SLG Publishing, the innovative San Jose, CA based publisher of comic books and graphic novels will launch themselves into a new genre of publishing with the release of its first children’s book, Terrabella Smoot and the Unsung Monsters, a new, beastie-infused story from the diabolical-yet-pleasant author/illustrator Jon “Bean” Hastings.
“I can't remember a time since I became an artist that I didn't know I'd someday create a children's book,” says the sinister pen wrangler. “Most people know me only for my comic book work, but I've always had a kids’ book running around in my head, making lots of racket, knocking things over and poking at my bumpy gray matter until I finally got it out of there and onto paper. Good thing, too, since my head seems to have been filled with a bunch of monsters.”
One glance inside the cover will lend terrible credence to the rumors about Jon’s brain. To the casual observer (read: adults), Terrabella Smoot and the Unsung Monsters would appear to be just a cute storybook full of fluffy things. But kids, who are always more sophisticated when it comes to these matters, will see through this ruse before you can say Flibbertigibbet.
“It's a fable about being honest. At least, that's what kid's should tell their parents, since it's really a book about monsters. Monsters, monsters, and more monsters, actually,” admits the sneaky author.
Terrabella’s world is positively dripping with all sorts of monstrosities. From loose-lipped Dipps to Flark birds with indigestion, every page adds a new beastie to the world’s menagerie. If it weren’t for everything being so cute and lovingly rendered, it would be more than your mortal mind could bear, I assure you.
Terrabella Smoot and her family have been invited to the castle of Lord Thonk the Ghastly for the biggest party of the year. Smoot’s Ick, as you all know, is the finest ick in all the land, and what better way to celebrate the Monster of the Year celebration than with a bottle of Smoot’s for each guest? Packing up their best clothes and the ick-making wagon, they set off on the long trip to Ghastly Castle. But along the way, Terrabella finds herself swept from the wagon in an unfortunate tree accident, stranding her in Fangly Forest. To get back to her family, she’ll brave unthinkable perils, make new friends, and learn a startling revelation about the lord of Ghastly Castle and the mysterious unsung monsters.
But as bleak as Terrabella’s journey to reunite with her parents at Ghastly Castle may seem, you will be hard pressed not to find something to smile at in the vibrant watercolors that comprise her world.
“I had done some watercolor work in college but from there I'd moved on to airbrush painting and then computer coloring,” says Hastings. “For Terrabella, however, I wanted to go back to the most direct path from my creative brain bits to the art. You can't get that with airbrush or the computer, since with those you never actually touch the paper...Terrabella Smoot and the Unsung Monsters is, by far, my favorite work.”
Terrabella Smoot and the Unsung Monsters is a 48-page storybook written and illustrated by Eisner Award nominee Jon “Bean” Hastings, due for release in July 2005 from SLG Publishing’s all-ages imprint, Amaze Ink.
