Coming June 8th on Comixology: The Red Panda #13 - "Zero Squadron part 2 of 2!"

I stumbled into a solicitation for the 13th issue of The Red Panda series from Monkeybrain Comics a few minutes ago and am quite pleased to be sharing it.

The all-new, two-fisted pulp adventures Terrific Twosome of Toronto! This issue: "Zero Squadron part 2 of 2!"

The "Night of the Red Panda" arc comes to a jaw-dropping, barnstorming, zeppelin-stealing conclusion that packs more punch than a swarm full of robots, which we also have, just for good measure!

I'll be disappointed if this turns out to be the last issue of the series, but not surprised. The four two-part stories that have been released were planned following a very successful Kickstarter campaign. Said otherwise, we're at the end of what we were told to expect.

On the other hand, the first three issues were entitled Mask Of The Red Panda before changing to Night Of The Red Panda for the following eight issues. The solicitation text above states that the "Night" arc is ending, so...Does that open the door for the Red Panda to return at a later date under an updated title?

Hopefully. In the meantime, I look forward to enjoying the conclusion of this very entertaining series next week.

Night of The Red Panda: Zero Squadron, part 1

First surprise of 2016!

The last issue of The Red Panda comic came out, appropriately enough, July 1st of last year. It was the conclusion to the fourth 2-part story, under the banner of "Night of The Red Panda", to be released since the original Mask of The Red Panda trilogy. And that was pretty much the quantity of material that we'd been told to expect from creator and writer Gregg Taylor.

But the 12th issue came out today and it is also the first part of two.

The all-new, two-fisted pulp adventures Terrific Twosome of Toronto! 

This issue: "Zero Squadron pt 1 of 2"! A missing British airship has our heroes take to the skies in search of the dastardly devils behind this aerial atrocity. Will they be enough to bring the crew home safely, or will they need high-flying help from the mysterious "Zero Squadron"?

Plus two more serialized chapters of the prose pulp novel "Pyramid of Peril", and a behind the scenes "Hero File" on that fabulous flying female, Kit Baxter a.k.a. the Flying Squirrel!

So there'll be more Panda (and Squirrel) comics coming our way soon!

The Red Panda: Pyramid of Power cover

At least I assume it is.

The following image is displayed in the last couple of issues of The Red Panda comic book (numbers 4 and 5, which combine to tell the "One Tin Soldier" tale).  It is included in the excerpts from the upcoming Pyramid of Power novel so in true detective fashion, one can put two and two together.

If print is your thing, you can still score the first trade paperback of the comic book series from Amazon. I didn't notice when the trade was released, but the story has been coloured for that format so that's an additional treat for those who bought the individual issues when they were first released.

And of course, the audio shows continue to appear regularly at the end of every month.

Night of The Red Panda drops tomorrow!

Awright!  The first Red Panda 2-parter begins tomorrow.  It will be available digitally on Comixology for $0.99 (or about a buck twelve Canadian...meh...) and hopefully collected in print at some point down the road.  Have a look at the cover below:

The Terrific Twosome of Toronto return with all-new two-fisted pulp adventures! August Fenwick, one of the city's wealthiest men, hides a secret life of adventure as his city's mysterious champion, The Red Panda. Together with his trusty driver, Kit Baxter, who joins him in his quest as the Flying Squirrel, he fights an endless battle, that all those who serve evil shall fear the Night of the Red Panda! 

This issue: "One Tin Soldier part 1 of 2" Three seemingly impossible murders have struck within hours, and all clues point to an old foe who is safely under lock and key... or is he? Plus a bonus "Pulp Preview" - the first chapter of the prose adventure "The Pyramid of Peril"!

Unexpected treat; it's in colour!  Check out this preview from Comic Book Resources.

Red Panda comics return March 19th!

From Facebook:

...all-new digital issues of Red Panda comics start March 19th! Why not set up a subscription? Click the link below, hit "subscribe to series" and then "checkout". You pay nothing today, and get each issue in the new "Night of the Red Panda" arc the nanosecond it is released for just 99 cents!

It's been a very active couple of weeks for the The Terrific Twosome of Toronto! The trade paperback for their original mini-series is hitting shelves, they were featured in a Toronto Star article and the 103rd episode of their radio show is set to be released in a few days.

