Kaijumax #1 marketing bleeding cool by Rich Johnston

ISSUE # 1

KAIJUMAX ISSUE #1

By Zander Cannon kaijumax.com / @zander_cannon

Edited by Charlie Chu Designed by Fred Chao with Zander Cannon Retail cover illustrated and colored by Zander Cannon Kawaiijumax variant cover illustrated by Bryan Lee O’Malley and colored by Nathan Fairbairn radiomaru.com / @radiomaru nathanfairbairn.com / @nathanfairbairn Emerald City Comicon variant cover illustrated and colored by Jason Fischer studiojfish.com / @studiojfish Tate’s store variant cover illustrated and colored by Zander Cannon tatescomics.com Source Comics & Games store variant cover illustrated and colored by Zander Cannon sourcecomicsandgames.com

Published by Oni Press, Inc. Joe Nozemack, publisher James Lucas Jones, editor in chief Tim Wiesch, v.p. of business development Cheyenne Allott, director of sales Fred Reckling, director of publicity Troy Look, production manager

Hilary Thompson, graphic designer Jared Jones, production assistant Charlie Chu, senior editor Robin Herrera, editor Ari Yarwood, associate editor Brad Rooks, inventory coordinator Jung Lee, office assistant

KAIJUMAX, #1, April 2015. Published by Oni Press, Inc., 1305 SE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Suite A, Portland, OR 97214. Kaijumax is ™ & © 2015 Zander Cannon. All rights reserved. Oni Press logo and icon are ™ & © 2015 Oni Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Oni Press logo and icon artwork created by Keith A. Wood. The events, institutions, and characters presented in this book are fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, by any means, without the express written permission of the copyright holders. PRINTED IN U.S.A.

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send email to: letters@kaijumax.com and letters to: 1618 Central Ave NE #216, Minneapolis, MN 55413

Welcome to KAIJUMAIL, the extremely cleverly-named letters page to KAIJUMAX. Much like the inmates of our fictional penitentiary, the comic book letters page is a relic of a bygone era. We here at KAIJUMAIL are naturally always looking to the future, so while our page will take this antiquated form (and we will strive—as ever—to answer your queries, both electronic and meatspace), we will also direct your attention to our online presence:

kaijumax.com Which includes such things as: —Letter overflow — If there is a response that requires more space, we won’t let you down. —Author commentary track — The author will provide a sometimes–brief, sometimes–long– winded audio commentary on each issue, detailing the creation process, references, craft, and his tiresome thoughts on comics in general. —Sketches and designs — Some from Kaijumax, some from monsters Zander sees in real life. —And much more! We look forward to hearing from you!

ITEM: The adorable variant cover drawn by Friend to All Monsters Bryan Lee O’Malley notwithstanding, we here at KAIJUMAIL want to stress that this comic is intended for TEENS AND UP. Not that it doesn’t have its cute moments, but to save yourself a lot of explanations about shankings, illicit drug use, and abusive prison relationships, please do not give this comic book to your second grader.

ALL MONSTERS ATTACK (1969) Ichiro, a bullied boy with largely absent parents, is inspired to fight back against his tormentors —as well as the bank robbers that later kidnap him—by Godzilla’s son Minilla/Minya during a dream trip to Monster Island. A terrible movie by every measure, and by far my favorite of the Godzilla films. Most monster action is an odd, out-of-context highlight reel of the previous decade of Godzilla features, including a scene in which Minya and Ichiro cheer Godzilla on as he destroys a squadron of planes with no explanation of where they come from and why they deserve to be smashed to death. That said, it’s directed by the great Ishiro Honda, so, like many of his other films, even the most preposterous human melodrama is just as oddly compelling as the giant monster battles.

ITEM: This is Zander Cannon’s first all-digital comic! Wish him luck! One of the side effects of this speed/esthetics/ workflow-related choice is that there will be no original art for sale, which has led to Zander’s fans sending some complaints our way. If you are interested in buying a print, a sketch, or commissioning your own custom monster, please visit kaijumax. com and peruse our selection of monsterrelated products and options. ITEM: Monster requests! There are many, many daikaiju rotting away in the cesspit we call Kaijumax, and Zander loves drawing new and fantastic ones as often as he can. But maybe there is a type of monster you feel has been underrepresented in the book. Send us a short description (e.g. “a robot with helicopter rotors on his hands”) and we’ll add it to the queue! Favorite monsters will be drawn in the background.

