Monkey Squad One Annual #1. Pages 13 & 14.

I already went on and on about how much I loved Who's Who & The Handbook Of The Marvel Universe a few posts back when I posted the bios for Monkey Squad One & U.N.C.L.E. Doug.

One of my goals when creating this issue was fully transforming the once villainous Monkey Squad Two (based on my adorable nieces) into heroes. Real Life Olivia & Maddy were getting older & wanted to be a bigger part of MS1. 

In current issues they get plenty of panel-time & will have a HUGE role in the second half of the series.

Page 8 features the 1st page of "Dark Monkey Matters" and as you can read, this story takes place between pages 7&8 of issue 3.

I explained the whole thing in a different Monkey Squad Monday, when I posted Issue 3 pages 7&8.

Thanks to the power of modern technology, I'll link you to it here.

NEXT WEEK: The Conclusion to "Dark Monkey Matters" and The Map To The MonkeyVerse!

Thanks for reading!

Monkey Squad One Annual #1. Pages 11 & 12.

Yes, that's a Tumbler in the background of the last panel. (Current MS1 readers saw the Tumbler again in MS1 #9). I'm a pretty big fan of The Dark Knight.

Monkey Force One is a much cooler name than Monkey Squad Two, but it's confused several people. One dipshit even reviewed Monkey Squad One as Monkey Force One.

It was kinda my fault for giving the teams interchangeable names.

NEXT WEEK:

THE RETURN OF KAZ!

Monkey Squad One Annual #1. Pages 9 & 10.

If you're the kind of comic reader that reads the word balloons and gets the gist of what's in the panel, so as to quickly move on to the next one, first off: Thanks a fuckin' lot! I tried really hard on this shit, slow down & look at the motherfuckin' craftsmanship!

Secondly, did you see the Planetary Guides or Infinity Gauntlet in the background on page 9? Huh? That's right. you've been Easter Egged.

I'm pretty sure the reason I'm so fired up is this is the 1st appearance of Seven Bricks Of Fury! This character was co-created by my good friend, Steve Chafin (follow him on Twitter) , who one day said to me something about a character  named Seven Bricks of Fury who had Brick Nunchucks, Brick Feet & smoked a Cement Cigar.

Sounded good to me.

It was the 1st time I'd let anybody else be any part of creating MS1.

It didn't hurt as bad as I thought!

These days I'm all about finding out what other artists can do with the characters of MS1! So much so, that you can expect to see an awesome Pin-Up Gallery by some very talented artists in next summer's Monkey Squad One Annual #2!

One of the artists is my old friend David Dohrmann (who you can follow on Twitter).

He did this awesome U.N.C.L.E. Doug piece in his free time with one eye closed and says he's gonna go all-out on his Pin-Up!

Another incredible artist involved in the Pin-Up Gallery is my good friend, Hulk Yoda (don't worry, I know his real name) who is a pretty big fan of MS1! He banged out this fantastic piece with Logana & Connor from the all new MS1 #11!

I can't wait to see what he does for the Annual!

Check out Hulk Yoda on Twitter and his page on deviantART!

NEXT WEEK: It's Clobberin' Time!

Thanks for reading!

Monkey Squad One Annual #1. Pages 7 & 8.

The title "There Is No Spoon" is a Matrix reference.

Duh.

Big Brown is played by my buddy, David. At the time he lived in University City, MO. But a whole lot has changed since then...

So, anyway, the training montage has references to The Karate Kid, Kill Bill & Lone Wolf & Cub (the comics, not the awesome movies). I'm a big fan of all 3.

"Recruitment Drive" features the 1st appearance of Senorita Isa & BrookeZilla.

Real Life Dr. Metropolis (Joe Metro) asked if I'd add his niece, Isabelle, to the comic and I was all for it. I needed new female characters AND I'd known Isabelle since she was a baby & it was cool to get her in the story.

Then there's BrookeZilla. Real Life Brendan asked if I'd put his little sister in the comic. Her name's Brooke and she's Brendan's dad's child with his 2nd wife. I wasn't gonna say no to the kid, so he showed me a picture & told me they called her "Brookezilla" as a baby and BrookeZilla was born.

I think it's funny there's a character in my comic based on a real person that I've never met.

NEXT WEEK: 

THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF SEVEN BRICKS OF FURY!

Thanks For Reading!

Monkey Squad One Annual #1. Pages 5 & 6.

As a kid in the mid-80's I really loved DC's Who's Who series and the Official Handbook To The Marvel Universe series. Neither were traditional comics stories but instead secret files and statistics of super heroes and villains. They had origins and backstories, recaps of significant plotlines and shit like that.

It was wikipedia for superheroes before we had the internet.

Those comics rubbed that special spot in my little O.C.D. riddled brain that liked assigning rank to things and putting shit in order.

Anyway, I was using the Annual to make all my comic dreams come true, so I hooked it up with some stats & schematics for characters, locations and vehicles throughout the book. 

It's one of my favorite things in the Annual and I'd really like to do updated bios on all the main characters for next year's Monkey Squad One Annual #2.

NEXT WEEK:

Dr. Metropolis & Monkey Squad Two in "Recruitment Drive"!

THANKS FOR READING!