PRESS RELEASE
Starburns Industries Press’s summer season begins May 1, with the debuts of three digital-first series from some of comics’ rising stars! Spanning three genres, Gryffen: Galaxy’s Most Wanted, Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia, and Long Ago and Far Away are united by SBI’s mandate of “Funny. Strange. Sad. Beautiful.” Each limited series will later be collected in paperback, but fans can read them early on ComiXology and preview them in Starburns Presents, SBI’s 2019 Free Comic Book Day offering.
“These series are the epitome of the SBI brand, created by very funny writers and artists but revealing surprising depth and poignancy,” said Brendan Wright, SBI Press’s VP/Executive Editor and the editor of each title in the May 1 wave. “Each one made us laugh like idiots, and we didn’t want to wait to release them, so going digital-first lets us bring them out quickly and charge a lot less while still being able to release more at once, thanks to the lack of print costs on each series.”
Gryffen is being serialized in half-length issues for 99¢ each, while Wrestletopia and Long Ago and Far Away are serialized in full-length—and some extra-length—issues for $1.99 each, passing the savings from print costs on to readers. Schedules range from weekly for Long Ago and Far Away to monthly for Wrestletopia, but it all starts May 1!
The three series available May 1 include:
GRYFFEN: GALAXY’S MOST WANTED
Script: Ben Kahn (Heavenly Blues)
Art and color: Bruno Hidalgo (Once Upon a Time Machine)
Letters: Sal Cipriano (The Batman Who Laughs)
Ben Kahn and Bruno Hidalgo follow up their acclaimed Heavenly Blues with Gryffen: Galaxy’s Most Wanted, a genderqueer space opera following Captain Lyla Gryffen’s campaign against the fascist Sovereign Reach. Once pride of the Reach, Gryffen disappeared six months ago at the edge of the galaxy, only to return one week ago—deeply pissed off. Building a crew from a hostage Reach soldier and the imprisoned smartest man in the universe, Gryffen is out to put a stop to the Reach’s exploitation of worlds, the stagnation of science, and the tyranny of green Jell-O!
Gryffen: Galaxy’s Most Wanted will run twelve 12-page issues for 99¢ each. Issue #2 will release on May 15, with subsequent issues released every three weeks.
INVASION FROM PLANET WRESTLETOPIA
Script: Ed Kuehnel & Matt Entin (Lumberjack Man)
Art: Dan Schkade (The Spirit), Kendall Goode (WWE)
Color: Marissa Louise (Hex Wives)
Letters: A Larger World (Ninja•K)
Creators Ed Kuehnel and Matt Entin bring their cult classic to SBI Press, where the story will be completed for the first time! “Boy Scout” Bob Schultz! Cousin Orville! Mini Macho! Kodiak Jack! Spanish Rose! Don Fong Wong! These are the megastars of 1984’s AWF. “Rock ’n’ Roll” Rory Landell isn’t getting the respect he thinks he deserves, so one crazy night he ups the game, declaring himself the Galactic Champion of the Universe. But it turns out AWF fans aren’t the only ones listening, and the denizens of planet Wrestletopia aren’t going to take a challenge like that sitting down! Soon the Earth is enclosed in a metal cage, and true Galactic Champion Manifest Destiny is on the hunt for Rory, who may or may not be passed out drunk somewhere.
Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia will run six extra-sized issues for $1.99 each. Issue #2 will release on May 15, with subsequent issues released monthly.
LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY
Script: Chris Mancini (Comedy Film Nerds)
Art and Color: Fernando Pinto (Monarchs)
Letters: Troy Peteri (KISS)
Comedian and Comedy Film Nerds cohost Chris Mancini breathes new life into fantasy realms with adept humor artist Fernando Pinto! Decades ago, Jason saved the world of Elvenwood from the witch queen Nexis as the Child Knight. Today, he’s an unhappy manager of a comics store, where his disbelieving coworkers have to hear his ridiculous tale over and over. When the denizens of Elvenwood return to seek Jason’s help again, it turns out it’s all true, but will Jason be the hero he once was? Or will he just make things worse because he grew up to be a complete jackass?
Long Ago and Far Away will run eight standard-length issues for $1.99 each. The series will be released weekly.
The first issue of each series is available exclusively on ComiXology May 1, and Gryffen and Wrestletopia are also previewed in Starburns Presents Free Comic Book Day #2 on May 4! The issue includes an excerpt from Wrestletopia #1 and the complete first chapter of Gryffen, along with a prologue for C.W. Cooke and Kelly Williams’s upcoming digital-first Nasquatch, an excerpt from the next chapter of A.C. Medina, Mina Elwell, and Kit Wallis’s Hellicious, an original story from the world of Eben Burgoon’s B-Squad, and a taste of comedian Josh Fadem’s A Whole New Set of Problems. Starburns Presents #2 features an original cover by Kelly Williams mashing up the characters from all of the issue’s stories!
ABOUT STARBURNS INDUSTRIES PRESS
SBI Press is the comics imprint launched by producer Simon Oré and affiliated with Starburns Industries, an innovative and imaginative full-service production company, specializing in stop-motion, traditional 2D, and CG animation as well as live-action production. Starburns is a creator-driven studio, whose founders are responsible for the creation of Adult Swim series like Morel Orel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole and Rick and Morty; as well as the Academy Award nominated animated film Anomalisa and the upcoming Netflix animated feature film Bubbles.
Launched in the summer of 2010 to produce the Emmy Award©–winning Community holiday special, Starburns was founded by Dan Harmon, Dino Stamatopoulos, Joe Russo II, James Fino, and Duke Johnson to create a workspace that gives support and freedom to original and creative people to make content that is funny, strange, sad, and beautiful.
