The Kill All Monsters Omnibus will be here soon!

If you look at page 65 of this month's Previews catalog (that's the one with the March 2017 cover date for stuff hitting shops in May 2017), you'll see the solicitation for the Kill All Monsters Omnibus, Volume 1. Because of the way the book market works, our ginormous hardcover isn't actually hitting in May with the single-issue comics being advertised in the same catalog. We're coming out on July 19.

And we'll be everywhere. It'll be very easy to find the book, especially online. But if you prefer to buy it at your local comics shop on the day that it comes out, now is the time to let them know that you'd like a copy. Or if you forget, they can special order it for you later. That works, too.

It's going to be awesome. I just this week got to read the whole thing for the first time and I'm really happy with it. Jason is, too. We can't wait for you all to see it. It's going to be a brick of a book: 368 pages containing the previous Ruins of Paris volume (slightly edited, so the original book is still a unique object), the continuation and conclusion of that story, the complete Dark Horse Presents story (reformatted for widescreen presentation), a whole new story set in a different part of the Kill All Monsters world, and pin-ups by some amazing artists. And all of that for about $25.

It's almost here, you guys!

Kill All Monsters: "Ministry of Robots" concludes today!

The final installment of the Kill All Monsters story in Dark Horse Presents is in comics shops today! It's DHP #14 and that's a preview above. Words by Macho Michael May, pictures by Jazzy Jason Copland, balloons by Extraordinary Ed Brisson, and colors by Breathtaking Bill Crabtree.

Here's the cover you're looking for:



Because I suck at promotion, I missed announcing last month's middle volume in Dark Horse Presents #13. Here's a preview and the cover for that one. Hopefully you got it without me reminding you, or maybe your shop still has a couple of copies on the shelf.

Kill All Monsters: "Ministry of Robots" concludes in September

The 3-part Kill All Monsters story, "Ministry of Robots," wraps up in Dark Horse Presents #14 and Dark Horse has announced the release date: September 16.

Here's the full solicitation:

Eisner, Harvey, and Stumptown award winner!
Dark Horse Presents #14

Steven Grant (W), Brendan McCarthy (W/A), Alex de Campi (W), Rich Woodall (W), Michael May (W), Anthony Zicari (W), Paul Gulacy (A/Cover), Jerry Ordway (A), Craig Rousseau (A), Jason Copland (A), and Oscar Capristo (A)

On sale Sept 16
FC, 48 pages
$4.99
Ongoing

Steven Grant and Paul Gulacy resurrect the Warren Publishing character the Rook—a time-traveling, gunslinging monster fighter! And the next chapter of Brendan McCarthy's Dream Gang begins here!

Plus, new chapters of Alex de Campi and Jerry Ordway's Semiautomagic and Rich Woodall and Craig Rousseau's Kyrra: Alien Jungle Girl! Michael May and Jason Copland's Kill All Monsters and Anthony Zicari and Oscar Capristo's Grimm Arcane conclude!

Dark Horse Presents: Kill All Monsters preview!

The Dark Horse website has a preview of Dark Horse Presents #12, which will be on sale next Wednesday, 15 July. The issue contains the first of three-parts of an all-new Kill All Monsters story... in COLOR. The story will be collected in the Kill All Monsters Omnibus next year, but it'll be reformatted for widescreen and will be in black-and-white. DHP will be the only place to get it with Bill Crabtree's glorious colors.

In addition to a preview page of our story, the Dark Horse site has previews of each of the other stories in the issue, including the second chapter of Rich Woodall and Craig Rousseau's Kyrra: Alien Jungle Girl story. That makes me really happy since Kyrra was part of the Artist Alley Comics digital comics project that Kill All Monsters participated in back in the day. Feels good being neighbors to Rich and Craig again.

Back from C2E2

C2E2 was amazing. Jason and I have shared a table there for three years now and it gets more exciting every time. The photo below of Jason sketching was during a quiet moment, but we had an average year in terms of sales and thanks to the Dark Horse news, an excellent year in terms of buzz about Kill All Monsters. Lots of people were asking when the next installment is coming out and it was great to have something to tell them.



One of the biggest thrills of the show was when Geof Darrow (The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, Shaolin Cowboy) came to get a copy of the book. Jason and I are both huge fans of his work. He's so friendly and cool and it took us several seconds to recover from our surprise enough to go over to his table afterwards and ask if he wouldn't mind taking a picture with us. What a kind, gracious man.



