Carl experiences the incredible new comic book series from Starburns Industries Press
Every once in awhile, we here at The Future Of The Force are made aware of books, films, merchandise that will be appearing at the movies or on our shelves. We strive to bring those items and movies to you, our readership so you can make an informed choice about whether you want to go and see the movie, grab the DVD/ Blu-Ray and buy the books, comic books and merchandise.
Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia | Starburns Industries Press
We recently became aware of an upcoming comic book which will be available exclusively on Comixology. Entitled ‘Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia‘, the comic is published by Starburns Industries Press which is the production company behind Rick & Morty, HBO’s Animals and HarmonQuest amongst other great titles. The synopsis of the comic book goes like this:
‘When a disgruntled pro wrestler declares himself ‘Galactic champ of the universe’, a planet of alien wrestlers views it as an act of war’
Come on! With a title like that and a synopsis to match, of course, my interest was piqued! It sounds like an affectionate send-up of both WWE and all those classic 50s science fiction movies that hit the screens and drive-ins. I had to download the ‘Dropbox’ app to be able to view the comic but that was a small price to pay to see what the comic entailed. You see, the comic is marvellous. The drawing and illustration are completely top-notch, the design is wonderful and the writing is beyond reproach. The whole team have come up with a strip that not only amused me but have left me yearning for more.
The comic opens in the outer reaches of space in 1999. Watching an earth-based wrestling show, The American Wrestling Federation Summer SLAM-A-BRATION is a muscle-bound, human-like, man-mountain by the name of Crater Maker. Someone he sees on his large computer screen has caught not only his interest but the interest of the Wrestletopia Central Command. Crater Maker even speaks to the command in the style of a wrestler, all ‘King of Crush, Sultan of squash’ etc. He reports to the command that he has just received a very interesting signal.
We then are transported back by 15 years to Earth. We are introduced to the main character, a large beefcake going by the name of Rory Landell. Landell is going through his spiel, his promo for the night’s main event. Anyone who is familiar or can remember the heydey of the WWE (or WWF as it was known as then) will instantly identify with the language used, the style, the pomp of the words being uttered. He’s going through his promo in front of a mirror when he’s interrupted by a female worker, Linda. She tells him that the promoter, Dick Drasin, will never go for his promo as it’s not ‘family-friendly’. Landell tells her that she will soon be making out with a champ, to which she replies she already does, naming one of his co-workers. As the two are fooling around and in a romantic clinch, another wrestler, Herman, interrupts them and tells Landell that Drasin wants to speak with him.
Landell meets up with Drasin, who is watching a match between the wrestler Cousin Orville and a BEAR for the coveted Metro-Midwestern Television Championship, which the bear wins. Drasin calmly informs Landell that there’s been a change of plan and change to the agreement he and Landell made. Landell will no longer be winning the championship belt at that night’s pay-per-view due to a six-point-five buy rate, the highest buy rate for a PPV in history. Landell is outraged by this, even going so far as to offer to change his act and turn ‘face’ to appeal to Drasin’s target audience of families. Drasin refuses the offer to which Landell angrily storms off, with Drasin’s threats of letting him go from his promotion ringing in his ears. While storming out of the arena, he is grabbed by the arm by another wrestler, Don, an old-timer. Landell is determined to quit. Don tells him a story of his old tag team partner, Swamp Gas Charlie, who owned a turkey farm with ‘Ten thousand turkey’s on it’ and quit, saying the promoters could all ‘Line up and kiss my ass!’. What Don is trying to say is Landell should just suck it up and continue performing, to not waste his talent. Viewing a pizza box for ‘Galaxy Pizza’, Landell comes up with an idea, an idea that will annoy the promoter but unknownst to him, will set him off on a collision course with the Planet Wrestletopia and the ‘real’ galactic champion, a huge masked mountain of a wrestler by the name of Manifest Destiny. And that’s only the first part!
The story is quite enjoyable and amusing. The writers, Ed ‘The Carnage Artist’ Kuehnel & ‘Masculine’ Matt Entin have created a story and a world/sandbox to play in that has so many possibilities, it is astounding. You could create so many different tangents in this world that they could write and create for decades if they wanted to. All the storylines, like a comic-book, should go off on their own paths only to be able to converge together later down the road. And that is the beauty of the world they have created.
With art by Dan ‘The Body’ Schkade and colour art by Marissa Louie aka ‘Col. Von Slamstein’, the comic soars. The contours of each drawing and character are wonderous. The art and design used blows the reader away. The design by Fred ‘Dr. ShoNoLuv’ Chao draws the reader in and holds their attention. It is beautiful. Some of the characters do pass a slight resemblance to wrestlers from days gone by but that, I think, is what the artists and designers were going for from the start. And they’ve pulled it off to great effect.
Final Thoughts:
With brilliant lettering by Dave Lanphear, the comic should be a smash hit for wrestling fans and comic book fans across the globe. It deserves its place in the comic book world without doubt and should be around for years to come. With the first three issues already read, I can only look forward to enjoying the continuing stories and battles to come for ‘Rock N Roll’ Rory Landell and the whole roster of characters contained within the pages. You can keep your ‘Sports Entertainment’. I want to enjoy this ‘comic-book sports entertainment’ for many more years.
Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia is published by Starburns Industries Press and is available to buy from Comixology.
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Carl Roberts is a Senior Staff Writer and Books and Literature Correspondent for Future of the Force. He is passionate about Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Indiana Jones and Horror movies. Follow him on Twitter @CarlRoberts2 where he uses the force frequently!
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Carl Roberts is the News Editor of The Future of the Force. Aside from being our horror genre aficionado, he is also passionate about Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and the Indiana Jones movies. Follow him on Twitter where he uses the force frequently!
