Prose & Kahn: New Monster High Comic
Monster High: Howliday Haunt releases this December from IDW!
Welcome back to Prose & Kahn! I’ve had a new comic announced that I can’t wait to share with you - MONSTER HIGH: HOWLIDAY HAUNT!
For anyone unfamiliar with Monster High, it’s a line of fashion dolls focused on Frankie Stein, Draculaura, Clawdeen Wolf, and Cleo de Nile as they and other supernatural-inspired students navigate the spooky and drama-filled halls of Monster High! To expand the story, IDW is publishing a new ongoing Monster High comic series, MONSTER HIGH: NEW SCAREMESTER by Jacque Aye and Caroline Shuda. As part of the series, IDW is also releasing a series of holiday one-shot issues, and invited me to write a story for Monster High’s Winter Dance!
Monster High: Howliday Haunt. Art and Cover by Sonia Liao
At Monster High, snow is on the ground, and love is in the air! In this 30-page love story, sparks are flying between Monster High’s sweetest Franken-girl and Johnny Spirit, Monster High’s ultimate bad boy ghost. Is their budding romance real, or does this have something to do with the students who have mysteriously gone missing?!
This issue is drawn by Sonia Liao, and is coming out in comic stores everywhere on December 4th. Pre-order your copy at your local comic shop before the Final Order Cutoff on October 21st!
Anyone who listens to Progressively Horrified knows about my love for all things silly and spooky. Horror comedy is so my jam (check out SHAMAN for more urban fantasy comics), so stepping into the world of Monster High was an absolute joy. All these students, full of great fashion, pun-filled names, powerful personalities, and special monster abilities, were so much fun to write. I love that space when the world of the fantastical meets mundane, every day experiences, and that’s the exact sweet spot where Monster High thrives.
But what I enjoyed most about writing Howliday Haunt was the romance. If you ever see me and my partner together for more than five minutes, you’ll find out what an over-romantic sap I can be. I’ve written a lot of comedy before, but this was my first time putting romance front and center (well, if you don’t count a certain graphic novel I can’t talk about quite yet 😉). That swelling feeling in your heart, the moments that take your breath away, there’s nothing better than getting swept away in a good romance.
Monster High: Howliday Haunt. Variant Cover by Asiah Fulmore
And when you’re writing a character as sweet, genuine, caring, and inquisitive as Frankie, it’s hard not to fall in love. With a protagonist like her, it was easy to put myself in the mind of Johnny Spirit, and fall head over heels with the one person who sees the good in you that you’ve lost sight of. Did I harken back a bit to my teenage love of Kagome and Inuyasha? You bet I did.
So as a special bonus, I want to share my romance playlist I made for writing MONSTER HIGH: HOWLIDAY HAUNT! I don’t know why all the songs are from the 2000s, it just kinda happened that way. Maybe the 00s were a really romantic decade?
But Monster High isn’t the only comic I have coming out soon! There’s still time to pre-order MR. MUFFINS: DEFENDER OF THE STARS!
Eleven-year-old Reuben Mahmoud is pulled into an intergalactic war when he learns that the cosmic chosen one, destined to save the universe is…his pet corgi.
I’m so excited about this comic. It’s 150-pages of adorable doggy saving outer space with the power of lasers and being a good boy. Me and Georgeo poured our hearts into making a comic for kids that adults can laugh at and get swept away with too. Pre-orders are really important to a book’s success, so every order or share on social media means the world.
And to close out, some shows and movies I’ve been enjoying lately:
Saltburn - I finally sat down and watched last year’s Saltburn. And everyone who told me I’d love it was completely correct. What a fantastic movie full of incredible performances (Rosamund Pike, you are the moment), amazing directing and writing, and did I mention it’s gay? Because it is so, so delightfully gay.
English Teacher - speaking of gay, some of you might remember the webseries The Gay and Wondrous Caleb Gallo. Well, creator Brian Jordan Alvarez is back with his very own sitcom on FX! This show just started a few weeks ago, but it’s already one of my favorites. New episodes are out on Hulu every Tuesday. If you’re like me, this will fill the work-place comedy shaped hole in your life right now.
One Piece (Egghead) - One Piece is currently adapting the Egghead arc from the manga, and they’ve been going above and beyond on the animation. After falling in love with the live action show, catching up on the manga, and now watching the anime week-to-week, I’m officially on the One Piece fandom train. If you want to watch Super Saiyan Bugs Bunny punch the most hateable leopard man ever, give One Piece’s current arc a whirl.
And that’s it for today! Thank you for reading, and see you next time!