Fleecs + Forstner continue to build the ‘pet horror’ genre in ‘Feral’

The creators of ‘Stray Dogs’ set their sights on cats in their next series at Image Comics.

Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner will once again put household pets in terrible situations in Feral, an ongoing series coming from Image Comics next year.

This time around the Stray Dogs team will focus on cats — in particular three indoor cats who get lost outside during a rabies outbreak.

“We didn’t want to repeat ourselves with this follow up book so it really was at first, thinking about: Okay, Stray Dogs is dogs trapped in a house. So, let’s have this one be about what’s really frightening in wide open spaces. The antagonist in Stray Dogs is someone who’s evil from the inside out. So, let’s have these cats face something that’s like an infection. An external threat. The stray dogs were forgetful… So these cats remember EVERYTHING,” Fleecs told The Hollywood Reporter. “These cats hold a grudge. That’s what we did differently. But the thing we did the same way was, we tried to build the story on characters, and how they fit together and how they clash and then just… What’s the worst possible situation we can put them in?”

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Pichetshote + Lonergan head to the stars in ‘Man’s Best’

The BOOM! Studios series will feature three pets tasked with saving humanity from an alien threat.

Pornsak Pichetshote and Jesse Lonergan will send three emotional support animals into hostile alien territory in Man’s Best, a new series coming from BOOM! Studios next year.

The three pets live on the Starship Horizon, which is searching for a new home “to house a humanity compromised by bad decisions and corporate greed.” Kind of like Wall-E meets We3. Things, of course, go horribly wrong for the human, and it’s up to the support animals to provide a different kind of support.

“It’s really weird to say a book about a cat in a mech suit, a golden retriever with a bionic leg, and a French bulldog with a rocket strapped to his back might be my most personal book ever, but…that’s kinda what happened?” said Pichetshote, whose resume includes InfidelSandman Universe: Dead Boy Detectives and the Eisner-winning The Good Asian. “I’ve never written anything where I can see recent realizations in my life directly incorporated onto the page as much as this book and have no idea how readers will respond. What I’m a lot more confident in is how much of an honor it is to work with Jesse Lonergan. It’s amazing how as a ‘professional writer’ I still have no words to explain how innovative his art keeps getting with each issue.”

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Nominees announced for the 2021 Reuben, NCS awards

Winners will be revealed in September.

The National Cartoonist Society has announced the nominees for the 2021 Cartoonist of the Year, commonly known as The Reuben Award, as well as the many divisional awards they give out each year.

Keith Knight, Edward Sorel, Bill Griffith, Hilary B. Price and Mark Tatulli are all up for the Reuben the year, with several of them being nominated in years past. Last year Curtis creator Ray Billingsley won the award.

The divisional awards cover everything from comics and graphic novels to comic strips, editorial cartoons and even greeting cards. They also nominate the cartoonist or artist, vs. the work or the entire creative team. I’ve included the nominations that are relevant to the world of comics below, but you can see the full list on the NCS website.

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‘Stray Dogs’ returns in December with ‘Dog Days’

Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner return to tell short stories about the characters introduced in ‘Stray Dogs.’

This December you’ll be able to learn more about the different canines who appeared in Image Comics’ recent Stray Dogs miniseries.

Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner’s litter of dogs — who also appeared in one of Image’s Free Comic Book Day titles this year — will return for a two-issue miniseries, Stray Dogs: Dog Days. It’ll feature short stories about each of the dogs.

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