Crowdfunding Spotlight for March 7th 2025
Return of the Monsters OGN
Writer-Shannon Eric Denton
Artist-John Cbions
As many of you already know I have a soft spot for the Universal Monsters of old. I’m a bit too young to have enjoyed these characters in their original movies but I grew up with a steady does of Dracula movies, and different iterations of the monsters throughout the years. I made it one of my goals this year to finally sit down and read the original novels that sparked this whole genre of movies and comics. So when I saw people posting about Return of the Monsters I was intrigued based solely on the cover art you see above. Then I dug into the campaign.
Some people in the comics world have this amazing gift to remember names and events as if they happened last week. I am not one of these people. I read a lot of comics and love the medium with all my heart but names have always been tough for me in my day to day. That said when names pop up a sliver of a memory tends to shoot through my brain. While looking up Shannon, the writer of this project, the name ringed a bell and wouldn’t you know he has been involved in so many projects that I have enjoyed throughout my life from the X-Men cartoon of the early 90s to the StarCraft videogames I spent countless hours playing in my younger years.
Shannon has teamed up with John Cboins for this project. Return of the Monsters is an original graphic novel that tells the story of what would happen if the monsters from the classic novels teamed up against a greater foe. As we learn about where all the monsters are after the events of their stories, a traveling showman brings them together and sets the stage for something epic. While a bit vague I am all here for it, and John’s art showcases just enough horror and creepiness to sell the premise as you can see below.
Now this project has plenty of really cool items to pledge towards as well. There is both a physical and digital version of the comics with a cover by John Cboins. But it doesn’t stop there. They teamed up with John Wrightson to make 5 inch busts for four of the monsters in the book that you can pick up as well. Then there is the chance to get original art from John of one of the monsters done on high quality canvas using pencil and coffee, really cool concept if you ask me. But it doesn’t end there. The team also has eight different art prints that you can grab from John as well. And I saved the best for last, using art from the cover they are offering a costume skateboard you can add to your collection. A bunch of really cool, and some unique pledge tiers/add-ons to choose from for sure.
While this book hit many things that interest me it also looks to be a labor of love from some really cool creators. Both of these guys are experienced pro’s in their prospective fields and have done plenty of comics work throughout their lives. Coming to Kickstarter with this shows me that there is a passion to get this story out there and into our hands. I, for one, am really excited to check it out and hope you all will as well. Make sure to do so using the link below!
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