Where do little monsters learn how to go bump in the night? Duh. Monster School. Unfortunately for Desmodus the vampire, Lukos the werewolf, Francesca the promethean, Rags the mummy, and Gilda the… Black Lagoon-ian, their school has been shut down by the FBI, and now they have to endure a true horror: human elementary school. Yuck. Monster Elementary is a new graphic novel that collects various stories about these kids and their school-bound adventures that looks like a ghastly good time.
“Monster Elementary” is a graphic novel that collects a few different short stories starring this charming cast of characters, all written by Nicholas Doan, formerly of Zuda Comics. Doan is joined by artists Josh Gowdy, Lee-Roy Lahey, Cal Moray, Patty Variboa, and a who’s who of former Zuda talent: Doan’s “Pray for Death” collaborator Daniele Serra, Bobby Timony of “The Night Owls,” and the Eisner-nominated Canaan Grall. If you take a look at the promotional video, you can see some of the different takes and it looks like Doan & Co. have it right: when working with a creative cast like this, it is best to have a a batch of artists whose styles are different, but complementary. Each of these artists look well equipped to give this comic the touch of “aww” that it needs. As a wise man once said, though, don’t take my word for it. So long as you have a smart phone, you can access the first six pages of “Monster Elementary” for free on Emanata. Just take a quick read and you’ll be dying for more.
If you’re just looking for the comic, the printed 90-page graphic novel — .pdf copy included 00 is available for $25.00, which is a pretty good price. If, however, you’re on a bit of a budget, don’t fret. The .pdf copy is only $8.00, one of the best differences in print to digital cost that I’ve seen. Bump it up to $10.00, and you get two other stories by Doan, Serra, and Gowdy (be aware, though, that these aren’t child-friendly like “Monster Elementary” is). Another five bucks ($15.00 total) gets you all of “Pray for Death,” the former Zuda comic, on top of all of that. If you get the physical copy, you can bump your pledge by $10.00 or $20.00 to add one or two prints, respectively, and get all the .pdfs from earlier. Or you can go up to $45.00 and get a t-shirt, or, hell, mix and match all those options according to various price points.
The higher incentive values have some neat gems, such as sketches from a few of the different artists involved with the project (though be waacrned that at this point a couple have sold out). There’s also the great retail incentive: $200.00 for ten copies of the book. If, however, you are extremely, extremely generous, you can donate $3,000.00 to be “Executive Producer,” which, aside from a fancy credit, nets you ten signed copies of the book, the .pdf comics, two sets of five prints, and two t-shirts. If you’re donating that much, you aren’t just doing it for swag, but because you’re clearly down with the concept, so I’m sure you won’t mind.
This spooky little graphic novel looks like a great treat for anyone, child or adult, and you have the ability to take a look and decide for yourself if it’s your kind of thing. What’s not to love about that? So, first of all, pull out your phone and take the maybe three minutes to read the first few pages. Then, head over here and get donating however much you are comfortable with. Simple, no?
