Ursa Minors Collection In September

[ENGLISH] SLG tells us: Ursa Minors is the new SLG graphic novel that answers the eternal question: What would happen if three twenty-something slackers get a hold of mysterious robotic bear suits, fully equipped with everything you could possibly need to kick a whole lot of ass? Well, a lot of cussing, Internet arguing, movie-referencing, beer-drinking and, of course, a whole lot off ass-kicking. Tom, Harry and Richard–also known as Bear One, Two and Three–use their super-strength, night vision and razor sharp claws to battle it out with ninjas, hippies, and robots by night and to do absolutely nothing useful by day.

Ursa Minors co-creators Paul Cote and Neil Kleid (Brownsville) set out to create an action comedy « fight comic » in the tradition of Scott Pilgrim or Street Angel. « We forget that they’re called ‘funny books’ for a reason, » said Kleid of the more « serious » spate of comics to hit the market. He and Cote fired up their instant messengers, kept some booze handy, and over the course of many late-night conversations, came up with Ursa Minors, a comic book about three guys Kleid calls « pop-culture-obsessed, beer-drinking misanthropes who contribute nothing to society except busted heads and unpaid bar tabs. »

Cote and Kleid turned to finding an artist for their creation and soon teamed up with Fernando Pinto. « Fernando’s art captured the energy and zaniness of what we’re wrote, » said Cote. « He’s got lots of ideas and he never fails to crack me up with his artwork. »

« The moment I saw his work I knew his style was a match for this insane, insane comic book, » Kleid added.

Pinto’s touches include a zipper in every robotic bear suit. « I always wondered how Iron Man went to the bathroom in that big clunky armor, » he said, « so I decided to address that. »

A bit more creative back and forth, and the trio had on their hands a comic full of what Pinto describes as « Action, comedy, sexiness, bears, little people, ninjas, robots and more sexiness. »

Ursa Minors: The Collected Wait-for-the-Trade Edition collects all three issues of Ursa Minors, plus an all-new bonus story, and the first-ever, never-before-seen Ursa Minors story. It will be available in September 2008 and can be pre-ordered at comic book stores through Diamond with the code JUL083614.

Established in 1986, SLG Publishing is a San Jose, CA-based publisher of comics books and graphic novels. Operating under its imprints Slave Labor Graphics and Amaze Ink, SLG Publishing has published the work of such notable cartoonists as Jhonen Vasque, Evan Dorkin and Andi Watson. More information about the company can be found at their website, www.slgcomic.com