Nearly decade ago, comic book writer Samuel Haine was working at a Studio City, Calif. bar, when a regular dropped a $100 tip. John Schrad, the regular, was feeling flush after finishing a big job in the world of Hollywood production, so why not spread around the wealth? That tip began a friendship that has included a shared passion of Dungeons & Dragons and other geeky things, and now has paid off in an unexpected way.
The friends have teamed on a high concept Christmas children’s book, A Kaiju Christmas. The book, inspired by “The Night Before Christmas,” centers on a group of brave children who must save Christmas (and the world) after a giant monster snowman appears through an extra-dimensional portal.
Haine, who was born six days before Christmas, grew up in Alaska, where his family watched the annual 24 hours of A Christmas Story marathon that airs on TBS and TNT. Those memories got him thinking.
“What can I watch for 24 hours at a time? What can I read once or twice every Christmas?” says Haine of conceiving of the project. Schrad, meanwhile, is a big fan of Toho’s classic Godzilla movies, making them the right collaborators for a book they hope will appeal to fans of Power Rangers and Pacific Rim.
The duo is seeking $5,000 to put it to 200 copies into print, and are launching a Kickstarter on Sept. 6, with a pre-launch page now live.
It’s been a whirlwind for Schrad, who received the script in July and was given a quick turnaround, considering it’s 40 pages of illustrations and must be ready soon in order to meet a Christmas deadline.
“The illustrators I’ve talked to will say ‘I did 24 pages, and it took me nine months,’” says the artist, acknowledging the breakneck pace at which he’s working.
Haine, who last year released the comic Slow City Blues, is cognizant of the strain he’s putting on his artist, but he already has plans for more.
Says the writer with a laugh: “I have a trilogy planned out, if John can stomach it. Next time, we’ll give him more lead time.”
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