The Middle Grade Graphic Novel Series is Written by Eisner Award Winner Paul Tobin with Art by Ringo Award nominated cartoonist Thom Zahler
Today, Rocketship Entertainment, the 2021 Ringo Award-winning Favorite Publisher launched the Kickstarter campaign for the Angry Birds – A Graphic Novel Collection from Eisner Award-winning writer Paul Tobin and Ringo Award-nominated cartoonist Thom Zahler in collaboration with Rovio, in a deal facilitated by IMG Licensing.
Backers of the campaign can be the first to bring home three all-new Angry Birds graphic novels as well as limited edition exclusive merchandise including a Rocketship x Angry Birds hoodie. The collection includes three different graphic novels: The Haunting of Hog House, Level Up, and Breaking the Bank. Each book in the Kickstarter campaign will offer 2 connecting covers for fans to choose from featuring either our favorite birds or the villainous pigs. In addition, each set will come in an exclusive bird or pig slipcase and all books in the campaign will come with a limited signed bookplate from creators Paul Tobin and Thom Zahler.
Angry Birds hatched as a casual mobile game and exploded into one of the most beloved entertainment brands in the world, inspiring dozens of games, billions of consumer products, several animated series and two blockbuster movies. As an entertainment sensation that swept the globe, Angry Birds is already into its second decade, celebrating its 15th anniversary. The world-famous Angry Birds mobile games continue to draw millions of active players, with the brand pushing new content constantly out also in other media. Last year Rovio announced the third installment of The Angry Birds Movie franchise from director John Rice which will premiere in January 2027.
"Angry Birds has always been about fun and engaging storytelling, and we're thrilled to partner with Rocketship Entertainment to bring the Flock's adventures to life in a brand new way through these graphic novels,” said Rovio’s Head of Brand Licensing, Katri Chacona.
“The Angry Birds are cultural icons that have bridged all forms of entertainment.” said Rocketship CEO and publisher Tom Akel, “with our new line of graphic novels, we’re bringing fans deeper into the Angry Birds world than ever before.”
The three books are described as:
BREAKING THE BANK: A rousing double “heist” story when an alluring starling named Darling comes to Red for help! It seems that some robbers (pigs!) have stolen her library’s prized possession, the Golden Bird, a pure gold statue depicting one of Mighty Eagle’s legendary ancestors! The evil thieves (pigs!) are keeping the Golden Bird in a mansion, and Red and his team have to infiltrate a high-class soiree (of piiigs!) to get that statue back! And they do! Hooray! Yay! Except that all is not as it seems, because Darling is actually (gasp!) a femme fatale master spy and thief, using the birds for her own evil plans! Now, the birds have to steal the statue AGAIN, this time infiltrating the lair of the Master Thief to get the statue back, because the pigs (those dang PIGS!) have taken Bomb hostage, and are demanding the return of their rightfully-stolen property! But hey, maybe the birds could steal Bomb back, too? Wow, could this be…A TRIPLE HEIST?!?!
THE HAUNTING OF HOG HOUSE: Chuck inherits a castle! It’s old and it’s spooky and it needs a serious amount of restoration, but…wow! A castle! Chuck’s not really sure who left him a castle in their will, but he’s eager to start living life as the Lord of a Castle! EXCEPT…he finds out that he’s NOT the only ONE to inherit this castle. There’s also…a pig named Garry! It turns out that the original owner of the castle (a pig named Preston Peatherpopple) LOVED watching pigs and birds fight. He used to sit atop his castle with a telescope, watching the “amusing antics” of the pigs fighting the birds, often betting on the outcomes with his friends. In honor of these “antics,” he’s willed his castle to BOTH a pig and a bird! Can Chuck (and his bird friends!) and Garry (and his pig friends!) learn to live and work with each other? Ha ha…NO! Also the castle seems to be haunted. I mean, wow, it sure does. Big time.
LEVEL UP!: Red and the others wake one morning to find themselves in a fantasy RPG world, where they can earn experience points, level up, and gain new abilities! What happened?!? And, there are LOTS of pigs in this world, too! In fact, it’s basically a pig world, one where Red and the other Angry Birds are oddities, like elves in a human world. Red and the others soon discover that they’ve fallen prey to the Gameblaster, a genius pig who was trying to create an RPG (actually, an R Pig G) world, but the Angry Birds were caught up in his experiment. Now, the only way to save themselves is to level up enough to defeat the Big Boss and the Pig Boss! Watch in awe as the birds gain abilities—some useful, some impressive, some ridiculous—and make their way across the land to finally reach…THE LAIR OF THE WITCH KING! Although that turns out to just be a really nice café. Yeah, they actually have to go fight King Leopold at his house. Huzzah! A quest!
The Angry Birds series of graphic novels expands Rocketship’s Bottlerocket! line for young readers, following the release of the all-new Felix the Cat in partnership with Dreamworks Animation and hit series Fox Fires by Emilia Ojala. The Angry Birds – A Graphic Novel Collectionwill follow the model of Rocketship’s previous campaigns for the Eisner-nominated mega hit Let’s Play and the Dune and Monsterversefranchises done in partnership with Legendary Entertainment. Following the campaign the books will be released globally through retail.
For more information on licensing opportunities with Angry Birds, visit https://imglicensing.com/brands/angry-birds/.