Furious George in Parenting Magazine

Here's a tiny review of "Furious George" in Parenting Magazine (School Years)

Furious George Review#2

Here's another nice review, this time from Kirkus Reviews...

"George, a very large ape, lives happily in the jungle until a man in a funny hat traps him. The man in the funny hat sells George to a zoo, but George doesn’t like being locked up. George goes bananas. The man in the funny hat finds him only to sell him to a construction crew. George works hard, but the foreman doesn’t give him water. When a brick falls on George’s head, George goes ape! Next the man in the funny hat sells George to a Broadway director. When the audiences laugh at him. George gets furious again. When the man in the funny hat sells George to a scientist who wants to shoot him into space, George finally uses his brain for a little creative revenge and a quick trip back to his beautiful jungle. Rex’s latest parody of a classic (Runaway Mummy, 2009, etc.) will tickle the funny bone with its mix of slapstick and deadpan silliness. The bright, digitally colored pencil illustrations hit just the right note of goofy mayhem to please fans of that OTHER George, especially those with an eye for detail. (Picture book. 4-7)"

—Kirkus, 4/1/10

Signing, May 15!

Furious George Goes Bananas will be in stores on May 13!



I'm doing a reading and signing on Saturday, May 15 at "The Voracious Reader," located at 1997 Palmer Ave, Larchmont. NY. I'll be there from 2:00 to 3:00.
The Voracious Reader





Here's a review of "Furious George" from Publisher's Weekly!

Furious George Goes Bananas: A Primate ParodyMichael Rex, Putnam, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-399-25433-8
Rex, creator of the Margaret Wise Brown parodies The Runaway Mummy and Goodnight Goon, takes on the Rey franchise in this escapade. His protagonist’s resemblance to Curious George is only in the details, since Furious George is a huge purple gorilla captured by an opportunist in a pith helmet. The “man in the funny hat,” a craven alter ego to Rey’s fatherly Man in the Yellow Hat, does not care for his captive. He peddles George to a zoo, construction site, Broadway show, and lab, growing richer by the sale. In a running gag that takes aim at the Rey books, he repeatedly refers to Furious George as a monkey, something each buyer attempts to correct. “[H]e ain’t a monkey, he’s an ape,” notes the construction foreman. “A monkey got a tail.” (Like Curious George, Furious doesn’t have one.) Enraged at being locked up, having to lay bricks, etc., Furious George “goes bananas” several times, though Rex makes it clear he’s not destructive by nature--he just wants to get home, which he eventually accomplishes. Rex preserves Rey’s comic-strip palette and earnest tone, while humorously delivering a message about avarice. Ages 5–8. (May)

Halloween, maybe 1972

Well, "Furious George Goes Bananas" will be out in a few weeks. It seems like just yesterday that I was drawing it, but it was really this time last year. I'm swamped with work right now, moving along on a 112 page Graphic Novel dummy, and wrapping up my Grad School thesis. They're both due on the same day. Anyway, here's a picture of me dressed up for Halloween. Like the title said, it might have been '72. I really don't remember.

Astronaut #6

I'm not too sure what this guy's all about, but I'm happy with some of the murky, layered colors.

The Great Escape

Here's the last piece from my 1995 portfolio. I've put up all of this work because I never am able to see the work that gets an illustrator his or her first professional job. Once someone has publsihed a book or two, that becomes the current portfolio. I hope that these drawings will be helpful for someone who is just starting out.

The train in this drawing is based on a steam engine that had been abandoned on waterside of Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It was there in 1988 when I moved there, and was dismantled and carted away a few years later.

Someone's behind you...

Here's a lesser work from the 1995 portfolio. Funny enough, but not laugh out loud. I'm not sure why this one feels off to me, perhaps it's that the bear doesn't look very bearish. Anyway, you can't win them all.

Up All Night

This was the proposed cover of the first book that I ALMOST sold. It was called "Up All Night" and was about a young boy who stays up all night and finds out that it's kind of boring late at night. He finally falls asleep and misses all of the excitement of the next day, even the martians landing. Like all of these pieces, I really like the very limted color scheme.

Alien with glasses

Now here's one that works! Great gag, good composition, nice atmosphere. While the joke may be a bit subtle for children, I felt that editors would find it funny, so I went with it. I wish I had found a story for this one.

Mummy Snake

Here's a piece from my 1995 portfolio that I consider a total failure. Sure the pith helmet on the camel is cute, and I like the mummy snake, but the drawing is a bore. If the camel had been running, or even walking, this image would have been 10 times better. Or maybe 12 time better. I'm not sure. I've never been good at math.

Astronaut #5

I've been reading books about the Royal Geographical Society lately. This guy is a David Livingstone/Percy Fawcett type. I really like the porter.

Astronaut #4

Again, this one started with a giant shape, with the concept for the details added later. I really like the texture on the suit, and the movement. He's my favorite so far.

Astronaut #3

This one was started with a very bold shape, which worked out well, but I don't like the lack of movement.

Astronaut #2

The "astronaut" series quickly turned into "Astronauts and Aliens" with my second drawing. But he/she/it could be an astronaut too, right? Markers and colored pencil.

Astronaut #1

It seems that most of my drawing is geared toward stuff that gets published, and I don't really ever have time to draw for myself. That being said, I've actually been finding a bit of time lately, and have started doing a series of Astronauts. I'd like to do 50 of them, as a lesson in creativity and idea-generation. However, I don't think that I'll be too hard on myslef if I don't do that many. Either way, I'm having fun trying out new materials and trying to work more freely. This is done with markers and colored pencil.