At San Diego Comic Con we came across an artist named Krister Eide. According to her web site, “When he’s not drawing or painting, he helps injured animals return to health at a wildlife rehabilitation center.” We like that! Her Etsy Store has several of her illustrations on cups, prints, and other items, but the web site also has illustrations from her “passion project”: An all-animal version of Jules’ Verne’s classic 20,ooo Leagues Under The Sea. Let’s “sea” where that goes…!
Science Fiction
It’s Dangerous for a Pig to Dream
Here’s another one that Previews alerted us to: Unnatural is a hit full-color comic series in Italy, and now Image Comics is about to unleash it on North America. “Leslie is a simple pig girl. She loves sushi, she’s stuck with a job she hates, and she lives under a brutal totalitarian government – one that punishes transgressors for anything deemed ‘unnatural’. Leslie dreams of something different for herself. But those dreams are becoming dangerous…” Interestingly, writer and artist Mirka Andolfo says that none other than Omaha the Cat Dancer (by the great Reed Waller and the late Kate Worley) served as an inspiration for this series. Look for it soon in stores.
Submitted for Your Approval: A Planet of Apes
Bit of trivia you might not be aware of: In the late 1960’s Rod Serling (creator of The Twilight Zone) was the first person picked to adapt a screenplay from Pierre Boulle’s science fiction novel Planet of the Apes. Which he did — unfortunately his version (closer to Boulle’s book, featuring apes in a modern high-tech world) was considered un-filmable at the time, and a new adaptation by Michael Wilson was used instead for the famous 1968 film starring Charlton Heston. Well now, Boom! Studios have created Planet of the Apes: Visionaries, a new full-color graphic novel of Serling’s original script. Put into comic book form by Dana Gould and illustrated by Chad Lewis, it arrives in stores this August. Previews has an interview with the Boom! Studios folk all about it.
A Flying Ape with a Beak. Yes.
One of the things that was almost impossible to miss at WonderCon this year was a huge display booth for Genesis II, a full color graphic novel by Allen Ling and Christian Boe. It’s a science fiction story about genetic experiments gone very, very strange, but that barely scratches the surface. The booth display featured three of the principle weird creations from the story in larger than life size, sculpted by none other than Stan Winston Studios. The graphic novel is available now as a hardcover book, and also as a download for purchase. The creators plan to release a softcover version later this year. Visit their web site to see what we’re talking about — and to order your copy.
Shake Your Cosmic Thing
Another WonderCon discovery: Star Beasts is a science fiction funny animal comic written by Stephanie Young and illustrated by Allyson Lassiter. “The cosmic adventures of Star Beasts! Protectors of our planet, this secret order of creatures is sworn to guard our home. Keeping us safe from all Galactic Evil great and small. Want to know the real reason why Pluto isn’t a planet anymore? Find out in the first issue of Star Beasts, The Mighty Menace.” Well it’s nice to know that someone figured it out. Visit the Star Beasts home page or look for the creators at a comic convention near you.
A Science Fiction Classic
Your humble ed-otter remembers reading Robert Silverberg’s science fiction novel Downward to the Earth in his youth. (It was one of the books mentioned in Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials.) Now, Humanoids (and Laura Zuccheri) have adapted the book into a new full-color hardcover graphic novel, illustrated by Philippe Thirault. “Ex-lieutenant Eddie Gundersen returns to Belzagor, where he had left behind his youthful illusions, the love of his life and his shameful past as a colonizer. He finds the planet returned to its two intelligent species: The Nildoror and the Sulidoror. Taking the lead on a scientific expedition to the borders of the indigenous lands, Gundersen must face his own demons and settle the score with a planet which still has hidden secrets.” The Nildoror resemble mastodons, while the Sulidoror resemble giant sloth bears. Lt. Gundersen has his work cut out for him, trying to navigate between these two very different cultures. Doom Rocket has a detailed preview of the new graphic novel.
Good Boy!
As you may recall, last year we noted that Marvel Comics had collected together several previous adventures of the furry fans’ favorite Inhuman, Lockjaw the teleporting dog. Well it looks as if that collection must have done rather well, because now Lockjaw has been granted his own full-color 4-issue miniseries. Marvel puts it like this: “Lockjaw spends most of his time defending the Inhuman empire alongside Black Bolt and Medusa. But when he gets a message that his long-lost litter mates are in danger, he’ll spring into action to save them! But wait – Lockjaw has brothers and sisters? Can they teleport? Are they Inhuman? Can they possibly be as gosh-darned cute as their big brother?” Written by Daniel Kibblesmith (The Late Show) and illustrated by Carlos Villa, the first issue of Lockjaw hits the shelves this week. Find out more over at Comicosity.
Turtles… In… SPACE!
Yes, obvious, we know, but too good to pass up. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Dimension X. We’ll let IDW explain it: “The brothers make an interstellar journey to different planets in Dimension X to save key witnesses in the Trial of Krang from assassination! Weird new characters, places, and events abound! This mini-series introduces an all-new villain, Hakk-R, into the world of the TMNT, directly affecting the events of the main ongoing series in this dimension-altering adventure.” The army of creators for this new mini-series includes writers Paul Allor, Devin Grayson, Ulises Farinas, Erick Freitas, Ryan Ferrier, and Aubrey Sitterson; with art by Pablo Tunica, Michal Dialynas, Khary Randolph, Chris Johnson, and Craig Rousseau. The comic mini-series is out already, and the trade paperback collection is coming later in January.
The Lombax and his Robot
Well, okay, putting aside a movie that not many seemed to like, there’s this: The Art of Ratchet & Clank. “Dark Horse Books and Insomniac Games proudly offer a look back at the history of the Ratchet & Clank saga in a Qwark-tastic collection of never-before-seen concept art and behind-the-scenes commentary chronicling eleven amazing games and the brilliant studio that created them! The 15-year anniversary retrospective of one of the most influential PlayStation games!” It’s coming in hardcover this March.