It’s that time of year when next year’s calendars start showing up, in your local bookstore, all over the malls… and on the Internet. Two of particular note for Furry Fans are Rare — The Unusual Anthro Calendar and The Werewolf Calendar, both of them created by a variety of artists. Rare is a collection of full-color artwork featuring anthropomorphic versions of animals that don’t get drawn as often, like pandas, okapi, jaguarundi, and so forth. It features artwork from Ashalind, Qzurr, Alector Fencer, Balaa, Sekhmet, Nimrais, Katie Hofgard, Synnabar, Mondeis, Heather Bruton, Katrine Hagman, and Char Reed. Only 180 copies of the calendar have been made, so make sure to pre-order yours here. Meanwhile, The Werewolf Calendar is, of course, made for you fans of lycanthropic lupines. It features full-color art by Balaa, Dark Natasha, Goldenwolf, Khaosdog, Loba North, Myenia, Rayndancer, Synnabar, Therese Larsson, Thornwolf, Vantid, Zakka, and Zowolf. Like Rare, it’s available for pre-order on-line… and like that calendar, only for a limited time.
Werewolf
The Werewolf’s Guide to Life
You’re going to notice a title like that, now aren’t you? Subtitled “A Manual for the Newly Bitten”, this new softcover book by Ritch Duncan and Bob Powers (with illustrations by Emily Flake) cuts through the fiction and offers you a helping paw.
Here’s the description from amazon.com: “Have you been attacked by a wolf-like creature in the last 30 days? Was it after the sun had set and under a full moon? If you answered, “yes” to both these questions, there’s a very good chance that you were bitten by a werewolf. You now have less than a month before the full moon returns and with it your first transformation into a savage, bloodthirsty beast.
Survival is an option, but first, know this:
* Werewolves are real.
* The majority of lycanthropes who do not have access to this book die during or shortly after their first transformations, generally due to heart failure, gunshot wounds, exposure, drowning or suicide.
* Hollywood horror movies are NOT to be used as guides to living as a werewolf. Their goal is not to educate, but to entertain. As a result, they are largely ignorant of the realities of the condition.
* Ignorance creates monsters; lycanthropy does not.
* You are not a monster.
The Werewolf’s Guide to Life cuts through the fiction and guides you through your first transformation and beyond, offering indispensable advice on how to tell if you’re really a werewolf, post-attack etiquette, breaking the news to your spouse, avoiding government abduction, and how to not just survive, but thrive. You cannot afford to not read this book. Your very life depends on it.”
We like the creator background descriptions: “Ritch Duncan and Bob Powers have devoted their lives to aiding and serving the lycanthrope community. They live in New York City. Illustrator Emily Flake is a New York based cartoonist and illustrator who is grateful to have gotten close enough to study her subjects for this book without being torn limb from limb.” The Werewolf’s Guide to Life is out this month from Broadway Publishers.
Werewolves Out West
Zuda Comics has been holding a monthly contest where creators submit on-line comics, and readers vote on the ones they consider most worthy of being made into print comics. (Visit the Zuda web site to find out more about the contest.) Now, with the help of WildStorm Comics, Zuda has released the first winner, High Moon, as a full-color trade paperback coming to stores this October (appropriate, no?). Created by David Gallaher (story) and Steve Ellis (art), High Moon Volume 1 tells the story of cowboys and werewolves in the old west… lives are lost, secrets are revealed, and the future of the whole frontier is at stake.
Ladies and Werewolves
Dark fantasy novelist Patricia Briggs has new books and new comic books coming out from Dabel Brothers Publishing. The premiere issue of Cry Wolfe (written by Patricia with David Lawrence, and illustrated by Jordon Gunderson) introduces us to a woman named Anna. She never believed in werewolves — until the night she became one herself. A rare “omega wolf”, Anna has spent years at the bottom of the pack as a humbled servant, until she catches the eye of a powerful alpha wolf who may see her true value. But what happens when alpha and omega get together? Meanwhile, Mercy Thompson: Homecoming (in hardcover) takes place in the days before Ms. Briggs’ best-selling novel series. We meet young Mercedes “Mercy” Thompson, a shape-shifter fresh out of college and looking for a job. She soon finds herself trapped in the middle of a war between werewolves and vampires, but the worst thing is having to face the dreaded job interview!
In Space, no one can hear you howl.
Werewolves on the Moon versus Vampires. Now tell us you don’t stand up and take notice of a title like that? Dark Horse Comics certainly hopes you do, as they present a brand-new full-color 3-issue miniseries by Matt and Shawn Fillbach, Dave Land, and Dan Jackson. A group of American werewolves (who aren’t such bad fellows, actually) sneak their way into the first permanent lunar colony… just as a group of nasty vampires are trying to take over! Now it’s an all-out monster battle on the moon, with ordinary humans caught in the middle. Of course, some of them are well-armed and in no mood to give up easily…
Mad Monster Party… Again?
Word is out that a new CGI re-make of the classic Rankin/Bass comedy/horror film Mad Monster Party is in the works and has actually been green-lit. Warner Brothers optioned the new film about four years ago, but now there’s word that it might actually happen.
What furries want to know is: Will the werewolf have that cool gypsie outfit again?
There’s a fan site for the original 1967 film that’s closely following news of the remake. Check out www.madmonsterparty.com to find out more.
Bad Dog
New from Image Comics: Deadpool writer Joe Kelly returns with Bad Dog, a new full-color comic series illustrated by Diego Greco. The story: Wendell is a “vertically challenged”, gutter-mouthed ex-preacher with a hair-trigger temper. His partner, Lou, is a werewolf who despises people so much he refuses to shift back into human form. Together they’re the most drunken, f@*ked-up pair of bounty hunters ever to stumble their way across America.
