But at least we’ve got something to take our minds off the world going very wrong - Top Shelf announced this week that the ever so lovely Owly comic series by Andy Runton has been licensed by Simon & Schuster in the states and the first fulll-colour Owly picture book entitled Friends All Flutter is out in March:

The PR reads:

“Top Shelf is proud to announce that the all-new OWLY picture book by Andy Runton is in the current Diamond Previewscatalog and available for pre-ordering! This 40-page full-color hardcover picture book (with a dust jacket) is published by Simon & Schuster under license from Top Shelf, and we’re all very excited to add this new dimension to the Owly Universe!”

(Via Heidi)

Top Shelf’s Chris Staros tells us that Andy Runton‘s wonderful Owly comics characters (solid favourites with a number of us here) has been animated by Sprite Animation Studios and the cartoon will debut at the San Diego Comic Con later this month, where fans will be able to drop by the Top Shelf booth to see it and also to get Owly books signed by Andy who will also be there.  The animated Owly is directed by Moto Sakakibara, from storyboards created by Andy, and features Andy’s ‘Pictomation’ , which is a method of expressing his character’s thoughts and emotions using icons and images rather than text, which makes them especially good for younger fans and also means they can travel rather well since there is no language barrier. Top Shelf also announced they were working with Simon & Schuster to create some new Owly picture books due to appear in 2011.

“I’m absolutely overjoyed to be working with the entire Sprite team. Over the past months, we’ve worked very closely to make sure Owly was faithfully translated to 3D. Every little detail was important to them, and the end result blows me away!  They’ve created an animation that captures the pure essence of Owly in ways I never thought possible. It’s amazing to see Owly and Wormy come to life like this.  The level of artistry at Sprite is incredible,”  Andy Runton.