Below are 2 detailed looks at Bill's amazing cover to Unfabulous Five:  Greasers From the Black Lagoon #1. This cover was originally created as a  gatefold image for the cover of the Lucha Libre Comics Anthology #5.  It's just a shame that we have to cover up Bill's amazing illustration  with logos and promotional text as it holds up so well on its own. For  comparison sake, I've included both Bill's original pencils and colors.

It's odd how things seem to come in cycles. Jerry and I first met while working at Humanoids Publishing in 2002. So I guess it's appropriate that Jerry and I will be actively involved in bring the latest incarnation of Humanoids to the US Comics Publishing market. I can now officially announce that, in addition to our work on all things Muttpop, Jerry and I will be helping Humanoids Inc. reestablish its presence in the US. Jerry's official role is Senior Art Director. I will be working as the Editor In Chief. As a whole, our role will be an extension of the things we do at Muttpop. Jerry's handling the overall look and design of the entire line of Humanoids Inc. comic books and graphic novels. I will be overseeing the development of the line of books we are releasing including translations of some of European books and the development of some new books in the US. As a guy who's passionate about comics, toys, and games I am incredibly grateful that I've had opportunities to work in those fields. This will just be another step in that journey.

As for Muttpop, things will continue as they have. We're still fully committed to the Lucha Libre, Minis, and other projects we have in development. As guys that have had their hand continually in both the toy and comics industry it's a natural way to keep ourselves involved and contributing to both. One bit of exciting news that I can announce is that Humanoids will now be the official Publisher of all Lucha Libre comics. We had quite a bit of a break after Lucha Libre #6 and the first Graphic Novel. We're now returning with a monthly publishing schedule beginning this June. We're changing the format a bit. The price per issue is dropping to $3.50 per issue. We are also going to reformat the Lucha Libre comics into a series of miniseries in the traditional comic book format. Our first mini-series is 4 issues of Unfabulous Five (formerly called the Luchadores Five). Once that's complete we'll do a 4-issue Tikitis mini-series and finally a 4-issue Tequila mini-series.

This should be fun. I hope you join me on the ride. CLICK HERE to check out the revamped Humanoids website.

Here are some design sketches that Bill (artist of Red Demon, Dr. Destruction, and the Luchadores Five) did based on a conversation Jerry, Bill and I had with some of the fine people at Todd McFarlane Productions. Todd McFarlane was the superstar Marvel/Spider-man artist in the 1990s who later co-created Image Comics and the Spawn comic character. As mutual fans, we met with a handful of people working for McFarlane. In an attempt to explore the possibilities of collaboration, we were thinking that it'd be cool for the Muttpop Lucha Libre art team to create a Kaiju version of the more familiar characters of the Spawn universe. In exchange, we thought it'd be fun to see our Lucha Libre characters redone in the hyper-realistic Spawn style made famous by artists like McFarlane and Greg Capullo.

I asked Bill to come up with some design sketches for Spawn based on our conversation. Which are seen below.

Later on when the Spawn team was thinking of doing a Spawn comics anthology, we were asked to take our Kaiju concept and pitch it as a comic short story. I was pretty proud of what we came up with (a mix of Spawn X Ghost Rider X Shadow of the Colossus X Kamen Rider) but, sadly, the Anthology project was eventually canceled.

Fortunately we still have Bills amazing designs to share with you guys!

I love sharing as much behind the scenes stuff as possible. There's something very intimate and revealing about seeing the creative process being broken down into its many components. It's kind of like taking apart a watch: you can appreciate all of it's functioning bits and pieces a whole lot more when you see them in their separate parts. Here are pencils and colors by Gobi in their separate and combined form (originally showcased on the Goblog).

When most people see the beautiful designs our artists have done for the Lucha Libre toys and comics, they immediately imagine it being the perfect fit for an animated feature film or television series. There's a distinct style to Bill, Gobi, and Fabien M's illustrations that lend themselves to 2D animation. Since all three artists are heavily inspired by the masterworks of Manga artists like Akira Toriyama and old school Capcom character designers, that inclination is a worthy one.

But, from a conceptual standpoint, we feel that the concept and characters lend themselves to the world of live action feature films. The spirit of our comics comes from the beauty of Los Angeles city, Mexican wrestling, and geekdom. As a cartoon, our characters would immediately be seen as "cool". But as real people in costume, there's an integral element of absurdity that is brought to life.

To me, the "perfect" Luchadores Five movie would be a live action adventure comedy. It'd be a fun mix of "The Warriors" and "Ghostbusters" with just a pinch of "The Big Lebowski". That'd be a heckuva a film!

Watch these previews and tell me if you can see what I'm talking about!:

Here's Fabien M's beautiful cover to Lucha Libre 8. Lucha Libre 8 will be in stores this July. For some crazy reason, I missed the Image Solicitations on Comic Book Resources. I guess, it's better late than never! :-) SOLICITATION TEXT: The Luchadores Five search for Diablo Loco in Surf City. As the Tikitis uncover the Sirens’ secrets, Polynome-Z hides his own. El Jefe Gastronomo unveils his fierce cooking techniques. Tequila destroys more Rednecks. Profesor Furia disgusts. Los Luchadoritos past time. 56 Pages. Full color. Perfect bound. