Now it’s KaBOOM! Studios’ turn to get back on the animation bandwagon with their new series Adventure Time Season 11. Here’s what they say: “Cartoon Network’s award-winning animated series Adventure Time will conclude this fall with Season 10-but this October, KaBOOM! proudly continues telling the stories of Finn and Jake in a new Season 11 comic series! In the aftermath of The Great Gum War, Finn, Jake, and the entire land of Ooo begin to pick up the pieces with some new and unexpected friends. Written by Eisner Award-winning writer Sonny Liew (The Art of Charlie Hock Chye) and illustrated by Marina Julia (Lumberjanes: Faire and Square), this is the only place fans can get new stories in the land of Ooo!” There are several issues out already now.
Young Readers
Jingle Egg Shells, Jingle Egg Shells…
A perfect seasonal item, now on the bookshelves: It’s The Christmasaurus, a new novel for young readers written by singer/songwriter and YouTube celebrity Tom Fletcher. “Once upon a time–long, long ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth–an egg rolled away from its mother and landed in the ocean, where it froze solid and stayed peacefully for thousands of years. Then one day Santa and his elves discover the frozen egg, and Santa sits on it to see if it will hatch. But he can’t guess what’s inside. . . a dinosaur! Meanwhile, a young boy named William Trundle has only ever wished for one thing for Christmas: A dinosaur! So when Santa accidentally gives William the real Christmasaurus instead of a stuffed replica, it’s the Best Christmas Ever! Until an evil man known as the Hunter decides a dinosaur will be the perfect addition to his collection…” With illustrations by Shane Devries, The Christmasaurus is available now in hardcover from Penguin Books/Random House.
Feline Foundations
New from First Second: “All Marmalade wants to do is build things. She is, after all, a trained architect. She’s also a distractingly adorable kitten. Fed up with not being taken seriously because she’s so cute, Marmalade bands together with a handful of other aspiring builders—all of them kittens. But in a world where humans call the shots, can the Kitten Construction Company prove their worth… without giving up the very things that make them kittens?” Meet The House Kittens is the first volume of the Kitten Construction Company, a new full-color graphic novel series for young readers written and illustrated by John Patrick Green (creator of Hippopotamister, which we’ve talked about before). It’s out now in hardcover, distributed by Macmillan & Company.
E-Books for Kids — and Art Collectors
And more from CTN Expo (it’s always cool!). According to their web site, “Mighty Yeti is an independent storytelling studio creating stories for the current generation of kids who enjoy their media and entertainment in exciting new ways. Founders Jennie Book and Josh Book have taken their many years of experience in the traditional entertainment industry and created products which children can interact with in a truly active way.” To that end they’ve created a series of interactive e-books for young readers — and some of those books have decidedly anthro content. Especially the one called A Shark Knocked On The Door. “Gutter races with Grandma are the best! But when a beloved toy boat is lost down the sewer, all seems lost until a friendly shark returns it and takes the boy and his grandma on a fantastical underseas adventure.” The publishers have built up enough material designing and creating these books that they’ve actually released The Art of Mighty Yeti Storybooks collection, featuring art by Eddie Betancourt, Roman Laney, Justin Rodrigues, and Nick Swift.
Bunny Bound by Magic
Found this thanks to Animation World Network: “Netflix has announced that it will produce the animated feature film, Escape From Hat, from two-time Academy Award-nominated director Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda, The Little Prince) together with writer Adam Kline (Artemis Fowl, The Clockwork War)… The screenplay is by Kline and Osborne, based on the book of the same name by Kline [illustrated by Brian Taylor — ye ed-otter], a new middle-grade novel that will be published by HarperCollins in Winter 2020… Escape From Hat brings light to the ancient mysteries of magic. In a fairy tale where black cats are bad and magic rabbits are good, balance is threatened when one such rabbit is cast into a mysterious realm of danger and shadow. There, our desperate hero rallies an unexpected band of allies and undertakes an impossible quest to escape from inside a magician’s hat – and return to the human boy he dearly loves.” Netflix say they plan to release the film in 2022.
He’s Unda Da Sea
Paptercutz brings us a new full-color mini-comic series for young readers: Gillbert the Little Merman, Volume 1 by Art Baltazar (writer and illustrator of Tiny Titans and Captain Action Cat). Here’s the preview over at their web site: “In the deepest part of the ocean, unexplored by man and too deep for humans to swim, lives a little sea creature named Gillbert. Gillbert the Sea Creature is the son of King Nauticus, king of all the oceans. One day, Gillbert will be king. But in the meantime, his playful curiosity takes him away from the kingdom on a journey of discovery.Gillbert meets an amphibious mermaid and follows her into unknown parts of the ocean. Where he meets many unknown and undiscovered species of underwater creatures. He didn’t know these things existed so close to home. Gillbert’s world just got a whole lot bigger!” It’s available at comic book stores in paperback and hardcover editions.
The Power of the Sea — To Hurt and To Heal
Katie O’Neill is well-known among comic collectors as the creator of Princess Princess Ever After and The Tea Dragon Society. Now comes her latest work, Aquicorn Cove, out now from Oni Press. “When Lana and her father return to their seaside hometown to help clear the debris of a big storm, Lana remembers how much she’s missed the ocean—and the strong, reassuring presence of her aunt. As Lana explores the familiar beach, she discovers something incredible: a colony of Aquicorns, small magical seahorse-like creatures that live in the coral reef. Lana rescues an injured Aquicorn and cares for it with the help of her aunt, who may know more about these strange creatures than she’s willing to admit. But when a second storm threatens to reach the town, choices made many years ago about how to coexist with the sea start to rise to the surface.” This full-color graphic novel is available now in hardcover.
Friends In Spite Of Everything
We had not heard of this, but evidently it’s a thing — and now it’s collected all together. “Anouk Ricard’s bold and colorful comics of this quirky, grumpy gang of pals are delightfully weird yet thoroughly realistic in their honest and hilarious portrayal of friendship. Anna, Froga, Christopher the worm, Ron the cat, and Bubu the dog continue their non-adventures with bickering, needling, cajoling, and honest friendship. No white lie goes unexposed, no small embarrassment goes unrevealed, no secret is kept, everyone’s foibles are fodder for jokes. Anna and Froga: Completely Bubu collects all five issues of the acclaimed Anna & Froga series into an accessible paperback.” It’s out now from Drawn & Quarterly.
I Want a Monster to Be My Playmate
Monster Mayhem is a new full-color graphic novel written and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos. “Zoe’s favorite thing to do—besides invent and build robots — is watch classic monster movies. She has never been comfortable with kids her own age, and so she pretends she doesn’t need friends while inside she’s longing for connection. And then one day, Zoe finds a mysterious ring on her way home from school. She puts it on, gives it a twist, and — FRZAAKK! There’s a massive burst of light! The next morning, a familiar monster appears at Zoe’s window. He’s from one of her favorite kaiju movies, and he likes Zoe — he wants to be her friend. Has her secret wish been fulfilled? But it turns out that Zoe’s ring has brought more than just this friendly monster to life. More monsters have arrived, and they are hungry! Now she’ll need to reach out to other people to help her save her town from destruction. Good thing she’s a robotics genius!” Got all that? It’s available now in hardcover from Dial Books.