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Trade Paperback

Prydwen Premiers

Lynn Hogan is an author and artist from the Seattle, Washington area. She’s worked for Marvel Comics and Bella Sara, among others. Prydwen is a fantasy-adventure comic she has been putting up on line for some time. Now Sofawolf Press have released Prydwen: Gods and Monsters, the first graphic novel compilation of the on-line comic. This full-color work is available in softcover and hardcover editions. “Orphaned at a young age and raised in a Sui monastery, Prydwen settles into a peaceful life tending the gardens, never knowing who she is or where she came from. When disturbing dreams give way to waking up in patches of ash where flowers used to be, she flees the safety of the church grounds with her friend Auric, looking for answers. Her path takes her deep into the sacred gardens of the Wanderkind God, where she is destined to release his imprisoned Elynd and learn more about her past.” Sofawolf has a preview on their web site, and a video preview up on YouTube as well.

image c. 2012 Lynn Hogan

The Curse and The Pug

Here at In-Fur-Nation we’ve covered a lot of pirates, and a lot of werewolves, and a lot of little doggies.  Well, how about a little doggy who fights pirates who are werewolves? Welcome to the world of Mike Norton’s The Curse. In 2009 Mr. Norton, creator of Battlepug (which we’ve also covered here) took up the 24-Hour Comic Book Challenge, which yes, challenges comic book creators to bring about a 24-page comic book, from scratch, in 24 hours. The result was The Curse, in which a small but tenacious pet pug helps his master to defeat an evil band of pirates who’s bite turns you into one of their kind! The response to The Curse was so positive that Mr. Norton returned to it and created Parts 2 and 3 in 2010 and 2011 for the same challenge. Now Oni Press has collected all three sections into a single black and white trade paperback, which is available for pre-order and headed to the shelves this October.

image c. 2012 Mike Norton / Oni Press

Werewolves vs. Bikers from Hell

First off, wishing a very Happy Independence Day to all of you and yours!

Later this month Moonstone Publishing will bring us Werewolves of New Idria, an illustrated novel / trade paperback written by John Chadwell with art by Duncan Long. Here’s the publisher’s description: ” The Aceves family is like no other. With patriarch, Roberto Aceves, forever a Spanish knight after being bitten by a werewolf, he and his clan have secretly fought man’s wars for 900 years. Today, near the abandoned mining town of New Idria, they must battle against a demon and his biker gang who want nothing more than to destroy the entire clan. A new breed of werewolf! Holy warriors, led by a 900-year-old knight who fought beside El Cid, now in a deadly struggle against a motorcycle gang headed by Satan’s ken, hell bent on revenge!” Check out the pre-order page at Amazon.com.

image c. 2012 Moonstone

Gordon Was Different…

Gordon the Giraffe is a new full-color trade paperback from Arcana Entertainment, written by Bruce Brown and illustrated A. Shelton. It tells the story of Gordon, a young giraffe who discovers that he’s different from other giraffe kids… and how the other kids learn to accept that. Here’s the description from Word of the Nerd: “In the jungle where Gordon lives, there is a special game that the giraffe children play with each other (much like 1-on-1 volleyball, but with bananas). Gordon’s issue is that, instead of playing banana volleyball with a girl giraffe, he finds it much more fun to play the game with Gary. So the other boys decide to play a trick on Gordon. When that trick backfires, it is up to Gordon to rescue the other boy giraffes.”  This new storybook comes out in early July.

image c. 2012 Arcana Entertainment

Save Yourself

Here’s a different take on the traditional princess vs. dragon story: “Princeless is about Princess Adrienne who lives in a land of fairy-tale castles.  When the Princesses reach age 16 they are put in a tower guarded by a fearsome dragon, where they languish until a dashing would-be Prince comes to rescue them.  It’s traditional.  Apparently knowing which end of a sword to stick in a dragon is a fit test for kingship…  Adrienne isn’t pleased with this state of affairs, and after one particularly luckless knight turns up she decides she’s had enough.  Chatting late into the night with Sparky (the dragon) they decide to abandon the castle, fake her own death and set off on a quest to save her sisters from their towers.” Fantasy creatures and fantasy tropes show up aplenty in this series, and none of them looked at in the traditional way. Now Action Lab Comics have released Princeless: Save Yourself, which collects the first story arc of the series (written by Jeremy Whitley and illustrated by M. Goodwin) into one handy full-color trade paperback. Check out their blog.

image c. 2012 Action Lab Comics

The Ursa Major Awards Anthology

As Furry Fandom’s Ursa Major Awards enter their 10th year, Fred Patten (a long-time member of the Awards’ parent organization, the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association) has collected and edited some of the best winners and nominees from the Awards’ “Short Fiction” category into a new book, the Ursa Major Awards Anthology. It’s coming at the end of June from Fur Planet Productions. Featuring short stories by Brock Hoagland, Michael H. Payne, M.C.A. Hogarth, Chas P.A. Melville, Kristin Fontaine, Kyell Gold, Jim Hayden, Samuel C. Conway, Paul Di Filippo, and Naomi Kritzer, as well as original illustrations, the anthology also features a new wrap-around cover by Blotch. Sample copies of the anthology were available at Anthrocon — and sold briskly. You can find out more  at Fur Planet Productions’ pre-order page.

image c. 2012 Fur Planet Productions

Bird and Squirrel… and Cat!

Animator James Burks (who previously gave us Gabby & Gator from Yen Press) returns with Bird & Squirrel Volume 1: On the Run, a new full-color graphic novel from Graphix Press. “Bird and Squirrel outwit Cat and become best friends in this zany adventure. Squirrel is afraid of his own shadow. Bird doesn’t have a care in the world. And Cat wants to eat Bird and Squirrel. Of course, he’ll have to catch them first, and that’s not going to be easy. Join this trio as they head south for the winter in a hilarious road trip. But watch out! Cat is waiting around every bend, and he’s one pesky feline.” Barnes & Noble have pre-order information for the book, which is coming this August.

image c. 2012 James Burks

Game Art from Japan

Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is an Ursa Major Award-nominated video game from Japan which (according to its Wikipedia page) is “a spiritual sequel to the Tail Concerto game”, which was also released by Namco Bandai. Now the anime/manga fan site Otaku.com has let us know that the Solatorobo Sketch Book is available for import, and you can order it on their site. It’s expensive (kind of), but it this softcover book features some striking anime-style furry art.

image c. 2012 Namco Bandai

Po’s New Comic Book Series

There’s just no getting around the Kung Fu Panda.  (Of course not! He takes up too much room!). First off Ape Entertainment’s’ Kizoic imprint is releasing the popular Kung Fu Panda comic-book miniseries from last year as a collected trade paperback called Kung Fu Panda: Kung Fu Fighting. And then this July, Po and the Furious Five (and Master Shifu, of course!) return in a brand-new full-color monthly series, Kung Fu Panda: Tales of the Dragon Warrior (written by Quinn Johnson and illustrated by Massimo Asaro). Find out more about all of these at Things From Another World.

image c. 2012 Ape Entertainment