A New Face Joins Wishtales Publishing

Happy Monday, my readers. I've got news to share with you today.

You may remember Wishtales Publishing, which I mentioned shortly after its launch last September. Wishtales is bringing aboard former Disney cartoonist Eddie Pittman and his comic "Red's Planet." I've come across Red's Planet a couple of times before receiving the press release, and I liked what I saw--Pittman's professional experience in storytelling through animation comes through strongly, and it's clear he's put a lot of effort and planning and fun into his comic. "Red's Planet" stars a runaway foster child, Red, who is accidentally abducted by aliens. She finds herself marooned on an unfamiliar planet with a weird alien entourage who are even worse than her foster family. It's sharp, cartoony, and an engagingly weird fish-out-of-water adventure.

Incidentally, I had a chance last week to catch up on Moon Town last week, and Steve Ogden is really knocking it out of the park with this one. I can see why he won the "Best New Comic" award in the 2009 Webcomic List Awards. Bottom line is, if you like quality sci-fi storytelling, you can't go wrong with the Wishtales guys. Give 'em all a look, because I'm sure at least one of these guys has got a comic you'll enjoy.

The press release is as follows:

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CARTOONIST AND FORMER DISNEY ARTIST EDDIE PITTMAN JOINS WISHTALES

March 2, 2010 – The independent publishing studio Wishtales has added to their roster of all-ages comics with the addition of Eddie Pittman, creator of the brand new online graphic novel "Red's Planet."

Pittman began his animation career with Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida working on Mulan, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor’s New Groove and Lilo & Stitch. He currently resides in Orlando Florida where he provides a variety of services including storyboard and illustration work.

Pittman recently began publishing his all-ages science fiction graphic novel "Red's Planet" online. Dell'Aringa and Ogden were immediately taken by his wonderful style and smart writing. Emails were exchanged and Pittman eventually provided artwork for Dell'Aringa's first book "Out of Orbit."

Dell'Aringa and Ogden soon realized that Pittman was a perfect fit for Wishtales.

"I brought it up to Steve early in the week and it just seemed like a no-brainer for us. Eddie is not only a wonderful artist, but a wonderful person, too. We share a lot of the same ideas about art and about all-ages material. It's a natural fit. We're just ecstatic Eddie felt the same way," said Dell'Aringa.

Pittman's "Red's Planet" is the story of Red, a 10-year old girl who after running away from her foster home is mistakenly kidnapped by aliens. She soon finds herself across the galaxy and marooned on a deserted planet with an eclectic group of castaways who are much worse than her foster family.

Pittman was happy to join the budding publishing studio.

"I couldn't be more excited to be a part of Wishtales. Tom Dell'Aringa and Steve Ogden are two of my favorite storytellers. Having the opportunity to work with them and bring strong all-ages content to life through Wishtales is a dream come true," said Pittman.

Wishtales we be exhibiting for the first time at the 11th annual Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo in Columbus Ohio in April 24th and 25th, where they will be showing off material from their many creations including "Red's Planet," "Moon Town," "Marooned," "Rag the Viking," "Croaker's Gorge," "Cubicle Pigs" and more.


Wishtales Publishing Studio
http://www.wishtales.com

Red's Planet by Eddie Pittman
http://www.redsplanet.com

Marooned by Tom Dell'Aringa
http://www.maroonedcomic.com


Moon Town by Steve Ogden
http://www.moon-town.com

We Interrupt Your Regularly-Scheduled Hiatus to Bring You a Publishing Studio

So, the blog may be on hiatus. But the other day I got an email with some webcomic news worth mentioning, so I figured it was worth taking fifteen minutes and compromising my principles to bring you this newspost.



Tom Dell’Aringa (Marooned) and Steve Ogden (Moon Town) have launched their own indie comic publishing group: Wishtales Publishing Studio.

Tom's the one who emailed me. I took a look at the new project, and from the site and the info in Tom's email, I gotta say I like the ethos of this thing. The About page gives an explanation: these guys are willing to take some chances on unusual projects in an industry driven by doing more and more and more of the same. Their first book will be Marooned - Out of Orbit, which begins preorder next week. A book for Moon Town is also on their agenda, at some point in the future.

In short, Wishtales looks like it's worth your attention. I know Steve Ogden produces some jaw-droppingly good art (just check out the sample above), and Tom Dell’Aringa is a good cartoonist in his own right. They both produce some really creative work that isn't afraid to take chances, and I expect that even more awesomeness will result from their joint venture into publishing.