Here’s the official description of the long-awaited graphic novel World of Warcraft: Dark Riders: “A stalwart mage searches for a powerful artifact, stolen by Dark Riders, only to find his son accused of murder. A righteous priest, driven by a mysterious fervor, investigates a savage Wolf Cult. As the paths of these two men join, a fantastic adventure emerges! Supported by a cast of brave heroes, the two find out just how dangerous the wolf cult and dark riders are.” Hmmm, so just how furry is this thing? Well, check out the front cover below! And will the Tauren be involved too? We’ll have to wait until April of 2013 to find out for sure, but you can order this full-color hardcover book at Amazon right now. It’s written by Mike Costa, illustrated (inside) by Neil Googe, and published by DC Comics.
Monsters
They Dress Up Too
Next February Marvel Comics (with the help of Disney and Pixar, of course) presents a new Monsters Inc. one-shot full-color comic. In Monster’s Inc.: The Humanween Party, “It’s that time of year again: Humanween! Monstropolis’ version of Halloween – where monsters dress up as humans – comes but once a year, and this time the annual party is at Mike and Sulley’s home. Mike goes into panic mode when he learns of an unplanned visit from his mother the day after the big bash!” It’s written by Alessandro Ferrari and illustrated by Elisabetta Melaranci, Federica Salfo, Michela Frare, and Paco Desiato (whew!). Look for more Monsters Inc. tie-in items in 2013 as the new animated sequel, Monsters University, gets closer. In the meantime, check out Humanween at Things from Another World.
Monsters in Comics
Just in time for more Monsters, Inc, Marvel Comics brings us… Monsters, Inc! The full-color comic book adaptation, that is. The new 2-issue mini-series was adapted by Charles Bazaldua and illustrated by a team of artists from Italy. All of this in anticipation of the 3D re-release of Monsters, Inc — which is, of course, in anticipation of the new Pixar prequel film, Monsters University, which is due next year. (If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the Monsters University “Campus Brochure” that Disney/Pixar have created.) The comic book version of the original Mike and Sully movie, meanwhile, is due in stores this December.
Bride of Porkula
Look, it’s probably better if we just let the creators describe this one: “Virginia Hamm along with friends Herford Bovis and Bill E. Goat travel to Porksilvania to claim the estate of her late uncle, Otto McMonster. Little does our trio know that they must survive the likes of Count Porkula, Beefenstein, Mr. Gruff and a host of other ghosts and ghouls to bring home the bacon!” Got it? Old McMonster’s Haunted Farm was created by Brent E. Erwin, and this first full-color 48-page graphic novel in the series, Bride of Porkula, was written and illustrated by Jay Fosgitt. Ape Entertainment will be releasing it on the world this October — and if none of this makes sense to you, then check out the preview on their web site. Blah! Blah!
A Different Kind of Monster Battle
If you haven’t seen it so far, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters is the latest “re-imagining” of a classic product line to premier on The Hub network — in this case back in June. Kaijudo is a new version of the Duel Masters series by Wizards of the Coast (which, like The Hub, is a division of Hasbro Toys). This time around, the creators of this new show (specifically Andrew Robinson and Henry Gilroy from The Hub) wanted to have a different take on the “young kids and their fighting pet monsters” genre. The creatures of Kaijudo come to Earth from another dimension, and they can’t just be called up or sent back by the flip of a card. What’s more, our hero — a young boy named Ray, voiced by Scott Wolf) — has a special power of empathy with the monsters, and so he is very connected when they are hurt or made to suffer. According to the creators, they wanted a show where the heroes, the villains, and even the companion monsters show much more personality than shows like these have seen in the past. Have they succeeded? Find out for yourself. New episodes of Kaijudo currently air on The Hub on Saturdays at 8 pm Eastern, 5 pm Pacific. Check out the official Kaijudo web page from The Hub as well.
Oh, Hiya!
OHiya, the Art of Making Friends is the name for a concept created by illustrator Jason Tharp and a group of fellow artists who live in Ohio (get it?). The idea is to use funny animals and other strange creatures to encourage people to greet one another — be they friends or strangers — and learn more about one another and how to make friends. The creatures of Ohiya each have their own unique personality quirks, and how they learn to get along together with so many differences provides the lessons in friendship that Ohiya is all about. To start things off Mr. Tharp and his associates have created a set of t-shirts, buttons, and posters featuring characters like Mythaken the sasquatch, Zoomi-Pop the panda, and Katinja the… well, cat ninja! More is on the way, and you can see it all at the Ohiya Friends web site.
Shut Up and Watch These!
Shut Up Cartoons is a YouTube channel of original animated series put together by the Smosh Channel, which claims to be the third largest Channel on YouTube. In amongst titles like Oishi High School Battle and Zombies vs. Ninja are a couple of shows that furry fans might want to take notice of. Krogzilla is one of the newest. “Born as an unknown mutation of aquatic lizard, Krogzilla was a 200-foot tall fire-breathing sea monster that terrorized coastal cities all over the world, until a team of scientists defeated him by shrinking. Now reduced to only six feet in height, Krogzilla has to figure out how to become a functioning member of society. First thing Krog needs to do is find a job”. The series updates every Thursday, and you can find it on YouTube here. While you’re there you might also want to check out the preview trailer for Weasel Town, which premiers next week.
Lycanthropy Can Be Funny
More e-books we’ve stumbled across… Check out Lycanthropy Anonymous by J.A. Konrath. This 2011 book concerns lycanthropy — shapeshifting — and the myriad ways it can make your life complicated. Here, check out the publisher’s description from Amazon: “It isn’t easy being a werewolf. Especially when you’re a newbie at shapeshifting. Lucky, there’s a group called Shapeshifters Anonymous that will help you work through the difficult times, like eating your friends, and shedding. When recently turned werewolf Robert Weston Smith discovers his new found abilities in a humorous (but alarming) way, he seeks out the support group to help him figure things out. There he meets various characters who transform into assorted, odd things, including a sexy werecheetah named Irena. But little did Weston know he’d been followed to this private gathering, by someone who wants to do the therianthropes a great deal of harm… ” The description goes on, “Shapeshifters Anonymous is a 12,000 word novella, specifically formatted for Kindle. It contains a handful of werepeople, a dash of romance, some gratuitous humor, and revisionist Xmas theories. It also has previews of Konrath’s other work.” And it’s available for the Kindle right now.
Flight for Young Readers
The popular Flight comic book anthology series now has a companion, Flight Explorer, coming this March from Villard Press. Like its big brother, this new full-color collection is edited by Kazu Kibuishi, and features stories loosely based around a theme of flight. Explorer is designed to help young readers get into the swing of reading for themselves — while at the same time entertaining older readers who might be helping them through it. As you can see from the cover, this first volume features several anthropomorphic characters, some of whom have been covered in InFurNation before. The stories include Kean Soo’s Jellaby, Johane Matte’s Egyptian cat, and Jake Parker’s Missile Mouse, among others. Flight Explorer Volume 1 is available for ordering on Amazon, with a special discount offer for libraries.