On sale now in all good comic shops from Dynamite Entertainment is Damsels – Giant Killer – a 32 page, stand alone, one-shot from Leah Moore & John Reppion, with cover art by Chrissie Zullo, interior art by Dietrich Smith (Army of Darkness, The Next).
Chocked full of kick ass monster slaying goodness, Leah and John have revealed the one shot is in part inspired by an image of the Bible’s David and Goliath by Gustav Dore, which clearly left a lasting impression on Mr Reppion.
In this Damsels special, Queen Jacquelyn of Villeneuve is a benevolent ruler, a loving mother, a devoted wife – but a woman with a monstrous score to settle.
Set more than a century before the events of Damsels, in which the alluring princesses of classic fairy tales take up arms to save their kingdoms from war, this gigantic one-shot tells the tale of one woman’s quest for ultimate revenge.
By sword, or by sorcery, all shall be slain.
“You do not need to be following Damsels thus far to read the one-shot,” says John, “although it fills in a little bit of back-story if you are. Indeed, we’re really hoping that a lot of non Damsels readers will pick the book up (so, please do spread the word!). It was a lot of fun to write and we’re really, really happy with how the whole thing came out.”
And the Gustav Dore connection?
“Gustave Doré was a French artist, illustrator and sculptor who worked primarily with wood engraving,” John reminds us. “He was a phenomenal talent producing incredibly detailed engravings of the slums of Victorian London, illustrations for Poe’s The Raven, Dante’s Divine Comedy, and Milton’s Paradise Lost among many other works.
“I don’t know when I first saw Doré’s David and Goliath from his illustrated English Bible of 1866, but it can’t have been more than a couple of years ago. It’s an image that has lodged very firmly in my brain. It’s an astounding, awe inspiring illustration. It is epic. It is just about the most Heavy Metal thing I have ever seen.
“… Doré’s 147 year old engraving was a big inspiration for the one-shot; we knew that if we could capture just a fraction of the atmosphere of that image, then we’d have something that would deliver on a gigantic scale.
“I’m very happy to say, I think we (Leah, Dietrich Smith, Alex Guimaraes, Chrissie Zullo, Rob Steen and myself) have pulled it off.”
• Damsels: Giant Killer is on sale now in all good UK comic shops (and some run by trolls). Here’s some preview pages…
• More about Damsels on Dynamite’s web site
• Leah Moore & John Reppion’s web site: www.moorereppion.com
- About the Author
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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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