Knuckleheads: Fist Contact

“**** yeah, this book is just the ******* best!” –Multiversity Comics “Do you want me to sign this? Wait, I didn’t have anything to do with this ‘Kunklehead’ thing.” –Jeff Parker (Batman ‘66, Flash Gordon)

KNUCKLEHEADS: FIST CONTACT

“Knuckleheads is a perfect statement for how much fun comics can be.” –Team Hellions

WINKELER WILSON IV

Trevor K. Trevinski was massively hung over when he was given the cosmic powers of The Crystal Fist, so he has no idea how they work. Join Trev, his roommate Lance, Pizza Guy, and Emma, the “hot drunk English chick,” as they embark on a hero’s journey, hitting every pothole along the way. “(Knuckleheads is) a fun and clever hero book.” – Oliver Sava, The Onion A.V. Club

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INTRODUCTION BY CORINNA BECHKO + GABRIEL HARDMAN

“Breezy, upbeat, witty and fun — a high-energy burst of monster-mashing mayhem with an appealingly hopeless hero.” –Dan McDaid, (Vandroid, Doctor Who) “It’s funny, it’s irreverent, it’s often spit-take inducing and it’s a simply gorgeous looking digital comic that I’ve wanted to have a physical version to spit-take into for some time.” –Matthew Meylikhov, Multiversity Comics “It’s a smooth dissection of what makes superhero stories great and straddles the line between satire and coming of age. It’s a beautiful love letter to the superhero tradition of comic books without ever hitting too much of it on the nose. So the result is a refreshing take on old ideas that never ceases to entertain.” –Zac Thompson, Bloody Disgusting “If you enjoy comics that don’t take themselves too seriously but have a storyline to back up the jokes, then this is a comic you need to try. Just be careful if you read it in public, because I’m pretty sure you’re going to laugh out loud.” –Rob McMonigal, Panel Patter “Knuckleheads is filled with the right amount of offthe-cuff humor and a feel that seems to echo what I imagine Shaun of the Dead plus Godzilla would equal.”

–Jason Tabrys, Screen Invasion

“Like all good comedies, Knuckleheads is 80% ballbusting, 20% exposition and 10% genuine emotion.”

–Andrew Leslie, Freakin’ Awesome Network

“There is some terrible, terrible dialogue.”

–We Talk Podcast. Now defunct.

“Breezy, upbeat, witty and fun — a high-energy burst of monster-mashing mayhem with an appealingly hopeless hero.” –Dan McDaid, (Vandroid, Doctor Who) “It’s funny, it’s irreverent, it’s often spit-take inducing and it’s a simply gorgeous looking digital comic that I’ve wanted to have a physical version to spit-take into for some time.” –Matthew Meylikhov, Multiversity Comics “It’s a smooth dissection of what makes superhero stories great and straddles the line between satire and coming of age. It’s a beautiful love letter to the superhero tradition of comic books without ever hitting too much of it on the nose. So the result is a refreshing take on old ideas that never ceases to entertain.” –Zac Thompson, Bloody Disgusting “If you enjoy comics that don’t take themselves too seriously but have a storyline to back up the jokes, then this is a comic you need to try. Just be careful if you read it in public, because I’m pretty sure you’re going to laugh out loud.” –Rob McMonigal, Panel Patter “Knuckleheads is filled with the right amount of offthe-cuff humor and a feel that seems to echo what I imagine Shaun of the Dead plus Godzilla would equal.”

–Jason Tabrys, Screen Invasion

“Like all good comedies, Knuckleheads is 80% ballbusting, 20% exposition and 10% genuine emotion.”

–Andrew Leslie, Freakin’ Awesome Network

“There is some terrible, terrible dialogue.”

–We Talk Podcast. Now defunct.

Knuckleheads: Fist Contact is dedicated to Buck Berlin and the gang at New World Comics in Oklahoma City.

This book would not exist had Buck not given Brian a Post-it® note with Robert’s phone number on it and said “Call this guy. He’s really, really good.”