Which leads me into the best part of any convention: the people you get to meet and visit with. That goes for readers - both of Kill All Monsters and this blog - and other friends. I'm always afraid I'll get into trouble if I start naming names, because I know I'll leave someone out, but one group I have to mention is the Nerd Lunch crew. I've been on their show several times, but this was my first time meeting any of them in person, including Carlin, my co-host on Dragonfly Ripple. We arranged to have a special Nerd Very Late Dinner on Thursday, but it was awesome that we also kept randomly running into each other at the show the rest of the weekend. They're great guys and it was a pleasure hanging out with them as much as I was able to.

It was also a special treat to meet Kay from the FANgirl Blog. We've been on a couple of Nerd Lunch episodes together and are scheduled for a few more, so it felt sort of like a family reunion. I also got to meet Andrew and Christian from the Atomic Geeks podcast, hosts of the network that Nerd Lunch and Dragonfly Ripple belong to. Both guys are super nice (thanks again for the T-shirt, Christian!) and since Andrew and I were on Nerd Lunch's Trial of M Night Shyamalan episode, that was another fun reunion.



All in all, an extraordinarily fun convention. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello! Next up for me is the all new MSP COMICON (formerly SpringCon) in a few weeks. But more on that later.

Kill All Monsters... in COLOR!

I don't remember if I've mentioned it before, but the next Kill All Monsters story to see print will be in color! Bill Crabtree (The 6th Gun) is a perfect fit for Jason's lines, as you can see in this sample.

It's still a bit early to give all the details yet, but this will be a one-off story that's connected to the main, bigger story of the graphic novel while taking place at a different time. We've got a new publisher, so the shorter story is intended to introduce the world of KAM to a whole new audience before we continue what we started in Ruins of Paris.

Stay tuned for more info. I'm not sure exactly when the big announcement will be made, but by my math it shouldn't be much longer. 2015 promises to be a big year for KAM.

Kill All Monsters: The Ministry of Robots is under construction

Jason leaked a couple of images from his office last week on Facebook with the captions, "Now what could this possibly mean...?" and "This is happening."

Just thought you should know.

Kill All Monsters reviews at Bag and Bored, Oh My! Omaha, and Geeks with Wives

There's a small backlog of Kill All Monsters reviews that I've been meaning to post, starting with a beautiful one from last July. Kim is a mom in Ohama, Nebraska who writes the Oh My! Omaha blog, a parent's guide to happenings in and around her hometown. She also runs a Little Free Library and when someone took all the books out of it, my friend Jay - who runs the Library of Justice here in Minnesota - helped her restock with a bunch of stuff, including a copy of Kill All Monsters.

Kim tells the whole story on her blog, but the short version is that her son claimed the comic as his own and "[devoured] this book every chance he got." Jason and I both have sons and one of the things we wanted to do with Kill All Monsters was to be sure it was accessible to kids. So month's later, Kim's story still makes my day whenever I think about it. Thanks to Jay for sharing the book with her and to her for sharing her story and the photos.

Going back even farther to June, I don't think I ever shared this fantastic review from Bag and Bored. Brad Gischia calls Kill All Monsters "the greatest Monster vs. Robot story since Godzilla vs. Megalon" and praises the human elements of the story while noticing the enormous task Jason has of "not getting lost in the fight scenes," something that he says Jason does "with rocket boots on." Thanks so much, Brad!

Most recently, Cory Anderson from Geeks with Wives included KAM in his "Introducing Indies" series. He writes about being drawn in by Jason's style and then hooked by some of the plot revelations. So, thanks to you too, Cory! We're very glad you enjoyed it and we're hard at work on broadening the Kill All Monsters world and continuing the story.

Fortress of Solitude reviews Kill All Monsters

Another great review of Kill All Monsters, this time by Jarrod Saunders of the Fortress of Solitude. Jarrod writes, "While the idea seems straightforward, Michael May manages to surprise the reader with a great scrip that takes this concept in a whole new direction."

He has even nicer things to say about the art, starting with, "This is a black and white comic that leaves little room for errors in art. The line work in Copland’s illustrations is impressive and makes the most frantic of battles easy to follow and pleasing on the eye."

Thanks so much, Jarrod!

