Friday, February 20, 2015

Apologies! (and a Prize!)

 EDIT: I won't be able to make my deadline of March 1. The update will happen a few days afterward. But the good news is that the update will be as large as the previous ones, though with more comics than usual.

My apologies to everyone waiting for an update. I've been planning one for the past two weeks and have been lagging behind. I actually have a good excuse: I'm extremely busy at work and have been taking it home with me. Plus, I have a personal commitment that involves a writing assignment.
I expect to have all that behind me next week--the update should happen before the end of the month soon. January and February are the deadest time of the year for media of any kind, let alone TF content, so I'll be dipping into my large and badly organized backlog of comics. I try to post only the best stuff out there. There are lots of transformation scenes which occur off-camera or cover up the transformation. Sadly, most TF scenes are like that! I could easily fill my blog with them every week. I refuse, so it takes more time to find acceptable material.

While you wait, take a look at the January and February updates at Dutchbull's site. My thanks to everyone who's written in suggesting various shows and movies--I'm still processing many messages, so pardon my slowness.

And now for something completely different!

For the first time, I'm offering a prize to anyone who can track down an obscure comic from my adolescence.
In 1993 I was on a family vacation in Italy. At a rest area I went into a shop and saw a comic that involved a guy who beat up several people and then got on his motorcycle and drove off. But as he sped away, he transformed into a bear, bursting his clothes in the process!
That's all I remember. I was 12 years old at the time. 22 years have passed since then

If you know what this comic is and can tell me the title and issue number, you will receive the Silver Werewolf Prize. This involves a $30 reward. Plus, I will devote a blog post to anything you want.

If you can actually send me the comic--either digital scans or a physical copy--I will give you the Golden Werewolf Prize. $50 (plus reimbursement of purchase and/or shipping costs), a blog post devoted to anything you want, and I will also write a TF story or draw a TF sequence based on anything you want (I'm not a prolific writer, but you can find two examples of my work here. As for art, I think I'm a decent draftsman, but you'll have to take my word for it!)

Just to remind you, this comic was published in Europe no later than 1993 and involves a man getting on a motorcycle and turning into a bear. Though Italian, it could be a translation of a European comic.

Rules: Only one silver and one golden prize will be given. The first to answer will win. I can send the money through Paypal (preferred), check, international money order, or Google wallet. The story will not go above 10 single-spaced pages. The art will be a one or two page sequence in black and white. Story or art will be delivered within a month from notification of winning status.

To contact me, use the "Send me a howl!" form to the right. Tracking down this comic will be difficult, so best of luck!


10 comments:

Wuschel said...

What about this? That was the first thing that came to my mind ^^

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Major_(comics)

He's a werebear and like to ride his motorcycle.

Apuleius said...

Thanks for your very interesting comment Wuschel. I'll have to investigate further, since I'm not familiar with the character. If I find an issue featuring him that fits my memory, you'll get the silver prize.

Drakesilverman said...

http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/2876503.html

i came across this when i was looking

Soul Ember said...

I did some digging on shapeshifters in comics, and there isn't much. If Ursa Major doesn't pan out, you could also try Mikhail Ursus from the Earth-616 line of Marvel comics. His first appearance was in Incredible Hulk #258, but has appeared in several other comics from the 80's on. Another candidate is the Demon Bear that first appeared in New Mutants Vol. 1 #3 in 1983. The only other possibility is a popular Italian comic series started in the 80's called Lazarus Ledd, which started in 1993. That's all I've been able to dig up.

Apuleius said...

Drake: Thanks for reminding me of the Bloodlines annuals. I'll try to get the whole set to use for a future update. The werewolf guy could even pass for a werebear, though he's not the one I remember. Thanks again!

Apuleius said...

Soul Ember: Thank you for your research! I'll look further into Mikhail Ursus and Demon Bear. Lazarus Ledd sounds especially interesting, since my gut feeling is that what I saw back in '93 was indeed an Italian comic, rather than a translated American one. Since not many people outside Italy know much about Italian comics, that makes searching difficult. Thank you for your sleuthing!

Eldoc said...

Hi man, italian lurker here.
I did some research but i found nothing.
The problem is that there is not a database for italian published comics anywhere, so i need to go and look to every single series i can think of.
If you could remember something else about that comic (even the size of the book or the setting) that could help a lot.
Anyway two comics i know that can contain what you're looking for are:
-Dylan Dog: called the Detective of Nighmares, is a sort of Supernatural style private detective, investigating on ghosts, vampires, demons and such
-Martin Mystere: this one is a professor that tries to solve ancient mysteries (Atlantis, the Pyramids, etc.)
There is an issue of Dylan Dog, the No.196 (Chi ha ucciso Babbo Natale - Who killed Santa Claus) where he investigates on a nordic bear berserk; however it came out on 2003, not 1993.

Apuleius said...

Hello Eldoc,
Thanks very much for researching this--I'm glad to hear from someone in Italy. I'm familiar with Dylan Dog and Martin Mystere--I've downloaded a few issues and might post scans from them in the future--but I'll take another look into their back issues.

My memories of the comic are over 20 years old and might not be completely reliable, but I think it was in color, and that the werebear was blond in human form. I wish I could remember more!
In any case, thanks again for providing an Italian perspective.

Anonymous said...

just wondering, is everything okay over there? I mean, it has been a few days now...

Apuleius said...

Work's taken care, so I all I have left is a private obligation that's half-finished. I'm hoping to work on the update this weekend.