Admit it: At times it almost seems backwards to have a comic book based on a movie or TV series these days (as opposed to vice versa). But, here we go again: Image comics presents Teen Wolf: Bite Me, a full-color 3-issue mini-series based on the new Teen Wolf TV series on MTV. In case you need a re-cap, Scott McCall is a high-school athlete with a beautiful girlfriend and a future that’s looking up — until the night when he’s bitten by a werewolf. Now he not only has to deal with his frequent transformations, but also the fact that his girlfriend’s father is head of a local posse that has taken it upon themselves to hunt down and kill werewolves. In this new mini-series (written by David Tischman and illustrated by Stephen Mooney), Scott must deal with the new discovery that his “condition” may be incurable. Look for it this September.
Werewolf
Beware the Feeding Ground
Now here’s something different: A werewolf comic book with decidedly political overtones, taking on the current hot-button topic of illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States in a very unusual manner. Here’s Fangoria.com’s description of the first Feeding Ground hardcover graphic novel: “Pretending to be asleep, Flaca Busqueda watches her father leave just before going back to work. Dad, tired and poor, promises her that this will be his ‘one last cross’. Flaca sneakily gets up from her bed and spontaneously decides to follow him. She never expects to be cruelly kidnapped at the Mexican/American border, known to locals as ‘The Devil’s Highway’. In a race against time, Flaca’s parents, her brother and uncle are on a desperate search to find their missing girl before anything horrible happens to her. When the family finally locates their lost daughter, Flaca has become different and strangely odd. They find her scarred with bloody scratches and claw marks on her back, as if she were attacked by a wolf. Flaca’s body is changing at such a tender adolescent age. Her coming-of-age tale represents the werewolf’s ever-present transformation. In the backdrop of this horror story, there are political and social commentaries about the timely issue of illegal immigration. Creators Swifty Lang, Michael Lapinski, and Chris Mangun provide different perspectives on the subject, but never actually give a definite opinion on the topic, as if they are giving the readers a chance to discuss and choose for themselves. ” Feeding Ground is coming our way in full color, this August from Archaia Entertainment. Fittingly, it’s available in English and Spanish.
Buster Wilde: Weerwolf
Folks who have been following on-line comics for a while, especially anthro comics, might recall a particular one called Buster Wilde: Weerwolf. As written and drawn by Scott Zellman, it tells of the trials and tribulations of an ordinary heterosexual human guy who, once bitten, keeps transforming into Buster — a decidedly queer werewolf with a party-all-night attitude! No it’s not pornographic and yes, it’s very much for adults only. Originally available exclusively on the Buster site at Furnation.com, FurPlanet and Bad Dog Books have announced that it will now be released as a black & white trade paperback later this June. Mr. Zellman has also been re-printing the original Buster strips in a larger format up on BadDog’s site.
The Adventures of Bigby Wolf
By now people should be aware that the comic book series Fables — created by Bill Willingham and published by DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint — is a very unusual take on the fairy tale genre, to say the least. That trend continues with a brand-new hardcover graphic novel. Here’s how they describe it on Amazon: “Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland is a riveting original graphic novel that is both an integral part of the Fables mythology and an entry point to the long-running, best selling series. Bigby Wolf takes center stage in the most brutal, action-packed Fables story to date. Sent out into modern day America at large, Bigby’s on a quest for possible locations for a new Fabletown. In his wanderings, Bigby stumbles across a small town named Luperville, somewhere in American’s vast heartland, that, amazingly enough, seems to be populated by werewolves. These werewolves are descendants of a World War II German project to create an army of werewolf super soldiers, some of whom who were infected with Bigby’s tainted blood. And even more unfortunate the fact that they’ve captured, caged and tortured the most popular and important canine in history: Bigby Wolf”. Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland was written by Bill Willingham, and illustrated by Jim Fern, Craig Hamilton, and Ray Snyder. Look for it this coming October.
Beware the Worgen
And now something for fans of the massive on-line role-playing game World of Warcraft — and also fans of werewolves. DC Comics is collecting the five-issue miniseries World of Warcraft: Curse of the Worgen into a single hardcover graphic novel, coming this September. This is from the publisher’s notes: “A series of grisly, animalistic murders have rocked the walled town of Gilneas. A famous detective sets out to discover the perpetrators and finds far more than he bargained for. To find the truth, he must delve through years of twisted history – both the history of his family and Gilneas itself.” The original series was written by Micky Neilson and James Waugh, and illustrated in full-color by Ludo Lullabi and Tony Washington.
image c. 2011 DC Comics
Teen Wolf Comes to MTV
Life is hard for the teenage werewolf. Scott was an ordinary high-school kid until that one night in the woods… Now, he finds himself with amazing new abilities, coupled with horrific new urges and hungers. Not to mention the inconvenience of transforming into a growling werewolf every time he gets angry — or excited, like when his would-be girlfriend is in sight. To make life more complicated, the werewolf who bit him in the first place wants to be friends in human form, and the leader of a posse out to rid the countryside of werewolves is also the father of the girl our hero has his eyes on! Having almost nothing to do with the Michael J. Fox Teen Wolf film (obviously), the new Teen Wolf TV series stars Tyler Posey as Scott. It’s coming to MTV (formerly Music Television) on June 5th. MTV has a trailer and some more information up on their web site.
Retired Werewolf for Hire
There’s no way on earth we can top the publisher’s description of the second story arc of Screamland. So here it is: “‘Death Of The Party,’ Part One — In a world where movie monsters are real, most of them are just looking for work in an industry dominated by 3D, CGI and other scary acronyms. Forced to hustle their past glory on the convention circuit, Wolfman Carl London and Space Path star Travis Walters put their scheduled appearances aside to stop the screening of a legendary monster porn film that threatens to ruin the careers of feature creatures everywhere.” Got that? This new full-color comic book series is written by Harold Sipe and Christopher Sebela, and illustrated by Lee Leslie and Hector Casanova. It’s coming this June from Image Comics.
image c. 2011 by Image Comics
WOW, Worgen!
Furry fans into the World of Warcraft game and its story background might want to check out the new World of Warcraft: Curse of the Worgen comic book mini-series, published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics. For those who don’t play the game, according to WOW-Wiki: “Worgen are large, lupine humanoids reminiscent of a werewolf that walks upright, but lopes on all fours to run.” The five-issue comic book, exploring the mysteries of the Worgen and where they came from, was written by Micky Neilson and James Waugh. The full-color art was created by Ludo Lullabi, Tony Washington, and John Polidora. The first issue is on sale now.
A Young Lady’s Transformation…
High school is hard enough to get through, but trying to do it while slowly turning into a werewolf makes things nearly impossible! That’s the situation a teenage girl named Alice finds herself in when she and her brother are bitten by what they thought was a pack of large rabid dogs. Werewolves: An Illustrated Journal of Transformation is a new softcover graphic novel, available now from Chronicle Books. It was written by Paul Jessup, with full-color illustrations by Allyson Haller. The book is Alice’s personal journal of her and her brother’s experience as they not only transform, but have to adopt new lifestyles: Learning to eat raw meat, avoiding the werewolf hunters who are after them every night, and finding their place among the pack that caused their transformation in the first place. You can find out more at Amazon.com.