SKJAM! reviews Kill All Monsters

Kill All Monsters got a nice review from the man known as SKJAM! I met him at SpringCon last month where he picked up a copy of the book and I'm thrilled that he liked it. He offers a nice recap that doesn't spoil anything and finishes by recommending the book for kids who enjoyed Pacific Rim or this year's Godzilla.

He also mentions having some difficulty getting into the opening scene, which I think is totally fair. Starting in the middle of a fight and then letting it play out for a while with zero exposition was a gamble. We answer a bunch of world-building questions by the end of Volume 1 and folks all seem able to put it together as the volume progresses, but I do get that we're asking readers to play catch up during the opening pages.

Thanks so much, SKJAM!

Kill All Monsters at The Source this weekend!

This weekend is Free Comic Book Day! As usual, I'll be spending it at The Source Comics and Games, but this year I won't just be picking up a stack of free comics and taking advantage of the store's huge sale. I'll also have a table with copies of Kill All Monsters.

KAM will be for sale, but I do have some awesome prints to give away with every purchase of the book. So... Free Comic Book-Inspired Art Day, I guess? And of course I'll be happy to sign any copies that you already have for absolutely zero dollars. Whatever the situation, if you're in the area, I hope you'll come by and say hello whether you buy anything or not. My wife Diane will also be there face painting; also not for free, but super fun. She's great at superhero faces, logos, Pokemon, and pretty much anything geeky and cool. If she can find a reference for it, she can put it on your cheek and make it look amazing.

As long as I'm writing about appearances, I should quickly mention that C2E2 was a great success. I got to spend the whole weekend hanging out with Jason and a bunch of other friends, both old and new, whom I don't want to list because I'll forget someone important. But we sold a bunch a books and talked to a lot of kaiju fans, all of whom never fail to humble me with their vastly superior knowledge of giant monsters and robots. If I talked to you last weekend, please know that I loved it and look forward doing it again as soon as possible.

Jason sets up before the show

Kill All Monsters at C2E2

Just a quick note that Jason and I will be at C2E2 this weekend with plenty of copies of Kill All Monsters and other cool swag. Table Q-8 in Artist Alley.

Hope to see you there!

New Kill All Monsters art and other updates

Got a fragrant potpourri of Kill All Monsters news for you this morning, starting with a look at some of the cards Jason made for Kickstarter levels that include sketches. Rather than try to sketch directly in books, Jason went all out and had special cards printed so that he could do something a little nicer.

Speaking of Kickstarter, now that it's open to Canadian projects, Jason's got the itch to run one on his own, which means you'll be seeing another Kill All Monsters comic sooner than expected. Before we release Volume 2, we're going to put together a one-shot single issue (probably around 40 story pages) that expands on the world a little while also tying into the story we're telling in the graphic novels. I don't want to give too much away except that it's inspired by this:



That's a piece that Jason drew for the Monstrosity anthology and it's not the only giant robot pinup he's done lately. He also did this one for this year's Baltimore Comic-Con yearbook, which has a Usagi Yojimbo theme. Mike Spicer did the colors. Really wish I was going to Baltimore this year.



Finally, Jeff Bouchard from Comic Spectrum wrote a very nice review of Kill All Monsters, Volume 1, giving it 4 out of 5 stars, saying that he got a Kamandi feel from it (very cool), and writing that it "provides a visceral experience from the over-the-top battles between monster and mech at the same time weaving deeper plot points that leave you thinking and wondering where the story will go." Thanks, Jeff!

Review All Monsters | Pop Culture Hound and Comics Bulletin

There were a couple of reviews last week that I want to point out, but first let me thank Joseph Mallozzi and my pal Jay Mac, who gave shout outs to the Kickstarter from their blogs as we wrapped up.

Chris Thompson and Taylor Lilley of the Pop Culture Hound podcast talked about the book and made me cheer, especially when Taylor said that he's not a kaiju fan, but was won over by the story anyway. Both gentlemen talk about the cast's diversity and how they felt like that worked organically as part of the story without our calling extra attention to it, which was exactly how we hoped it would be. The Kill All Monsters discussion begins around the 25:00 mark, but be sure to stay tuned for Chris' fantastic interview with Gabriel Hardman about his new comic, Kinski at Monkeybrain. It's a wonderful podcast and I'll be tuning in for future episodes.