• One more reminder: don’t give this to second graders.

TO B E

ITEM: Find Grubbzo! This tiny, evil kaiju was the first prisoner of Kaijumax, all the way back in 1968! He will be somewhere in each issue, luring you into a false sense of security before he strikes. Can you find him?

NT IN

• Monster designs become the property of Zander Cannon. Don’t try anything funny.

the in

f KAIJUMAX! sue o s i t n ex

E P IC D OE S N ’ T BE GI N T O C OV E R I T…

JO S H UA H ALE F I A LKOV • GA B O Marooned in the Purgatory for suicides with legendary everything Ernest Hemingway as his guide, Jude, a stranger in a strange land, must undertake a long, weird, and oddly funny journey to discover the hideous truth behind the nature of the universe and the horrifying, gigantic potato God that runs the show.

“it’s the most promising series debut since saga.” —newsarama

“Alluring and lascivious in all the right places, razor-sharp and hilarious in all the horribly wrong ones. Shoe-in for Best Aneurysm of 2014.” –Sam Humphries (The Legendary Star-Lord, Avengers A.I., Sacrifice)

“My favorite book of the year.” –Joshua Hale Fialkov (The Bunker, The Life After)

“Keep your porn comics to yourselves, perverts!” –The Westboro Baptist Church

“…a damn entertaining comic.” –Brandon Graham (Prophet, King City, Multiple Warheads)

“Two craftsmen at the top of their game. Do the right thing and buy this comic.” –Rick Remender (Black Science, Deadly Class, Fear Agent) “The Auteur is a hilarious study of Hollywood grime, slime, brain, and heart.” –Ales Kot (Zero, Change, Secret Avengers )

“So sick and awesome. Loved it.” “The Auteur just might be 2014’s best new comic.”

–Joe Harris (Ghost Projekt, Great Pacific, X-Files)

–Ivan Brandon (Viking, NYC Mech)

Book One: Presidents Day

IN STORES NOW. The Auteur is ™ & © 2015 Rick Spears and James Callahan. Oni Press logo and icon are ™ & © 2015 Oni Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Oni Press logo and icon artwork created by Keith A. Wood.

SCIENCE! ADVENTURE! SKATEBOARDING! FRIENDSHIP! KAIJU FIGHTING! EXPLOSIONS!

ot ave g h ll i s a n d H h e ir h a n d SS o M t , ne n “BuNN n story o or e veryo s f u f e mic l a eSSib inds of co y.” cc a s i k da that nd those ng e very a osity o Comic me a l –c o c t ’ don

ISBN: 978-1-62010-236-7 987-1-62010 DIAMOND CODE: DEC14 1591

Collecting t he NEW All-A GES miniSERIES F ROM CUllEN BUNN (The SIXTH G UN), DREW M OSS, AND RYAN HIll !

THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF HELLS,

EACH UNIQUE, EACH TERRIBLE.

MEGA-CITIES RULED BY VICIOUS GANGS. EMPIRES WHERE THE MOST PERVERSE ARE WELL-RESPECTED. WASTELANDS ROAMED BY PREHISTORIC MONSTROSITIES. WITH THE PROPER TOOLS AND KNOW-HOW… YOU CAN INFILTRATE HELL WHETHER YOU’RE DEAD OR NOT. WITH THE PROPER TOOLS AND KNOW-HOW, YOU CAN BREAK OUT. PROJECT KERBEROS HAS DEVELOPED THIS FORBIDDEN TECHNOLOGY, AND A SPECIAL FORCES EXTRACTION TEAM IS DISPATCHED TO RESCUE LOST SOULS FROM THE INFERNAL REALM.

ISSUE #F1OR DEBUTYS$1! ONL Award-winning writer Cullen Bunn’s (The Sixth Gun, Helheim) new ongoing, creator-owned series with illustrator Brian Churilla (The Secret History of DB Cooper, Big Trouble in Little China) and colorist Dave Stewart (Hellboy)!