Presumably the plans for the new comics have not changed and we'll be treated a two-part story.  Whether it will ever be collected in print is a whole other matter though.  The folks behold the Decoder Ring Theatre Facebook group state, unsurprisingly, that sales of the first compilation will dictate to IDW Publishing whether additional such books are worthwhile for them.  So even though I spent a staggering three whole dollars on the digital books as they came out, I intend to get the print version as well.

If you're fairly new to the characters, there are currently three novels about them, with a fourth on the way, I believe.  You can check out the selection here.

Upcoming Red Panda / Flying Squirrel material

That the Masks of the Red Panda digital comic from earlier this year is being collected into a trade paperback is less "news" than it is confirmation. The only unexpected aspect of it is that it is being published by IDW rather than Monkeybrain, who released the original mini-series.

Dimensions: 104 Pages, 6.3 × 10.24 × 0.39 in
Published: March 4, 2014

Racketeers, gangsters, the occasional power-mad supervillain - all have fallen before the iron resolve of the city''s masked protectors. But when forces with powers from beyond this world threaten to bring their war to the streets of Depression-era Toronto, can even the Red Panda prevent disaster? Bringing to life characters from The Red Panda Adventures, Decoder Ring Theatre''s award-winning radio drama series, Mask of the Red Panda is pulse-pounding pulp perfection for all those who love the classic two-fisted adventures of the golden age of radio, classic movie serials, and the hero pulps.

So that's cool.  I enjoyed the limited series a great deal and looked forward to having a print version for the collection.  The only disappointment is that it is not being published by a Canadian company.

My attempts at locating details about the book actually led me to find out about other Panda-based (and of course, his lovely partner, The Flying Squirrel) projects.

As mentioned in a comment to an earlier post about The Red Panda, a fourth novel is due to be released soon.  It will be titled The Pyramid of Peril. It was expected to be released in 2013 though at this late point in the year, that seems a little unlikely now.  Would love to treat myself to a Christmas present though!

What I did not know (for certain) is that more comics are planned. Here's the portion of the Red Panda Adventures wikipedia page which makes reference to this.

After the initial three-issue series a Kickstarter campaign was run to create a "full-cast video comic" of the series. The intent was to raise money for not only the video, but also to fund new issues of the comic. At the close of the campaign, Taylor announced that enough money had been raised to provide for at least 8 new issues of the series. His plan is to do four 2-part stories.

The comics were well-received (at least critically, I have no idea how much they sold) so on that level this doesn't come as a surprise.

The "four two-part'ers" claim may not be solid; on the Kickstarter updates page, writer Gregg Taylor stated that they would make 10 books if they reached $13,000 in funding.  They came close; 12,009 was raised.  It was close enough that they will still consider releasing ten.

As something of an aside, if you're not doing so already, keep an eye on Monkeybrain Comics.  They offer a variety of quality books and have a number of Canadian talents on their roster including Paul Little and Charles Pritchett working on a title that I've just discovered entitled Anti-Hero.  A-H is written by Jay Faerber of Dynamo Five and Noble Causes fame.  Good stuff.

Mask of the Red Panda #1 Cover Reveal and Release Date Announcement!

I guess those involved with this comic book know how to keep a secret.  Or work quickly.

The three-issue limited series was first revealed on the Decoder Ring Theater Facebook page (or at least that's the first place I saw it) in mid-December, and now the actual release date of February 27th (digitally, on Comixology, from Monkeybrain Comics) is confirmed on their blog, along with a look at the cover (now copied below).

For an indie publisher, that seems like very fast production.  But no one should mistake that for a complaint.  I very much enjoy this character and he'll be a same-day-as-release digital purchase.  He'll also be a trade paperback acquisition, assuming it is eventually offered in that format.  And in light of the variety of ways in which The Red Panda's adventures are told, it would be shocking if it wasn't.

"Mask of the Red Panda"...Comics!

Just because I've always liked that Decoder Ring Theater offered the adventures of The Red Panda (and sassy sidekick The Flying Squirrel) in formats other than comic books, doesn't mean that the news of a Red Panda comic book isn't welcomed with a fair bit of excitement over at TSOG HQ.

The following was posted on the Decoder Ring Theater Facebook page earlier today.

Coming soon to a digital comic store near you! "Mask of the Red Panda", a 3-issue mini-series of pulse-pounding pulp perfection featuring the Terrific Twosome of Toronto! Written by Gregg Taylor, Art by Dean Kotz, published by Monkeybrain Comics. Here's your very first sneak peek!

