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comic books

And a Child Shall Lead Them… Astray?

From Dark Horse comes Lonesome Hunters: The Wolf Child, a “supernatural fantasy” comic mini-series. “Monster hunters Howard and Lupe are on their way to get rid of a powerful sword, but car trouble leaves them stranded in a small town that is being terrorized by a magical wolf and a mysterious child in a wolf mask. While waiting for car repairs, Lupe befriends the child, and she and Howard are drawn into a war between the townspeople and the deadly beasts.” Written and illustrated by Tyler Crook (Harry County).


image c. 2024 Dark Horse Comics

Furry comic anthology 'Furrlough' returns to comic shops and original publisher

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Furrlough is an anthology series specializing in anthropomorphic comics. It has returned to its original publisher, Antarctic Press, with Furrlough #194 in shops on April 24, 2024. PreviewsWorld search says #194 "may be available now at comic shops or can be ordered quickly for you if not in stock." The order code for #194 is JAN241389.

Furrlough #194 cover

The publisher's page for #194 says, in part:

Cover artist "Holly Daughtrey"/"... COMICS' LONGEST-RUNNING ANTHRO­POMORPHIC TITLE! ...

"Blinth" (Jason Dubes, Noel Serrato): The fallen angels have rebelled and now look to their lord Lucifer for guidance. However, the cat goddess Bast and the dark lord Anubis withhold information from their leader, something that will give rise to a potential new deity.

"The Chosen One" (Charles Brubaker): Fox boy Dewey DeSmall is tasked by an ostrich to save the day from a great danger. But what can a small librarian's assistant do?"

The only future issue listed at distributor Diamond's website is Furrlough #195 (with order code APR241265) with an in-shops date of June 26, 2024. Since it won't ship for a month, your local comic shop should hopefully be able to do a late pre-order.

Diamond's website has a page for the Furrlough series, which had a monthly publication schedule from 1993 to 2008. It was published by Radio Comix starting April 1997.

Gas Girl

We spent last weekend at our first Furry Weekend Atlanta, and had a great time meeting new artists seeing new creations. Such as… Wildlife Fuel is a full-color comic written and illustrated by Kelly Latham. It’s been an ongoing web-comic for a while, but now there’s the first issue out on paper! “During the summer between high school and college, Cent the Skunk works at Wildlife Fuel, a gas station that has crazy fun times, but even crazier customers. While trying to survive hectic and humorous retail situations, she must also navigate major life choices during this transitional time in her life.” Visit Kelly’s web site to find out more about this and other comics she’s created.


image c. 2024 by Kelly Latham

 

He Does Not Eat… Mice

Recently we met the folks at Headless Gnomes, who showed us their new comic book Fangs & Foul Play. “A deserted colonel, Richard, runs into a telepathic vampiric cat, Fang, while trying to flee the horrors of war. Now Richard has to find victims to feed to Fang and serve his every whim. Will he ever escape having to commit terrible atrocities?” Only writer L.K. Ingino knows for sure, ably assisted by artists Alex Guenther and Mariam Yasser. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, issues are available now on their web site.


image c. 2024 Headless Gnomes

Not-Planet of the Apes

Here’s a science fiction limited-series comic that came to us from CEX last year: Josif 1957. “You know about Laika, the Cosmonaut dog sent into orbit on Sputnik 2. But no one knows about Josif, the first gorilla in space! Born on Josif Stalin’s birthday and subjected to terrible genetic experiments, Josif soon grew far too powerful. The leadership of the Soviet Union did all they could to stop him. But not everything went as planned!” It’s written by Davide Barzi, and illustrated by a talented young Italian artist, Fabiano Ambu.


image c. 2024 CEX Publishing

Cats. Do You Trust’em?

We missed the Hairball horror mini-series last year, but now Dark Horse have released issues #1 – #4 in a very special single-volume collection. “A young girl with a black cat begins to suspect the innocuous beast is behind all her troubles: Her parents’ fighting, family plagues, and innumerable supernatural horrors. As she tries her best to rid herself of this creature, she discovers that maybe the cat is not evil after all and a greater terror may be behind these horrific events harming her life. Collects Hairball #1-#4 in a deluxe, hardcover die-cut format featuring faux cat fur.” Seriously, they did that. It’s written by Matt Kindt, with artwork by Tyler Jenkins and Hilary Jenkins.


image c. 2024 Dark Horse Press

Fantasy vs. Horror

There’s something so perfectly fannish about a comic book series called Unicorn Vampire Hunter. It’s written by Caleb Palmquist and illustrated by Daryl Toh. “A young woman named Jezebel moves to a magical marsh to live with her uncle, Seamus the Wizard and his puppies that never grow old. One day, Jezebel wanders into the dark forest and almost falls victim to a vampire. Luckily, her life is saved by a unicorn, who gores the vampire with his horn, killing it. Jezebel and her uncle welcome the unicorn into their family, but things are about to get dicey…” Find out how in this new series from Scout Comics.


image c. 2024 Scout Comics

B*tches in the Backwoods

A different take on werewolf horror can be found in Lycan: Girl’s Night, a one-shot comic book from Band of Bards. “A rogue pack of werewolves has been on the run for centuries. After starting new lives in a sleepy Colorado community, living undetected among humans, their enemies have finally tracked them down. Their idyllic suburban lives were a dream, but sometimes you can never escape your past, no matter how hard you try. These women wanted peace, but their tormentors won’t let them be. See what happens when they unleash their long suppressed might.” It’s available now, with a story by C.J. Hudson and art by Mary Landro. This town better legalize Awoo.


image c. 2024 Band of Bards

Do You Trust Your Cats?

