Chickenhare and Banjo paper toys are available right now to download and build right now! right now! More to come hopefully next week. I do apologize for taking so long to get these posted. Been a strange week. This post will eventually get buried behind new ones just remember you can just click on the “downloads” tab at the top of the page to get to the paper toys anytime you need to.
So, a few of you may know that my M-F job is as a Hallmark artist in Kansas City, Mo. Most of my time is spent illustrating greeting cards and such but every now and then, I get to work on something really cool. For example, I got to work with a small team of designers/friends on the production design end of the recent hoops & yoyo Haunted Halloween special. As it turns out, that little job earned itself a nomination at the Annie awards! For reals!
Outstanding Achievement, Production Design in an Animated Television or other Broadcast Venue Production
It looks like we might just be heading out to LA in a few weeks, equipped with uncomfortable tuxedos to get to stare across a sea of some of the most talented animators in the world. What are the odds?
My good friend Matt Hawkins over at custompapertoys.com helped me create all the templates for some really fun paper toys based on my Chickenhare books! I cannot wait to share these with everyone hopefully on Monday. My plan is to add a few every week leading up to the release of my new edition of Chickenhare Feb 1st. Next Monday will be Chickenhare and Banjo, followed by Meg, Abe and a few Shromphs, and maybe more later.
I originally pitched Chickenhare way back in 2005 as a black and white comic because I very much love black and white comics. That said, there was also another more secret reason… I wasn’t a very confident colorist at the time. I’m happy to say that since that time I have worked hard toward my goal of being able to do the kind of color I felt Chickenhare needed should the time ever come when I could relaunch the series in full color. The ill-fated web-comic I started and then abruptly stopped of what would be book three gave me a larger opportunity to really focus on the color and I was really getting in the groove when Chickenhare got the called to play in the big leagues. Anyway, today I thought I would post a few of the new colored pages for you to check out, not too many because I don’t want to ruin the story for people just discovering the series through Scholastic. I’m really excited to share these with you finally after so many years of talking with fans at comic conventions about what-if and someday scenarios. I feel like we’re finally there.
I know I have some explaining to do around here to many fans who have supported me and Chickenhare from the beginning way back on 2006 when it was first published. I’ll do my best to shed as much light as I can on this topic in the weeks to come promise, but for now, I just want to give a big thanks you to everyone who helped make this possible.
Dark Horse was a great home for 6 years and I have nothing but respect and appreciation for them there. That said, it has been a dream of mine since college to have a book published with Scholastic so when the opportunity arose to see Chickenhare brought to life in full color under the Graphix imprint I didn’t even need to think about it.
This new version of Book 1 not only comes in full color, but it also clearly sports a new cover design, a new logo treatment and some new pages salt and peppered throughout to help spice up the deal for my loyal fans who already have copies of the black and white version. Pre-orders are ready to go NOW! Here are some links…
