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Monsters

What A Big Katana You Have!

Sticking with Source Point Press, here’s how you put a new spin on an old fairy tale: Little Red Ronin, written by Garrett Gunn and illustrated by Kit Wallis. “A terrible beast has haunted the citizens of Poletown for decades. Although the monster hasn’t been seen in years, disappearances and gruesome killings still plague the townsfolk. Determined to clear her family name, Red hunts The Great Wolf in hopes of exonerating her grandmother, who lives in exile for spreading terrifying propaganda.” Once again the issues have been gathered together into a single trade paperback, available now from Simon & Schuster.

Image c. 2023 Source Point Press

THIS Cat Returns

Your ever-loving edotter got a chance to see a preview screening of Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, the upcoming animated feature from Dreamworks Animation, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado. Here’s the basic plot summary: The unstoppable adventurer Puss in Boots discovers that he has burned up eight of his nine lives through a series of mishaps. He goes on a desperate quest to find a fallen star with magic wishing powers, hoping to restore his invulnerability. Trouble is, the cat has lots of competition for the star — and a malevolent force following right behind him. So here are some Spoiler-Free thoughts about the film: See It, as soon as you can.  Not only is this a cracking good adventure film, darker than you expect it to be in places, but it’s also quite easily the furriest film ever in the Shrek universe. In fact, there’s a wolf in this film who could easily give the head Bad Guy a run for his money. This new film is coming to theaters on December 21st.

image c. 2022 Dreamworks Animation

Witch Way to Go

Another professional character designer we met at Lightbox last month was Ainsworth Lin. Their personal animation project is called The Hedge Witch, and it goes like this: “The Hedge Witch follows the adventures of Adam, Misha, and Butters as they slowly unravel the mysteries in and around the sleepy town of Flatroot, Washington. Together, they investigate cold cases, encounter mythological creatures, and fight off supernatural entities.” Many of them not human but so, so interesting. Visit the web site to find out more about it — and other projects and designs they’ve worked on too.

image c. 2022 by Ainsworth Lin

Little Blue Something

Twig is a new and whimsical fantasy adventure comic from Image. “Eisner Award-winning I Hate Fairyland and Middlewest writer Skottie Young and artist Kyle Strahm (Spread Unearth) come together for an epic fantasy adventure miniseries! It’s the first day of Twig’s new job as a journeyer on a Jeff Smith’s Bone-esque quest to save a The Dark Crystal/Labyrinth-style world. Join our hesitant hero for an inspiring and imaginative tale of hope heartache and determination to overcome insurmountable odds!” In case you missed it, Image have released the first five issues in a single trade paperback.

image c. 2022 Image Comics

Monster of Monsters

Okay, so we missed this the first time — but now the first five issues are collected together. Bigfoot Frankenstein Volume 1: Colossus of Destiny is a new graphic novel written by Mark Bertolini and illustrated by Vernon Smith. “When the great-great-great (many greats)-grandson of the original Dr. Frankenstein stumbles across the remains of the last tribe of Sasquatches, he uses his family’s patented formula for creating life and brings forth Bigfoot Frankenstein! Compelled to seek the evil clan of rednecks who slaughtered his people, Big Frank and his creator, Jude, hit the road on a hilarious quest for justice, vengeance, and… love?” You heard it here folks. It’s available now in trade paperback from Action Lab Entertainment.

image c. 2022 Action Lab

Monsters vs. Meow

More comic-book type adventures for young readers in Housecat Trouble Volume 1, a new hardcover graphic novel by Mason Dickerson. “One house, three cats, and a lot of trouble! Buster has only one job: Keep the house safe. Too bad he is a massive scaredy-cat. When his owner goes away and he suddenly finds his home filled with monsters, Buster has the biggest challenge he’s ever faced. Can he learn to be brave before his owner gets back?” Find out over at Penguin Random House, and look for more volumes too.

image c. 2022 Penguin Random House

Octo-Furry Adventures

The convention sensation comes to dead trees now in Tentacle Kitty: Tales Around The Teacup, a new graphic novel from Dark Horse. “Join ‘The Pink One’ and friends as the whole tentacle kitty gang regales us with tales of action and adventure over tea! From hunting down cotton candy mice, to pirate hijinks, and mega convention run ins, this tome features stories for all readers, told only as a Tentacle Kitty can!” Written by Tentacle Kitty creators John and Raena Merritt, and illustrated by Jean-Claudio Vinci.

image c. 2022 Dark Horse Publishing

Monsters of the Deep… or Not?

For a while we had been hearing about the film The Sea Beast, but we didn’t know much about it other than it has a little girl and a big monster. Turns out that this animated feature is the latest work of writer and director Chris Williams, who previously gave us Moana and Big Hero 6 for Disney. Now with the help of Sony Imageworks he has brought this new film to Netflix, and the results are quite an eyeful! In a world much like our own but different, sailing ships and sailing crews travel the seas to hunt and destroy giant ship-crunching monsters… that is, until one day when an eager young girl stows away on the greatest monster-hunter ship, and things begin to rapidly change. The film is quite notable for the ethnic and sexual diversity of its animated cast. But of course, what furry fans are here to see are the kaiju-like sea monsters, and they do not disappoint. In fact, the young girl (and soon others) quickly learn that the giant monsters humans have been fighting may be far more than they appear to be… Check this one out. It’s currently streaming.

image c. 2022 Netflix

Werewolf Domesticus?

Recently visiting WonderCon we came across WereWoofs, a new YA graphic novel by screenwriter Joelle Sellner and illustrator Val Wise.In the small Midwestern town of Howlett, navigating high school is tough enough. But when a group of friends are inexplicably turned into weredogs, adapting to their new powers proves to be even tougher. This leads to an unlikely friendship with loner Mara, a werewolf whose father has mysteriously vanished. As the high schoolers team up to solve the disappearance, friendships are tested, and secrets are revealed as the Werewoofs prove themselves in an explosive showdown against a dangerous wolfpack and their vicious alpha.” It’s available now from New Paradigm. Check out the review over at Cemetery Dance.

image c. 2022 New Paradigm Studios