The strange folks over at Silver Sprocket have a strange series of one-shot comics called Everything Sucks. One of the most recent is Everything Sucks: All Cats Go To Hell!, written and illustrated by Michael Sweater (creator of Please Keep Warm). “Everyone loves cats, but Noah knows the truth: They’re maliciously smart, can’t be trusted, and may actually understand how deadbolts work. Honestly, he really shouldn’t be left alone with them. Michael Sweater combines ‘90s animation nostalgia, sitcom antics, and a seasoning of stoner comedy in this hilarious new comic.” Which is available now, by the way.


image c. 2024 Silver Sprocket

Dig It All Over Again

The celebrated and multi-award-winning creator Ursula Vernon first came to most people’s attention through her black & white web comic called Digger. Now, a decade later, Grim Oak Press gives us Digger Unearthed: The Complete Tenth Anniversary Collection. “Digger Unearthed is the story of a shrewd, sensible wombat engineer named Digger-of-unnecessarily-convoluted-tunnels, who finds herself stranded in a fantasy world that is far from logical. Thrust into the middle of a puzzling and often perilous situation involving gods, demons, destiny, and redemption, she finds her way based on a pragmatic honesty and the sincere belief in doing the right thing… To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Digger Unearthed offers the complete web comic collection in a single volume that can be fully enjoyed by young adult readers, yet also contains layers of sophistication that become deeper and more meaningful with age and experience.” Which we have. It’s available now in both paperback and hardcover.


image c. 2024 Grim Oak Press

Helper Rock-Wrecked

It’s a bit late for Christmas-themed stuff — and even later for Halloween horror! None the less, we just came across Monsters of Metal: Krampus in Concert, still available from Opus Comics. “Written by director and visual effects artist Jason Howden (Guns Akimbo) and Llexi Leon, Monsters of Metal takes iconic creatures on the road as a heavy metal band in this riotous send-up of life on tour! This time out, our favorite monster metalheads cross paths with the dreaded Krampus!” The bloody artwork is by Ryan Christensen. Check out the preview over at Bleeding Cool to see just how wild they get!


image c. 2024 Opus Comics

Four Legs Good

We came across a brand-new comic from Boom! Studios called Animal Pound. It goes like this: “When animals grow tired of being caged, killed, and sold off-it’s only a matter of time before they’ve had enough… When an uprising puts a pound in control of the animals, they quickly find themselves as comrades, united against everything that walks on two legs. But with this newfound power comes a sudden challenge: how best to lay the groundwork for this new democracy as they write their first constitution!” Written by Tom King (Love Everlasting) and illustrated by award-winning artist Peter Gross (The Books of Magic), Animal Pound comes to comic shops later this week.


image c. 2023 Boom! Studios

Don’t Hide the Appeal!

The comic 2-Land is one of those things where, if you read the description alone, you’d never even know it was furry. And then you see it, as in the picture below! Anyway, here’s that description: “The city of Tuland has been very active lately. There has been a spike in low level crime, political confusion as well as a looming feeling as if there is a puppet master dictating these seemingly petty crimes. On top of all of this the city has a mysterious new hero. No one has seen him. No cameras have caught him in action. And the only witnesses of his presence are the criminals. Will Tuland’s streets return to their once peaceful norm? Is there a so called ‘puppet master’ pulling the strings behind these criminal activities? Will this self-appointed savior of Tuland reveal himself to the people?” The creators, Jay the Teller and Dr. Inx, have their own web site for the comic too, which has a lot more background information.


image c. 2023 2-Land Comics

C’mon Now… What Did You Expect?

In case you missed it: One of the break-out ‘stars’ of the Loki TV series over on Disney+ was Loki… as an alligator. Yes. Popular enough that now he even has his own comic book! We got this from Previews: “Bow down to the reptile in a helm who has enraptured the Ten Realms…with his cuteness! First Alligator Loki chomped down on Mjolnir, and then he chomped his way into our hearts. Now, the beloved Alligator of Mischief finds – and makes – trouble all across the Marvel Universe in his very own comic! Collecting the hit Infinity Comics series from the Marvel Unlimited app, this one-shot includes a never-before-seen adventure in the life of everyone’s favorite swamp-dwelling scamp!” Wow, we didn’t know that app thing… was a thing. Alligator Loki is on the shelves now!


image c. 2023 Marvel Comics

Wolfsbane and War

Sometimes just a title is going to tell you most of what you need to know. Definitely true for a title like Sgt. Werewolf, a new comic written and illustrated by Rich Woodall. “Sgt. Steve Hovatter leads a small group of U.S. Commandos to infiltrate Lichtenstein castle in Germany and recover intel on Nazi Occult operations. The Commandos are captured, and Sgt. Hovatter is executed. Hours later Sgt. Hovatter is transformed into a Werewolf, and he uncovers a much more sinister plot at Castle Lichtenstein.” It’s coming to the comic book shelves this month from Scout Comics, through their horror imprint Black Caravan.


image c. 2023 Scout Comics