Mythical Monsters Stories is an absolutely stunning graphic story book/encyclopaedia created by Concept and Storyboard artist Peter Dobbin – and it’s unsurprisingly racing quickly to its initial £5000 funding target.

The cover alone should be testament to what’s on offer, but Peter’s Kickstarter is peppered with just some of the beautiful illustrations he’s created to tell exciting adventure stories, showing history and diversity of different cultures from all around the world.

The tales centre on a host of mythical creatures from around the world, examining their backgrounds and cultures, a project Peter began writing five years ago.

By day, Peter works as a concept artist in computer games, where he gets to design a lot of characters. His regular clients have included Sony, Microsoft, Hasbro and Electronic Arts. He’s also worked on Playstation VR, Cluedo and several Harry Potter Games.

“As a child, I was very interested in Greek and Roman mythology,” he says. “I liked reading and writing short stories about mythical creatures. While learning about different monsters, I was also learning about different cultures. I liked the way most of the creatures were hybrids of existing familiar animals.

“I researched different myths from around the world and realised there were so many I had never heard of,” he continues. “A Colombian female spirit called Madremonte that protects the forest; a European cockatrice called a Basilisk that stares at people and causes instant death; a Russian furry forest-dwelling creature called Suarle, that tickles people to death.

“I realised the best way of explaining who and what each creature is would be to write a short, graphic adventure story for each one. I’ve depicted ancient people interacting with the mythical creatures and battles with evil creatures.”

To that end, Mythical Monster Stories offers forty short stories’featuring monsters such as the Troll, Basilisk and the Azure Dragon.

“I’ve really enjoyed exploring different cultures, morality tales and comments on the environment,” says Peter. “It’s the most personal project I have ever worked on.”

In addition to the glorious looking book itself, rewards include the opportunity to have Peter draw you, your friend or child as a Mythical creature. Other tiers include the book and limited cart prints.

If this project proves a success, Peter is already teasing the possibility of a second volume, and is open to suggestions for new creatures to include.

“There are so many mythical creatures out there it was impossible to include all of them in one book!” he declares.

• You can book Mythical Monsters Stories here on Kickstarter

• Peter is online at peterdobbin.co.uk | Facebook | Instagram | X (formerly known as Twitter)

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

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