PREVIEW: Roger Langridge's SNARKED!

Above: The cover of Snarked! #0 by Roger Langridge. Copyright Roger Langridge 2011.

The details are finally out on Roger Langridge's new comics series Snarked!, to be published in October from KABOOM, the new kids comics imprint from BOOM Studios. Here's the official press release with the details:

June 2, 2011 – Los Angeles, CA – This August, KABOOM! and Roger Langridge want to give you a taste of the all-new All-Ages ongoing series SNARKED with the $1US SNARKED #0 prelude leading into this October’s exciting SNARKED #1! Written and drawn by Roger Langridge, the artistic mastermind behind the fan-favorite MUPPET SHOW COMIC BOOK and THOR: THE MIGHTY AVENGER, SNARKED is a bold re-imagining of Lewis Caroll’s topsy-turvy world! Also shipping this August, for the adult fans of Roger’s work, an all-new trade paperback featuring Langridge’s previously uncollected alt-comix material THE SHOW MUST GO ON, making August a month of Roger Langridge goodness you won’t want to miss!

“Very few cartoonists can combine all-ages fun with exciting adventure, but Roger Langridge pulls it off and makes it look easy!” says BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon. “Roger’s masterful art along with with his impeccable comedic timing and knack for storytelling will make SNARKED a new classic for comics and literature fans alike.”

“Roger Langridge has another hit on his hands with SNARKED!” says BOOM! Studios Marketing Director Chip Mosher. “Equal parts wonder, action, and hilarity, Roger Langridge has created a stunning world perfect for young and old readers alike! Fans of fantastic tales only have great things to look forward to in ROGER LANGRIDGE’S SNARKED!”

ROGER LANGRIDGE’S SNARKED #0 brings Lewis Carroll’s imaginative world to new heights in a side-splitting adventure that can only be explained as… SNARKED! Presenting a fresh and incredibly modern “Langridge” spin on an already-warped classic, the SNARKED adventure starts here with a self-contained 8-page story featuring The Walrus and The Carpenter from THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS – that’s right, the same Walrus that inspired the Beatles song “I Am the Walrus” is now in Roger Langridge’s merry, mad hands for new all-ages adventures at KABOOM! This $1 all-new original 8-page complete story also contains a full issue’s worth of back matter and dives deep into the world of SNARKED with an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the new series. Don’t miss this comic book industry event! Buy the $1US issue now, pick up the series in October!

THE SHOW MUST GO ON TPB is a volume of previously uncollected cartoon strips written and drawn by Roger Langridge. This title, published under the alt-comix imprint BOOM! Town, is suggested for more mature readers and ships in August with a price point of $14.99US.

What follows is a four page preview of Snarked! #0 to give you a free taste of what's to come:

The welcome announcement of The Show Must Go TPB should be of particular interest to long-time fans of Roger's work. Always a keen contributor to various comics community anthologies and jams, this collection will provide a great showcase for many of these rarely seen gems that Roger has produced over the years.

Above: The cover for The Show Must Go On Trade Paperback by Roger Langridge. Copyright Roger Langridge 2011.

So head down to your nearest comic shop and give Snarked! #0 a try in August for the special price of only $1US dollar! The Show Must Go will also be available that month for $14.99US. With the NZ dollar hitting record highs at the moment, you should be able to pick up these books for a song! (which in this case, it's likely to be "I am the Walrus";)

-AK! Coo Coo Ka-choo!

Roger Langridge's Muppet Show in Limbo...

Above: A previously solicited cover of The Muppet Show #12, before it's publication was cancelled. Copyright Disney 2011.

Last month it was announced that Marvel would be taking over the publishing rights for Disney's Pixar comics, which had been previously published by Boom Studios. This included titles based on the popular Pixar movies Cars, Monster Inc, Toy Story among others. This move was not entirely unexpected, as Marvel is now a part of the Disney media empire, and it would make sense to consolidate it's licenced properties. But one unexpected inclusion in this deal is the publishing rights to Jim Henson's Muppets.

The Muppet Show Comic Book as written and illustrated by Roger Langridge, was undoubtedly the highlight of Boom's Disney comics line, earning much critical acclaim and a Harvey Award last year for 'Best Original Graphic Publication for Younger Readers'. Roger was in the process of writing and illustrating his last story-line for the series, a four issue arc titled 'The Four Seasons', when Boom cancelled it's previously solicited Disney books. Marvel are planning to publish the Pixar material in a new monthly magazine, but as yet there are no details on the fate of Roger's completed story. So where does that leave the Muppet comics?

Roger posted this statement on his blog on Tuesday (along with some preview pages!):

To be honest, I have no idea. As far as I understand it, the unpublished work I've done for Boom isn't technically Disney's until it's published, and obviously Boom can't publish it without a license. So it's in a kind of limbo right now. In the best of all possible worlds, I'd like to think that Boom and Marvel can come to some kind of arrangement whereby Marvel can eventually release the work. I'm only a cartoonist, real business stuff makes my brain hurt, so I'm not sure how that would work - I guess Disney/Marvel buys the rights from Boom or something. Or maybe they have to go out into the woods at midnight and bury Kermit in effigy with some chives in order to break the curse. Something like that. However it happens, I would very much like for it to see the light of day eventually.

Until that happy day, which I look forward to with a smile on my face and a song in my heart, I guess it can't hurt to share some of the pages here. This arc would have been called The Four Seasons, hence the seasonal theme - these few pages would have been from the Winter/Christmas issue. (Appropriate for pages that are in cold storage for now.)

Above: Preview pages from The Muppet Show: The Four Seasons by Roger Langridge. Copyright Disney 2011.

With a new Muppets movie currently in production, I expect we'll see this in print sooner rather than later. I'll keep an eye on any further developments, until then you can check out new pages from Roger's webcomic, Mugwhump the Great!

-AK!