Giant monsters, robots stalk Oklahoma in new comics project
Word Balloons #1228: The second Oklahoma Kaiju tale seeks crowdfunding support
If you think you’re safe from giant monsters here in flyover country, you may soon change your mind.
Oklahoma comic creators Jeff Provine and Jerry Bennett are seeking funds on Kickstarter for the second edition of their “Oklahoma Kaiju” tales. The first “Oklahoma Kaiju” story appeared in 2018, in the second issue of “Okie Comics.” It can be read online here: https://okiecomics.com/2018/05/08/oklahoma-kaiju/
“Okie Comics” was founded in 2017 by Provine to showcase the talents of Oklahoma comic-book creators. “Oklahoma Kaiju” has been one of the most popular stories, Provine said.
“The kaiju-in-Oklahoma idea came out of 1) Godzilla movies being awesome and 2) the Pei Plan,” Provine said, referring to the I.M. Pei architectural plan for OKC that resulted in many historic buildings being torn down or otherwise removed. This historical fact tied into what writer Provine and artist Bennett did with their 1967-set story of a giant possum who gets loose in Oklahoma city.
“With over 60% of downtown OKC bulldozed in the 1960s, we used it as a model of what the giant possum destroyed,” Provine said.
How does Oklahoma respond to the threat of giant monsters? With its own giant, Provine supposes in “Oklahoma Kaiju 2.”
“For Oklahoma Kaiju 2, we wanted to explore what would be a modern solution to giant monsters: giant robots of course! With the Golden Driller already a giant statue, it just made sense to serve as a mech warrior,” Provine said.
The story, set 50 years after the original tale, sees Oklahoma is at the heart of monster-defense with the National Monster Center located in Norman and the Golden Driller mech defender deploying from Tulsa.
“We're hoping to share a fun story with plenty of action as well as some reflection on what giant monsters actually are: oversized animals, but animals nonetheless,” Provine said.
Bennett, one of OKC’s best-known and most prolific comic-book artists, returns for the sequel.
“Working with Jerry is great!” Provine said. “He has done a series of prints of giant monsters and robots in Oklahoma City, making a perfect match for the material. His energy makes for great bouncing ideas back and forth.”
Joining Provine and Bennett to provide variant covers on the issue are Oklahoma artists Alexandra Brodt and Johnnie Johnson.
Fans can back Oklahoma Kaiju 2 at Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/okiecomics/oklahoma-kaiju-2
If successfully backed, Provine plans to release the digital version of the comic free on the Okie Comics website.
Matthew Price, matthew@matthewLprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman.
Thank you for sharing! We are stoked for this!