Coolness. If you're unfamiliar with Kotz, you can sample his work on deviantart and his blog.  As for Monkeybrain Comics, their website is here and their books can be purchased from comiXology.

Tales of the Red Panda: The Mind Master

It's an easy reference to make, and I use it from time to time, but this is the Batman Begins book for the Red Panda (and of course, trusty, sassy sidekick The Flying Squirrel.  While the bulk of the story takes place in the present, a number of chapters are flashbacks that cover a significant portion of his training, motivation and even appearance.

I was pleasantly surprised by this because I thought there was no intention to ever do so.  The impression I got from the few episodes I listened to was that all Panda adventures would take place with the character already fully established, basically like he's always been there.  Now looking around at the show list a bit more, I see that there has been some focus on Red Panda's agents and the first meeting between Panda and Squirrel among the (now) 87 performances.

The book was a bit more intense than expected as well. There were still humourous elements but the overall tone was darker.  The villains in The Crime Cable were more cartoon-like (in my perception and opinion, at least) than Mind Master's Ajay Shah, who is capable of a particularly heinous mental ability.

Like the majority of the episodes, you can read this book individually without feeling like you've missed something.  There is a Panda agent whom I believe is introduced in Crime Cable that has a small part in The Mind Master, but not having read his first appearance will not make this book confusing.

The more I read (or listen to) this character's adventures the more I enjoy him.  Being that I'm far behind where the audio shows are concerned, it'll probably be a while until I get around to reading the third book as I think I'd like to catch up to those a bit more first, but I do look forward to obtaining it.

Spring Vacation Reading, part 4: The Crime Cabal

My spring vacation was actually during the second week of April, but I received this book in the mail on the Friday of that week so it was the last one I got around to enjoying.  And enjoy it I did!

We've talked about The Red Panda before.  A product of Decoder Ring Theater, the bulk of The Red Panda's adventures can be heard, rather than read.  They are told in audio files similar to the Shadow or Green Hornet radio shows from the 30's and 40's.

Crime Cabal is the first of three books complementing the shows.  It is quite accessible; one need not have listened to a great many episodes to follow the story...though it wouldn't hurt. As I write this, I am listening to episode ten (from 2006, while the book was published in 2009).  There were a few times in the book where I felt as though I was a little bit behind as a result.  Some of the characters appeared to treated as though I should already know them, but I had yet to make their acquaintance in either story-telling format.  Or some of the gadgets used by the Panda and/or sassy sidekick The Flying Squirrel that were treated as common-place items were new to me.

That's not a huge deal though. There's a conscious effort to make each book or episode a jump-on point.  You could listen to episode #64 and still follow along and the book is consistent with that approach.

And of course, since the "radio" shows and the books are written by Gregg Taylor, all the elements from the former are included in the latter, most noteworthy among them the simmering romantic relationship between the two main characters, and their excellent teamwork.

Cabal also provides a little more background information about both characters, something that would seem easier to accomplish in a written (as opposed to audio) format.

Up next then:  The Mind Master.  It's a little disappointing that there are only two books left in the series.  They were released a few months apart, and the last one was in August 2010, which doesn't cause optimism as to future volumes, but then again, I have about 70 audio episodes to catch up to, so...

If there is a fourth book in the works, you know what I think would be fun?  Have a cover-design contest on deviantart. One of my first posts here was about a Captain Canuck anniversary art contest in which the winner won $100.  It generated a variety of styles, designs, etc.

It'd be interesting to see what people come up with for the Panda and Squirrel, I think.  Just thinking out loud.

The Red Panda Adventures!

Listening to the Red Panda Adventures is quickly becoming something of a ritual.  While I'm tinkering with some part of the blog, taking in one of the Panda's shows makes for an entertaining and appropriate backdrop.

The Red Panda Adventures are described on the Decoder Ring Theater website as being "in the tradition of the classic programs of Radio's Golden Age".  The titular character and his sassy sidekick The Flying Squirrel fight crime and solve mysteries in 1930's Toronto.  As I write this, there are 79 episodes posted, dating back to 2005 each running about 25 to 30 minutes.

I've never heard the Shadow or Green Hornet radio programs, but I don't think it's necessary to have done so to issue a "warning" of sorts that that the Panda/Squirrel stories are lighter in tone.

The Panda's adventures are also available in book form, one of which is making its way to the TSOG cave as we...huh...blog.

Should make for nice cottage reading.  :-)  Click on the cover for a description.