The Winged Tiger, Patrick Rabbit & Friends
The Winged Tiger was created in 1980 and has starred in many books, including his own comic book, since 1998. The Winged Tiger Comics & Stories features a global adventure called the Ideaship series featuring guest artists from all fields (actors, film makers, musicians, cartoonists, writers, etc). The Winged Tiger has appeared all over the world and has been featured on many products from watches to t-shirts. This classic image has been tested and accepted by all ages and all cultures.
Patrick Rabbit is a young cartoonist who lives in New York City. When he runs out of ideas for his Giant Alien Chicken comic books and wishes that he could meet other creative people to ask them how they get their ideas, the Winged Tiger magically appears and transforms Patrick's desk lightbulb into the Ideaship and the quest begins. Patrick finds himself floating all across the planet meeting artists from every field in a quest to find the secret of creativity. The Ideaship series starts in issue 2 of the Winged Tiger Comics & Stories.
Rachel Rabbit is Patrick's girlfriend. She is a ballet dancer and often stars in Patrick's crazier adventures around the universe. In the Winged Tiger Comics & Stories, Rachel and her friend, the young film maker Keiko Kurosawa are lost in the Amazing Maze Motion Picture Studio looking for Keiko's important meeting. As they search for the meeting, they meet many interesting people, from Conrad Brooks, who was a star in the worst film ever made Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space, to Star Wars creator George Lucas.
Maria lives in New York and is one of Patrick Rabbit's closest friend. She is also in direct contact with The Winged Tiger and often goes on adventures with Patrick all over the world, where it seems she always has relatives. Maria has never seen Patrick's girlfriend Rachel Rabbit and believes that Patrick is just making Rachel up in his imagination.
Pendragonfly is an example of the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for." Patrick Rabbit has been stuck in the Ideaship for the last few years searching for an idea for his story to free him. As he floated all over the world, Patrick wished he could have a talking pen to do the writing and drawing for him. And then he met Pendragonfly on a visit to Japan, but instead of doing Pat's work for him, the little pen has refused to help and is becoming more of a pest than a friend.
Cazco came to the United States from Tibet as a foreign exchange student, in search of a career as a cartoonist. Cazco was first introduced in a daily comic strip for Phil Yeh's college newspaper, the Daily Forty Niner, in 1972. Since then, he has participated in many adventures with Frank the Unicorn and Patrick Rabbit. In 2007, Phil Yeh celebrated the 30th anniversary of his famous Tibetan exchange student with a special edition graphic novel based on Cazco's worldwide travels, Cazco: What a Long Strange Trip It's Been.
Clara Clearwater lives in Pine Ridge, South Dakota with her brother Carlos. She studies martial arts and loves to travel. Clara loves to write down her dreams and uses the computer to share her stories with friends all over the world.
Carlos is a Native American boy who happens to have a flying wheelchair thanks to the scientific genius of his pal Hector Lopez, the world's greatest inventor. Carlos lives in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and also plays a mean game of basketball.
The Bats of Carlsbad come from the world-famous Carlsbad Caverns in Carlsbad, New Mexico. These bats use their computers to communicate with their friends around the world and for doing their environmental research. All of the bats are bilingual (English and Spanish) because they migrate to Mexico each year. Since they got their computers, many are learning to speak other languages as well. The bats have a slogan they like to present to everyone who meets them, "All we are saying is: give PCs a chance!"
Lana Lew first appeared in the 9th issue of Winged Tiger Comics & Stories. She works in her family's Chinese restaurants with many locations all over the world, and will be appearing in many of the places that Patrick Rabbit visits in the coming years.
Daniel is a boy from New Zealand who befriended Patrick Rabbit when he visited San Francisco. He lives with his mother, who is a teacher, and dreams of seeing as much of the world as possible. In the meantime, Daniel devours books at the local library to get ideas about where he wants to go on his next trip.
Cia is a young artist from Mali. She paints colorful work based on folk stories from Africa. Her work appeals to all ages and all cultures. Her only trick now is to find a publisher! She first met Rachel Rabbit at the Children's Book Fair in Bologna, Italy in Winged Tiger Comics & Stories issue 5.