ON OUR RADAR: ELMER & PINOCCHIO VAMPIRE SLAYER

Dawn
Elmer Finds a Roost at SLG Publishing

Acclaimed Philippine Graphic Novel About Chickens Gets First US Printing/Distribution
San Jose, CA – August 16 2010 – Elmer, the acclaimed graphic novel by Philippine cartoonist Gerry Alanguilan about talking chickens, will finally see print in the United States this November in a new edition released from SLG Publishing. A  window into a world where chickens have suddenly acquired the intelligence and consciousness of humans, Elmer tells the story of a family of chickens who struggles to survive in a strange and dangerous world.

Elmer Graphic Novel Cover

While Elmer is basically a book about talking chickens, SLG Publisher Dan Vado says it should not be dismissed as funny animal book. “This is not about talking chickens the way Babe was about talking pigs” Vado observed “Elmer has more in common with Animal Farm than any talking dog movie.”

Creator Gerry Alanguilan has worked in comics for some time on various work-for-hire projects from major publishers, but when casting around for ideas for his own project he looked no further than his own front window ” I’ve always been surrounded by chickens. I find them fascinating and I often found myself wondering what if… what if they could think like us and talk like us?” said Alanguilan “What would they say? What would they do? It was a ridiculous notion, but I tried to approach it very seriously and see what I would come up with.”

Self-publishing the series in The Philippines, Alanguilan’s comic attracted attention internationally for its mirror-like look at the world we live in. Neil Gaiman called it “heartbreaking and funny and so beautifully drawn.”

The SLG Publishing edition of Elmer will contain all of the same material from the self-published version which saw limited distribution outside of the Philippines. Scheduled for a November 2010 release, Elmer will be a 144 page black and white graphic novel priced at $12.95 and will be available at better comics and book shops, from Amazon.com as well as from the publisher’s own website.

The first chapter of the book is available as a free download from the SLG
Publishing website (www.slgcomic.com). Review copy is available on request.

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer Returns
The Great Puppet Theater Digs Deeper Into Little Wooden Slayer

San Jose, CA – 8/16/2010 – More Lies! More Vampires! More…Puppets.

Pinocchio The little wooden vampire slayer returns in an all new adventure from SLG Publishing.  Pinocchio: The Great Puppet Theater features more danger, more deceit, and truckloads more nose-shanked vampire. The much anticipated sequel to critically acclaimed graphic novel Pinocchio Vampire Slayer, follows the little wooden boy’s ongoing quest to find and kill the head vampire while he kills as many of his undead minions as he can along the way.
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Now with an undead Master Cherry and the addition of his long lost marionette family in tow, Pinocchio might just be closer to getting his greatest wish granted than he ever thought possible. But, WHICH wish? And will Pinocchio’s life ever be the same afterwards? Both writer Van Jensen and artist Dustin Higgins raise the stakes as they reunite to continue the story of Pinocchio based on the legendary original version of the story by Carlo Collodi. “Collodi’s story is so rich that, if we wanted, we could fill dozens of books up with adventures spinning from his world,” says Jensen. “The challenge then really is in choosing the right pieces of his story to incorporate into ours without going overboard. While our story certainly spins off into totally different directions, I like to think it keeps up the tone of Collodi’s Pinocchio.” It was midway through scripting the first graphic novel that Jensen had an idea about a larger mythos involving Pinocchio and the vampires.  “The trick with that book was to allude to a larger story while keeping it self contained, because we didn’t know if it would be popular enough to support a second volume. Thankfully fans really took to the story, and so now we’re able to explore this larger adventure.”

Volume one of Pinocchio was released to critical acclaimed and praised for its clever use of the concept. Named one of the top 10 Great Graphic Novel for teens by YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Volume one remains in print and has become one of SLG Publishing’s great success stories.

Pinocchio: The Great Puppet Theater is a 176 page, $14.95 graphic novel written by Van Jensen and illustrated by Dustin Higgins. Scheduled for an October 2010 release from SLG Publishing Pinocchio Vampire Slayer Vol 2 will be available at better comics and bookstores as well as at Amazon.com and the publisher’s own website. A ten page preview appears on the SLG Website. Review copies are available on request.