Nick Hanover at Comics Bulletin wrote a great review too. He says that starting the story in the middle of a long fight is "a bold move, sure, but May's got fight scripting down pat and with a partner like Copland, he knows he can trust the action." He also notices that "May wants you to feel for the humans who have to deal with these creatures, since this is a story not about a first attack, but about a world after monster defeat."

Thanks to Chris, Taylor, and Nick for reading and sharing thoughts on the book!

More reviews and fan art of Kill All Monsters

Well, the Kickstarter is all done. Or, the pledging part is anyway. Now's the part where Jason and I go to work fulfilling rewards, which we're thrilled to do. People chipped in $11,910, which is 476% of our goal. Absolutely amazing, so one last massive THANK YOU to everyone who pledged and helped spread the word.

Got a couple of more Kill All Monsters-related bits this week, starting with the awesome Skullbot drawing above by Vincent Kukua. Vincent is a talented production artist at Image Comics and you can check out more of his stuff on his DeviantArt page. Thanks, Vincent!

Next, a couple of cool sites mentioned us last week. Lonnie Nadler from Bloody Disgusting gave the Kickstarter a nice push and Greg Burgas at the Comics Should Be Good! blog wrote an amazing, really insightful review. He picks up on a lot of stuff I wasn't sure if people would get (the significance of the date when the giant monsters first appeared, for instance). Here's a taste of what he thought, but check out the whole review:

Kill All Monsters is an interesting comic, because it starts out as one thing and slowly changes into something better, and that’s always nice to see. It’s as if May thought “What if I made a comic with giant monsters fighting giant robots?” and once the “That’s AWESOME!” factor wore off, he realized he had to come up with something else. I’m sure he had it plotted out further than just the robots fighting the monsters, but for the first several pages, he just has Copland drawing that, and while it’s quite keen, you always need something more than that. So May settles into an interesting story that borrows liberally from plenty of sources, but still manages to be a compelling read.

Finally, I thought I'd point out that if you like art featuring giant monsters and robots, we've got a Pinterest gallery dedicated to that. I need to link to it from KillAllMonsters.com, so this is as much a reminder for me to do that as it is for you to go look at it. There's some really cool stuff on there.

Last week for the Kill All Monsters Kickstarter

The Kickstarter ends on Friday, but whatever the final total is, it's already far exceeded my and Jason's hopes for it. Everyone's been so supportive and encouraging, we'll never be able to express our gratitude appropriately.

Same goes for those who've helped spread the word. I've got a couple of more links to share from the past week.

Matthew Meylikhov wrote a great Kickstarter Spotlight about us for Multiversity Comics, calling Kill All Monsters "essentially what all Godzilla books should be, but few are, focusing neither on one option [robots punch monsters!] or the other [humans talk about feelings!] and instead celebrating both, mixing it up in a style that flows seamlessly." It's a fun review and Meylikhov is a funny writer. You should check it out.

Meanwhile, Rick Hansen wrote up his reflections on C2E2 for Comic Impact and mentions picking up Kill All Monsters. He let us know on Facebook that he liked it so much he went ahead and chipped in a little Kickstarter money too.

Thanks so much to both Matt and Rick. Jason and I love hearing that people are enjoying the book. If you've written about Kill All Monsters and I haven't shared it here, please don't be shy about forwarding your links. I'd love to see and post about them.

Back from C2E2

C2E2 was amazing. It was great to hang out with Jason in person for the the first time in a few years. It never feels like it's been that long, because a) we talk quite a bit online, and b) that's just the kind of friendship we have. It's a similar deal with artist/RPG-creator Grant Gould. I've been going to conventions and rooming with Grant for almost a decade now and he's as nice as he is talented. It's always great to visit with him and catch up.

Also got caught up with a lot of other folks, met some new friends, and got to put faces to names of some other online pals. I'm fearful of starting a list for fear of leaving anyone out, but C2E2 is always like a big family reunion for me and this year was no different.

Kill All Monsters did extremely well at the show. We almost sold out of our supply, but still have several for SpringCon next month. I'm a little concerned about selling out early at SpringCon, but we'll see how that goes.

To clarify: these were a small run of print-on-demand copies that we printed just to have at conventions a little ahead of the official, retail edition. The official version will be printed on an offset press in large quantities for shipment to stores and Kickstarter backers. In terms of content, the two editions are identical and neither are marked to make one more special than the other. The only difference will be a slight upgrade in print quality on the offset version. The POD version looks great, but the offset version should look even better. The only advantage to the POD is getting to hold it in your hands a little sooner.

