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io9Books & ComicsFirst Second Is Publishing the Hilarious and Stunning Webcomic Epic Cucumber Quest
If you enjoy stories about children going off on epic adventures (and enjoy poking fun at them even more), you should do yourself a favor and check out Gigi D.G.’s webcomic Cucumber Quest. And soon, you’ll be able to read the story in print. First Second announced this week that it will be releasing the … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
We Should Take the Other Road
This is why the traffic report really needs to take monster attacks into account. Concept art by Nacho Yagüe. This is actually just an unfinished doodle (not a completed illustration) from Yagüe, who works as a professional concept artist at Ubisoft Toronto. You may be familiar with some of his work from Splinter Cell, Assassin’s … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9A Haunting Short Film Set in a World Where Evolution Happens Rapidly—And Is Often Deadly
In the dystopian world of Dust, evolution occurs at a breakneck rate, forming organisms that may hold miraculous powers or trigger deadly plagues. While most of humanity lives in walled cities, it’s the job of trackers to record the changes, and look for ways to cure the sicknesses. We spoke with Dust director Mike Grier … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Books & Comics
This Mysterious Webcomic Breathes Fresh Life into Beauty and the Beast
We’ve seen a lot of webcomics loosely inspired by fairy tales, but Megan Kearney does something a little different with her Beauty and the Beast. She goes back to the classic tellings of the story, and gives both leads richer and stranger backstories. Kearney starts with a familiar story: Beauty’s family was once wealthy, but … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Books & Comics
Don’t Know How to Look at Art? You Need to Read This Comic
Lynda Barry is truly a treasure of cartooning. In just four panels, she delivers a poignant piece on how audiences interact with art, even if they’re not sure what they’re supposed to be feeling. If you haven’t read any of Barry’s comics, I can’t recommend her Marlys comics and One Hundred Demons highly enough. Plus, … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9This Trippy Film Was the Only Animation Banned by Soviet Censors
Animation in the Soviet Union was often a glorious thing to behold: experimental, surreal, and eclectic, even amidst government censorship. In fact, just one home-grown animated film didn’t make it past the censors: Andrei Khrzhanovsky’s 1968 satire The Glass Harmonica. Open Culture pointed us toward this particular film and explains the context in which it … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Books & Comics
What Happens to a Magical Girl After She Loses Her Team?
Mary Cagle’s latest webcomic, Sleepless Domain, is set in a city that’s invaded by monsters every night, and protected by Magical Girls. But one group, Team Alchemical, is having some interpersonal issues, which can get dangerous during those nightly battles. It quickly becomes clear that Sleepless Domain, against Cagle’s cute Magical Girl art, is a … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Voyager Space Probe Lands Back on Earth, But Only One Person Is Left to Hear Its Message
After meeting with misadventure, a space probe from the Voyager mission crashes back to Earth, centuries after it left. But Earth is a very different place now, and there’s only one person around to witness the Golden Record’s message. Loïc Magar and Roman Veiga wrote and directed Voyager, which combines stop-motion with computer-generated animation, making … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Books & Comics
Dragon Bros Are the Best Bros
Artist Floccinaucinihilipilification is probably best known for her comics showing Harry Potter’s Dumbledore at his most absurdly irresponsible. When she isn’t skewering Hogwarts, she can sometimes draws a pair of goofy dragons who happen to be the best of bros. You can read all of the “Dragon Bros” comics on Floccinaucinihilipilification’s Tumblr, where she recently … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
These Elaborate Seashell Crowns Are Perfect for a Mermaid Queen
Whether you plan to rule over Atlantis, or just the neighborhood pool, these crowns by artist Chelsea Shiels will complete your water-based royalty ensemble. What I really enjoy about Shiels’ mermaid crowns is how they look like they’ve been strung together from found objects: not just shells, but gems, costume jewelry, trinkets, and beads that … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9A Canine Doctor Wonders if She Would Be Happier as a Stay-At-Home Pet
In a world where most dogs still hang out at home with their owners, three canine friends have decided to try for their dream careers. But they still can’t help but wonder: did they make the right choices? Dogtor is Rhea Dadoo’s second year film at CalArts. The dogs function as a rather sweet analogy … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
Negotiations With Aliens This Massive Are Just a Little Bit Trickier
When Scout Zhang spotted the creature scrambling up and away from the wreckage, he took a deep breath. Sure, the thing had just devoured thirty tons of perfectly good salvage, but when it came to first contact, patience always trumped anger. Concept art by Evan Liu. Liu calls this piece “Another alien faction,” and you … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Books & Comics
When Freud Meets With Pop Culture Characters, Things Get Heavy (and Hilarious) Fast
Cartoonist Lee Gatlin regularly posts hilarious comics on his Tumblr, including a series of comics where Freud listens to the emotional woes of various fictional creatures, including superheroes, monsters, and even Satan himself. Sometimes, introspection is just funny. If you dig these, definitely check out the rest of Gatlin’s Tumblr. He’s got some seriously giggle-inducing … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Books & Comics
In This Webcomic About a Magical Competition, One Competitor May Not Have Any Magic Powers
In Taylor Robin’s webcomic Never Satisfied, there is one plum job that every young magician wants: to be their city’s magical representative to the king. But in this year’s crop, one competitor has managed to stay in the running without using any magic. What gives? Seriously, this comic is just flat-out fun. Robin has created … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Snow White and the Seven Dwarves Makes a Surprisingly Great Crime Movie
We’ve seen endless adaptations of Snow White, but we’ve never seen one quite like this. In this animated short, a crew of thieves in matching hats has just pulled the job of their lives, but things don’t turn out quite as they expected. There’s a lot to love in Leo Verrier’s The Seven Red Hoods: … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Books & Comics
The Comics From Kate Beaton’s Children’s Book Tour Are as Adorable as You’d Expect
Kate Beaton is currently on tour for her latest book, King Baby, a tour that is taking her to a lot of schools and putting her in contact with many hilarious children. Fortunately for us, she has been documenting her book tour encounters in comic form. King Baby is out in stores, ready to get … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
What If Mythical Creatures Were on Tumblr?
Tumblr is often a place where people discuss identity politics, but how much more complicated would those identity politics be if they included vampires, werewolves, fairies, and other fantastical creatures? Well, a handful of Tumblr users decided to poke some loving fun at their community: Yep. [via charmingly antiquated]
By Lauren Davis -
io9Books & Comics
A Bitter Ex-Magical Girl Tries to Hold Down a Day Job. It Doesn’t Go Well
When Farah, star of the webcomic Shattered Starlight, was younger, she was able to deal with her problems by hitting them with her magical hockey stick. That’s because she was a magical girl, a defender of Montreal. But now that she’s older, she has to deal with crappy jobs and crappier bosses. And that might … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9Movies
Hard-Boiled Urban Fantasy Sandman Slim May Be Coming to the Big Screen
Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim books have always seemed perfectly suited for a film adaptation. After all, they star a tough-talking magician who’s escaped from Hell (and sounds like he escaped from a Raymond Chandler novel) and is out for revenge. And now a movie may be on its way. Deadline is reporting that Studio 8 … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9What Happens When All of Your Ex-Lovers’ Teddy Bears Decide to Take Their Revenge?
Teddy bears make a sweet gift when you’re dating someone, but when the relationship goes south, it’s often the plush toy that suffers. In the short film Teddy Bears are for Lovers, a group of long-suffering teddies decide to team up against the guy they feel did their owners wrong. Almog Avidan Antonir directed this … Continued
By Lauren Davis
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