ISBN: 978-1-61377-980-4

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IDW founded by Ted Adams, Alex Garner, Kris Oprisko, and Robbie Robbins

17 16 15 14 Ted Adams, CEO & Publisher Greg Goldstein, President & COO Robbie Robbins, EVP/Sr. Graphic Artist Chris Ryall, Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief Matthew Ruzicka, CPA, Chief Financial Officer Alan Payne, VP of Sales Dirk Wood, VP of Marketing Lorelei Bunjes, VP of Digital Services Jeff Webber, VP of Digital Publishing & Business Development

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KNUCKLEHEADS: FIST CONTACT. JUNE 2014. FIRST PRINTING. © 2014 Brian Winkeler and Robert Wilson IV. All Rights Reserved. © 2014 Idea and Design Works, LLC. The IDW logo is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. IDW Publishing, a division of Idea and Design Works, LLC. Editorial offices: 5080 Santa Fe St., San Diego, CA 92109. Any similarities to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. With the exception of artwork used for review purposes, none of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Idea and Design Works, LLC. Printed in Korea.

IDW Publishing does not read or accept unsolicited submissions of ideas, stories, or artwork.

Originally published digitally by Monkeybrain Comics as KNUCKLEHEADS issues #1–8.

KNUCKLEHEADS : FIST CONTACT WRITTEN BY

BRIAN WINKELER

ILLUSTRATED BY

ROBERT WILSON IV COLORED BY

JORDAN BOYD

LETTERED BY

THOMAS MAUER

AN INTRODUCTION Corinna Bechko: Superhero comics are often about wish fulfillment but the superheroes themselves are still mere mortals in the face of interpersonal problems. In Knuckleheads, we get wish fulfillment in a purer form. Trev has none of the classic superhero accouterments. He’s a slob and he doesn’t care. He doesn’t have a strong chin or personal wealth. He doesn’t even know how to use his cool Crystal Fist. But when the occasion arises, he steps right up and gets the job done. Well, mostly.

Gabriel Hardman: But in a lot of ways, Knuckleheads is anti-wish fulfillment. Trev is there to tell us that given the chance most of us would be f***ing terrible superheroes.

Corinna: Yet he doesn’t let his friends down. That’s the important thing. Even the pizza guy, Guy, Trev is there for him. And what about Emma? He hadn’t even met her before, yet he rushes to her aid. Well, he also kind of ruins her car. And her clothes. And it seems like she could probably take care of herself. But at least Trev tries!

Gabriel: I’ll tell you something, Brian and Robert do one thing in this book I’d never do: rely on pop culture references. I think a story should stand on it’s own. Not use the crutch of preawareness – Corinna: Wait a second, your book is called KINSKI. Gabriel: Well…

Corinna: You name check the actor Klaus Kinski and his movies directly. In the title!

Gabriel: But Brian’s references are contemporary. People will actually get them. I prefer to smuggle in references to Herzog movies and ’80s Lou Reed albums.

Corinna: So that you’re guaranteed to entertain fewer people.

Gabriel: Yes. Corinna: You’re saying that references are okay to use in literature as long as no one understands them?

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BY CORINNA & GABRIEL Gabriel: I’m saying there’s a riot in Tompkins Square.

Corinna: That’s just a line from Lou Reed’s New York album.

Gabriel: Exactly.

Corinna: Hey, are you trying to turn this introduction into a referendum on Lou Reed’s cultural impact on the state of 21st century politics? Don’t you think that Brian and Robert are doing much the same thing in Knuckleheads by referencing current events and popular culture, then distilling all of that down into a story that slyly comments on a world that’s recognizably our own?

Gabriel: I think they’re trying to make a funny comic book.

Corinna: Well, that too.

Gabriel: Actually what they’re doing in Knuckleheads is a pretty direct line back to the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire Justice League International run. It was irreverent and subverted superhero tropes – Corinna: And was from the eighties, so you actually know about it…

Gabriel: Yeah, but what I like best about Knuckleheads is that it’s not nostalgic. It’s just taking its goofy premise and moving forward in a totally accessible way.

Corinna: With monsters.

Gabriel: And Fists of Crystal.

Corinna: And pizza.

Gabriel: And Morton Downey, Jr. Corinna: Not with Morton Downey, Jr. Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman are a pair of married comic creators who have collaborated on numerous projects (Heathentown, Planet of the Apes: Cataclysm, Star Wars: Legacy, Savage Hulk). This is their first foray into collaborative book introductions.

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CHAPTER ONE

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