Shinybeast-WebAnother gem from the vaults courtesy of Rick Veitch:0

Hot on the heals of the successful release of ABRAXAS AND THE EARTHMAN, King Hell Press will solicit a companion volume titled SHINY BEASTS, collecting all the fully painted comics that Rick Veitch did for EPIC Magazine.

“What I found after publishing ABRAXAS”, said Veitch, “is there’s a whole generation of Marvelites who cut their teeth on my EPIC work. Most of them had never read undergrounds so my stories and graphic novels of that period represented their first taste of how weird a comic could be. A lot of these folks are still reading comics and have been looking for collections of the stuff. ”

Love-Doesn't-Lasy-WebSHINY BEASTS contains nine fully painted short stories, running the gamut from whimsy to fantasy to sci/fi and horror. Included is a special fold-out version of SHIPMATES. Veitch explains, “SHIPMATES is a short story with a continuous background running through it. The gatefold format will allow it to be seen as it was always meant to be.”

Alan Moore fans will be excited to know that his never-before-collected short story, LOVE DOESN’T LAST FOREVER, illustrated by Veitch and which originally appeared in the final issue of EPIC, is included in SHINY BEASTS.

S.R. BISSETTE fans will be similarly delighted that MONKEY SEE, his full color collaboration with Rick Veitch from EPIC #2, will also be collected for the first time anywhere.


Veitch has personally remastered the color from the original art. “EPIC was state of the art in its day,” said Veitch, “but the old scans were dark and murky. Using modern technology I’m able to bring out the bright pallet I was working with for full effect. SHINY BEASTS will also be printed on the same glossy art stock we used to such good effect on ABRAXAS.”

Veitch says there will be a third companion volume to ABRAXAS and SHINY BEASTS; a remastered version of his 1984 Marvel Graphic Novel, HEARTBURST, probably in late 2007.

SHINY BEASTS is currently offered in the February PREVIEWS for release in April 2007.

Veitch will be set up at table A207A in Artist’s Alley at the New York Comic-Con with the complete KING HELL library for sale and signing, including ABRAXAS AND THE EARTHMAN, BRAT PACK, THE MAXIMORTAL, THE ONE, RABID EYE, POCKET UNIVERSE and CRYPTO ZOO.

His new VERTIGO series, ARMY@LOVE, is slated for monthly release beginning in March 2007.

His recent Vertigo graphic novel, CAN’T GET NO, was named one of The Best of 2006 by Publishers Weekly.

1 COMMENT

  1. I’ve emailed Rick a few times and told him how much I loved Abraxas. I was totally stoked when he re-released it and I will certainly buy this one as well.

    And I agree, Heartburst was awesome. I still own a copy.