Announced today at Image Expo, it looks like the Skullkickers universe is expanding in more ways than one.
Starting with the upcoming story arc, series writer and creator Jim Zub has promised that the third arc will reveal the secret of Baldy’s gun in issues #14 and #15. “I wanted the series to start off as simple and continuity-free as I could. No complex back stories or origin tales at the start, just two monster mashing morons crushing stuff and bantering. Easy to pick up and enjoy. No bull$#%@,” Zub explains. “Now that we’re into our third arc, I feel more comfortable about unveiling a bit more depth and revealing some of the material that’s been running in the background as we push the story forward and unveil some of the bigger ideas I want to work towards. The comic is still an action-comedy, but readers who have been reading closely will start to see bigger patterns and plots coming back around. Believe it or not, there is a plan.”
The true cover to #15 is a big spoiler and can’t be shown yet, so instead we’ve been provided with a temporary kitten cover to hold you over. As the solicit for #15 reads,
Our real cover is a CRAZY SPOILER of glorious secrets inside so we CAN’T show it to you here! Until release, enjoy this NOT FINAL COVER image of a CUTE KITTEN. This issue: heinous violence, trouble making and all the skullkicking you can handle. (If you love the kitten cover, let us know… maybe we can work something out).
The arc will, of course, also feature all manner of skulls being kicked. “Metaphorically – all of them. All the skulls. People skulls, dwarven skulls, fish skulls, sea monster skulls, super secret skulls… It’s gonna be fun.” Zub also notes that while “Six Shooters on the Seven Seas” will focus on Baldy, the gun, pirates and general shenanigans, fans of Shorty’s skullkicking leg will need only wait for the subsequent fourth arc for similar explanations. “Trust me, it hasn’t been forgotten.”
Skullkickers #18 will also see the return of the popular anthology Tavern Tales, used to break-up arcs to give the Skullkickers creative team a bit of a break and bring additional writers and artists into the Skullkickers universe. The latest, entitled “Son of Tavern Tales”, will feat four short stories, one of which will be put together by the Luther Strode team Justin Jordan and Tradd Moore and another written and illustrated by the Chew team of John Layman and Rob Guillory.
As Moore told us, “I love taking on projects that allow me to try new things and stretch my art legs a bit, so the idea of working in the world of Skullkickers was immediately appealing to me. Fantasy is one of those genres that I’ve always adored as a fan, but that I’ve never really spent much time on as an artist. So yeah, when Jim Zub offered us a chance to work on a Tavern Tale I jumped at the opportunity.”
Jordan added, “It’s fun. I started out doing comic short stories, and so getting to flex those muscles again was great. I also got to get Tradd to draw something I wanted to see him draw that would never happen in Luther. Plus, comedy! There’s some in our book, but I wouldn’t call it an especially humerous book, but so again, got a chance to do something different.”
Not only that, but starting today Jim Zub is hosting a contest for fans of the book to write a short story that will be featured in the issue. The contest is designed for writers or artists individually, and is as simple as submitting a few pages. “Last summer I went to a slew of different conventions to promote Skullkickers. Everywhere I went there were people shopping around their creations, showing their portfolios, talking about how they don’t just want to read comics, they want to make them too. It’s a substantial part of comic fandom. I thought about that and figured that the Tavern Tales short story issues are a great outlet for trying out new talent and seeing what diamonds come out of the rough.” For writers, all you have to do is create an outline for a six-page story set in the Skullkickers universe, keeping it a PG-13 rating. For artists, a script is provided by Jim Zub of two story pages for the artist to draw. The submissions must be placed by April 30th, and the winners will be announced and paired up by the creators of the book.
Continued belowHowever, Zub does note that winning the contest does not immediately a career in comics make. “I really don’t know what will happen outside of the short story itself. I’m not looking for a regular Skullkickers writer to jump on board, but I think it could be a good springboard for them to pitch other ideas at publishers like Image or other creator-owned companies. In terms of artists, I’m always on the hunt for collaborators to work with on new creator-owned comic pitches. If I found a great artist through this contest, someone awesome and reliable I could work with above and beyond their short story, that would be great.”
If you’re interested in participating, you can check out the contest release form right here (which must be signed and attached with your submission) and artists and prospective writers can check out the sample script provided by Jim Zub right here. You can also find all of the information about the contest on the official contest homepage.
For the full explanation of the contest as well as exclusive character designs by Tradd Moore, please check behind the cut. Additionally, if you have somehow not read Skullkickers by now, the entire series is being serialized online right now on KeenSpot.
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| Baldy by Tradd Moore |
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| Shorty by Tradd Moore |
Full Contest Information:
In addition to 3 spiffy short stories by some of the best creators in comics, we’re going to have a fan submitted story written by a new writer and another one drawn by a new artist! This is pro comic material for one of the biggest publishers in the industry.
Ready to kick some skulls?
SUBMISSION
Writers: Fill out the Contest Release Form and attach that to your email submission. Then, come up with a fun and inventive Skullickers-worthy story idea, just a page or so outline. The actual comic story must be 6 pages or less. Outline the idea, explaining the plot/events and what major things will happen on each page. For the initial submission we don’t need a full script, just the overall pitch. If your idea is chosen we’ll work with you to flesh out the idea into a complete script and team you up with an artist of our choice.
Artists: Fill out the Contest Release Form and attach that to your email submission. Then, download the sample script written by Jim Zub and draw those two sequential pages of Skullkickers-worthy action, making sure it fits the script as outlined. They don’t have to be inked or colored, but they can be if you want to. Send a low resolution jpeg (72 to 100 dpi is fine) of those two pages along with your release form. If your artwork is chosen we’ll team you up with one of our other Tavern Tales writers and help you take your skills to the next level, completing the story that will be published in issue #18.
SUBMISSION CUT-OFF DATE: No email submissions will be taken after APRIL 30th, 2012. That’s the cut-off. Depending on the number of submissions we’ll try to contact winners by end of May, quite possibly sooner.
STEP ONE: DOWNLOAD OUR CONTEST RELEASE FORM. FILL IT OUT AND MAKE SURE IT’S ATTACHED TO YOUR EMAIL SUBMISSION. If it isn’t, we won’t even look at your submission. We’ll trash it instantly and you’ll be disqualified.
Continued belowSTEP TWO: CREATE AN AWESOME STORY PITCH or ART SAMPLE COMIC PAGES.
STEP THREE: EMAIL IT TO US BEFORE APRIL 30, 2012.
STEP FOUR: CROSS YOUR FINGERS, or KEEP SUBMITTING MORE AWESOME STUFF.
STEP FIVE: FIND OUT IF YOU WON AND CELEBRATE or DROWN YOUR SORROWS, AS APPROPRIATE.
TIPS FOR WRITERS:
– If you haven’t attached or previously sent a fully filled out Release Form we won’t even look at your material and you’ll be disqualified.
– Keep your story idea short and snappy. A paragraph or two, max. Since the final short story will only be 6 pages you don’t have time for world-spanning crazy town stuff.
– Don’t create reams and reams of new content for your story. The Skullkickers concept, at its heart, is two mercenary monster mashers killing baddies in fun and entertaining ways. Violence and banter.
– Skullkickers stories are PG-13. The violence is cartoon gory and there’s no sexual content. Cursing is limited to @$%& symbols.
– Read our previously released issues to get a feel for pacing, content and dialogue.
– As far as readers can tell right now, Baldy has the only gun in Skullkickers’ fantasy world. It’s not a steampunk world or tech-driven place, Skullkickers is low-brow high-fantasy with a single gun screwing stuff up.
– Don’t use your story idea to show Baldy or Shorty in the distant past. Don’t do origin stuff, keep it focused on the monster-mashing present, somewhere just before/around issue #1 when our main plot got rolling. Look to our other Tavern Tales issues (#6 & 12) for guidance.
– The humour in Skullkickers comes from their hi-jinks and dialogue, not parodies of other fantasy stuff. Don’t put “Bonan the Carbarian” in your pitch or useless crap like that.
TIPS FOR ARTISTS:
– If you haven’t attached or previously sent a fully filled out Release Form we won’t even look at your art samples and you’ll be disqualified.
– Follow the 2 page sample script for your submission. Seeing other jpegs of non-Skullkickers art you’ve done is fine and all, but the sample pages are what we’re actually judging.
– Keep the boys recognizable and “on-model”. You don’t have to draw them like Edwin (look at the fun interpretations in our two previous Tavern Tales issues) but the designs and features are clear.
– Make sure you’ve left adequate room for dialogue and sound effects on your sample pages. This is probably the most common mistake made by people who haven’t drawn professional comics before.
– Read our previously released issues to get a feel for pacing, expressions and action.
– Clear storytelling is more important than crazy detail or weird panel arrangement.
THE LEGAL STUFF — IMPORTANT!
1. These rules are going to be supplemented by MORE rules, which will be accompanied by a piece of paper you’ll have to sign and send back to us before you can submit anything. We’re just laying out the basic ideas here, so that if you have an issue with any of it you’ll be saved the time of writing up that amazing pitch!
2. Both Image Comics and the brilliant minds behind Skullkickers have tons of ideas pitched to them constantly. Some of those ideas end up being sort of similar to each other in one way or another — that’s just the business. You’ll need to agree that if you pitch us Independence Day, you won’t get all bent out of shape if the winning pitch is Mars Attacks.
3. If your submission is selected as the winner, then your sole and only prize is getting it published in a real-deal, big time comic. (Pretty sweet!)
4. The story created from the winning pitch, including any characters or sweet legendary +5 battle axes the winner might invent, will become part of the Skullkickers universe and property of the Skullkickers owners.
5. Everything in your pitch needs to be created by you, or used in agreement with someone else. Don’t put Gandalf in your pitch unless the Tolkien family has written you a nice little agreement saying you can. (Or unless you’re a member of the Tolkien family, which would be extra sweet.)
6. Don’t send us anything you can’t bear to part with (original artwork, that +5 battle axe, etc.), because chances are we won’t be able to get it back to you.
7. This contest is being organized, judged and dealt with by the Skullkickers creative team. It’s not an Image Comics contest, it’s a Skullkickers contest. You’re entering the ring with SK and SK only.