Let me know if you have any questions about any of this. We're not trying to pull a fast one on anyone and want everyone to have access to exactly what they want as quickly as we can get it to them.

We talked to a couple of retailers at C2E2 and were pleased to hear that it's not just our local shops that are ordering the book. We also had a lot of readers stop by to tell us that either they'd already backed us on Kickstarter or had heard about KAM online. Even people who didn't buy a copy right then were very complimentary and it was just a really pleasant experience meeting so many comics fans. I'm usually running around covering panels and talking to publishers and creators during C2E2, so it was a change getting to sit still and just meet readers for three days. I enjoyed the heck out of it.

I'm at C2E2!

Just a reminder that Jason Copland and I are at table M6 in Artist Alley all weekend at C2E2 with copies of Kill All Monsters. Come say hi!

More love for Kill All Monsters

A couple of the biggest supporters of Kill All Monsters are James Biggie and Frankie B. Washington, creators of the amazing, kaiju-themed webcomic Robot God Akamatsu. You may remember the awesome print James created for us (which is one of the Kickstarter reward levels, just sayin') and be forgiven for thinking that he's the artist on RGA. As talented a visual artist as he is though, James actually writes the webcomic and Frankie draws it. And now Frankie's done his own, stunning version of what an RGA/KAM crossover (A-KAM-atsu!) would look like. Check out RGA and also be sure to like their Facebook page, a one-stop shop for keeping up with giant monsters and robots news.

Since I mentioned the Kickstarter, the quick update is that as I'm writing this we just passed $6,000.  That's so far beyond my initial hopes for the campaign that I can't even remember them. A few people have been nice enough to mention the Kickstarter, including Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter, the folks behind the Outré anthology, and Crimson Engine, so thanks to all of those people.

There've also been some more reviews, starting with my Robot 6 compadre Corey Blake talking about KAM in our What Are You Reading? feature. "After the novelty buzz of the concept wears off," he writes, "you're actually left with a world and people that you want to spend time with and learn more about. There's some mystery, some intrigue, some questioned motives, some social commentary, all lightly peppered throughout to keep the story chugging along even while the oversized slugfest takes a break."

My pal Siskoid at the indispensable Siskoid's Blog of Geekery also had an advance look at KAM and praises the team's diversity (something very important to me) as well as Jason's loose style. "The material (robots) might have called for very technical drawings, but Copland's work has a sketchiness to it that trades technical accuracy for energy, which I think is really the way to go." Jason had been wanting to loosen up his style for a while and debated about whether or not Kill All Monsters was the time to do that, but I totally agree with him and Siskoid about its being perfect for this series. It gives everything a grittiness that makes the world real.

The last review was from David Goodman at Geekadelphia. He wasn't familiar with KAM until he heard about it on Twitter, so it's fun to hear from someone who's coming at it totally new. "Yes, a few pages in I had distinct visions of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and wasn’t sure what I had gotten into. But once I really got into the tale May and Copland were telling, you realize that Kill All Monsters is science fiction storytelling at it’s best. You have robots the size of buildings beating the snot out of giant monsters in what’s left of Paris, while at the same time you get to experience a very human story of survival. Add in a conspiracy theory or two, some tensions among the pilots and dynamic art that is just a joy to look at and you have a prime example of why webcomics are so great."

Thanks to Corey, Siskoid, and David for the very nice comments!

Finally, a couple of interviews: Russ Burlingame from ComicBook.Com interviewed Jason about the comic, Kickstarter, Jason's influences...lots of stuff. It's a great, comprehensive interview and I even learned some new things about Jason myself.

And I got to talk to my friend and colleague Tim O'Shea for his "Talking Comics with Tim" column at Robot 6. Everyone at Robot 6 feels weird when we talk about Kill All Monsters - and no one more than me - so it's especially nice of Tim to go for it anyway. Check it out; Tim always asks fun and interesting  questions.

Kill All Monsters at C2E2

Jason and I will be at C2E2 this year and we'd love it if you'd come see us if you're there too. The table's in Jason's name (M6 in Artist Alley), but I'll be there all weekend too. We'll have some print-on-demand copies of Kill All Monsters, Volume 1: Ruins of Paris to sell and I'm sure some other things for you to look at, but mostly we'd just like to meet you and say "hi."

You can find us under this banner: