In October Fantagraphics Books and Lincoln Butterfield Animation will publish Rip M.D. ($12.99), an 88-page, full color graphic novel written and illustrated by Mitch Schauer, the creator of the Nickelodeon animated series The Angry Beavers (see “Fantagraphics Takes on First Licensed Property”).  Rip M.D. is a creepy, fun-filled all-ages adventure saga that focuses on the unlikely career of Ripley Plimpt, an 11-year-old boy who discovers that he has a knack for curing what ails the world’s legendary and mythical monsters.

 

Schauer told ICv2 that the inspiration for Rip M.D. was all those horror and monster movies he saw as a child--movies that made him care more about the fate of the colorful monsters and fiends than the B movies' human characters who always seemed to triumph in the end.  Rip M.D. is the logical emotional outgrowth of those accumulated cinematic disappointments, the story of a boy who is able to help the horror and monster movie characters that he loves the most.

 

Mike Vosburg makes a return to comics from his work as a storyboard and animation artist to ink Schauer’s pencils, his first inking job, while Lincoln Butterfield’s Michael Lessa provides the book’s distinctive coloring.  "Working on Mitch’s stuff was an absolute joy," Vosburg said.  "I loved the whimsy of the story and the drawings were always very funny."

 

Schauer also told ICv2 that, while he couldn’t be specific, Lincoln Butterfield is in talks for an animated series based on the property.