By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 12/29/2015
Back when Dark Horse published Star Wars comics, they had a book called Star Wars Tales, and from Star Wars Tales #20 back in 2004, here is the heartrending story of George R. Binks, Jar Jar's magic father. And only the great Tony Millionaire could do justice to this story.
By: Jerry Beck,
on 11/13/2014
Indie comic artist Tony Millionaire and animation artist Matt Danner are developing Millionaire's "Sock Monkey" graphic stories as an animated feature.
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By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 11/4/2014
You guys! You guy! Ohmigod! Cartoonist Tony Millionaire and animator Matt Danner are trying to make a hybrid CGI/live action movie based on Millionaire’s Sock Monkey books. Danner—WWE Slam City, Hotwheels—has penned a script and the duo re attempting to line up financing for the film.
Sock Monkey is the star of several children’s books by Millionaire, the most recent, Sock Monkey Into The Deep Woods
co-written by Danner, is a pilot for the film. All of them feature Millionaire’s intricate retro artwork and hauntingly wistful, sad and eerie stories that suggest loss and sorrow even when things seem to be going well. Just like all great kids books. And if you watch the test above, you can see that tone is lovingly captured—and good call on the Saint-Saens clip from “The Aquarium.”
Story follows stuffed hero Uncle Gabby as he and his doll pals venture across sea, land, and air to save their human, Ann-Louise, whom they fear has been kidnapped by a vicious monster. The Sock Monkey project was initially envisioned as a film, but when Danner wrote the treatment as a children’s book, Millionaire’s publisher Fantagraphics caught wind of it and agreed to publish it in print form first. The book hits shelves November 16.
Danner and Millionaire are going out to studios and financiers with the script and teaser, which Danner shot on his own over the course of one day with a small crew. Using five different “digi-nette” puppets on a practical set, they shot live-action footage which was later blended with CG to create a surreal look and feel.
Millionaire’s comic strip Maakies was previously adapted into the more raucous and alcohol-fueled Drinky Crow Show which aired on Adult Swim for a couple seasons.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 8/22/2014
It has been far too long since we linked to some art by the great Tony Millionaire, whose baroque penwork evokes pleasant feelings of timelessness. Maakies, his epic ongoing strip, is available online and in this episode, it’s what he claims is a true story. CLAIMS. On the other hand, Millionaire lives a baroque life and anything is possible.
By: Jerry Beck,
on 8/3/2013
Today, La Luz de Jesus Gallery (4633 Hollywood Blvd) will host the Adventure Time Super Event, celebrating the release of The Adventure Time Encyclopaedia
Written by Martin Olson (the voice of Lord of Evil on the series), designed by Sean Tejaratchi, and featuring original illustrations from cartoonists Renee French, Tony Millionaire, Celeste Moreno, Aisleen Romano, and Mahendra Singh, the book is the definitive guide to the who’s who and what’s what in the Land of Ooo.
This afternoon (August 3rd), join show creator Pendleton Ward, as well as Martin and Olivia Olson, Tony Millionaire, and Tom Kenny for music and snacks from 3-10 PM. For more details, visit the La Luz de Jesus website.
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By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 3/4/2013
Instant want: Fantagraphics will be collecting Tony Millionaire’s Sock Monkey stories in a treasury edition. The books originally came out from Dark Horse but are joining Millionaie’s Maakie’s collections at FBI.
In November 2013 we’ll be publishing Sock Monkey Treasury: A “Tony Millionaire’s Sock Monkey” Collection! This big fat hardcover collects all the Dark Horse Sock Monkey comics, the Uncle Gabby graphic novella, The Glass Doorknob storybook, and The Inches Incident graphic novel. These comics have been hailed as modern all-ages classics and we’re delighted to bring them to you in a single, sure-to-be-gorgeous tome.
By: Betsy Bird,
on 10/9/2011
Nursery rhymes. What’s up with that? (I feel like a stand up comedian when I put it that way). They’re ubiquitous but nonsensical. Culturally relevant but often of unknown origins. Children’s literary scholar Leonard Marcus ponders the amazing shelf life of nursery rhymes himself and comes up with some answers. Why is it that they last as long as they do in the public consciousness? Marcus speculates that “the old-chestnut rhymes that beguile in part by sounding so emphatically clear about themselves while in fact leaving almost everything to our imagination” leave themselves open to interpretation. And who better to do a little interpreting than cartoonists? Including as many variegated styles as could be conceivably collected in a single 128-page book, editor Chris Duffy plucks from the cream of the children’s graphic novel crop (and beyond!) to create a collection so packed with detail and delight that you’ll find yourself flipping to the beginning to read it all over again after you’re done. Mind you, I wouldn’t go handing this to a three-year-old any time soon, but for a certain kind of child, this crazy little concoction is going to just the right bit of weirdness they require.
Fifty artists are handed a nursery rhyme apiece. The goal? Illustrate said poem. Give it a bit of flair. Put in a plot if you have to. So it is that a breed of all new comics, those of the nursery ilk, fill this book. Here at last you can see David Macaulay bring his architectural genius to “London Bridge is Falling Down” or Roz Chast give “There Was a Crooked Man” a positive spin. Leonard Marcus offers an introduction giving credence to this all new coming together of text and image while in the back of the book editor Chris Duffy discusses the rhymes’ history and meaning. And as he says in the end, “We’re just letting history take its course.”
In the interest of public scrutiny, the complete list of artists on this book consists of Nick Abadzis, Andrew Arnold, Kate Beaton, Vera Brosgol, Nick Bruel, Scott Campbell, Lilli Carre, Roz Chast, JP Coovert, Jordan Crane, Rebecca Dart, Eleanor Davis, Vanessa Davis, Theo Ellsworth, Matt Forsythe, Jules Feiffer, Bob Flynn, Alexis Frederick-Frost, Ben Hatke, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Lucy Knisley, David Macaulay, Mark Martin, Patrick McDonnell, Mike Mignola, Tony Millionaire, Tao Nyeu, George O’Connor, Mo Oh, Eric Orchard, Laura Park, Cyril Pedrosa, Lark Pien, Aaron Renier, Dave Roman, Marc Rosenthal, Stan Sakai, Richard Sala, Mark Siegel, James Sturm, Raina Telgemeier, Craig Thompson, Richard Thompson, Sara Varon, Jen Wang, Drew Weing, Gahan Wilson, Gene Luen Yang, and Stephanie Yue (whew!). And as with any collection, some of the inclusions are going to be stronger than others. Generally speaking if fifty people do something, some of them are going to have a better grasp on the process than others. That said, only a few of these versions didn’t do it for me. At worst the versions were mediocre. At best they went in a new direction with their mat
By: John,
on 8/9/2011
Now this is a book of nursery rhymes for me! First Second books has assembled a drool-worthy lineup of cartoonists to interpret classic nursery rhymes in comic form. If the previews are any sign, the contributors didn’t disappoint either!
Above: Richard Thompson, Tony Millionaire, Laura Park, and Matt Forsythe.
I am very familiar with Tony Millionaire’s work in all its forms, but I have a special place in my heart for the sock monkey and crow children’s books. This sample video was pure magic. I so hope with all my heart that it can be made!