks and Pearl, their production partners in China. Animation Scoop has the video. “When teenage Yi (Chloe Bennet, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) encounters a young Yeti on the roof of her apartment building in Shanghai, she and her mischievous friends, Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor) and Peng (Albert Tsai), name him ‘Everest’ and embark on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family at the highest point on Earth. But the trio of friends will have to stay one-step ahead of Burnish (Eddie Izzard), a wealthy man intent on capturing a Yeti, and zoologist Dr. Zara (Sarah Paulson) to help Everest get home… Abominable is written and directed by Jill Culton (Open Season, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story 2) and co-directed by Todd Wilderman (Trolls, The Croods).” Look for it in theaters September 27th.
Delivered On Time — Or Else!
Just got back from Biggest Little Fur Con, and of course we’ve got lots to talk about. But first… Udon Entertainment have released the Samurai Pizza Cats Official Fan Book in North America. What’s that you ask? Well according to Wikipedia, “Kyatto Ninden Teyandee is an anime series produced by Tatsunoko Productions and Sotsu Agency. The series originally aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from February 1, 1990 to February 12, 1991… Saban picked up the North American rights to the series in 1991, and produced an English version called Samurai Pizza Cats.” Honestly, that explanation barely cat-scratches the surface of just how weird and wonderful this series was. Fan interest has not waned over the years, and now there’s a book all about it! “The Samurai Pizza Cats: Official Fan Book is packed with the best toppings: Pinup artwork, character designs and profiles, episode summaries, rough concepts, and exclusive in-depth interviews with the show’s creators and original cast.” Check out the preview over at Comicon.com.
Murder Most Fluffy
Dunno how we missed this one, but… here’s more dark, distressing oddness from Source Point Press. “Torsobear: Yarns From Toyburg is a collection of 12 grisly crime yarns, written in the style of old film noir and set in a world of toys. In the fluffy-noir world of Toyburg, some toys just don’t play nice… Dismembered teddy bears are being found in the back alleys of this sweet city. It’s up to our hero, rookie detective Ruxby Bear, and his partner, Officer Hazbrow to solve the string of murders, no matter how high and far the clues take them.” No description of who wrote or drew it, but they’re up to Volume 3 of this trade paperback series.
Flavorz of the Week
At WonderCon we came across an artist known as Jo2, who creates art under the name Artistic Flavorz. As you can see from their web site, they specialize in especially cute, chibi versions of characters from many places — but with a particular affinity for Disney and Harry Potter. Visit them to see what they offer in greeting cards, stickers, and especially enamel pins.
What Big Eyes You’ve Got…
Also at WonderCon we met an artist who works under the name Sprinklebat. Here’s another creator who (as you see on their web site) offers their works on a variety of pins, stickers, prints, and other products you can wear or display. In this case, those works tend to feature cute chibi characters with Really Big Eyes. Go ahead, look. You will be drawn in. Trust us.
All The Cutes
And another artist from WonderCon. Crowlines is a crafter from San Diego who specializes in terribly (that means wonderfully) chibi funny animals on pins, keychains, and other useful goodies. So head on over to their Etsy store and check out their latest wares. You’ll see what we mean.
Fantastic Animals
More from this year’s WonderCon. Devin Elle Kurtz is a visual development artist, illustrator, and background painter from California. She has made a name for herself as a freelance illustrator who regularly takes her pictures of children and animals into the realm of Fine Art. That includes her fan art of, among other things, Pokemon — like none you have ever seen before. Visit her web site and see what we mean. Look for her at conventions along the West Coast too.
This Game Is For The Birds!
Sorry, sorry… Humblewood is a new campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons 5E role-playing system, created by Hit Point Press. It made headlines because they recently completed a very successful Kickstarter campaign — to the tune of more than a million dollars. And why do we care about it here? Probably because it includes several new anthropomorphic bird bird and mammal species that can be used as player characters. The Kickstarter page is still up, so check out the preview and see what we mean!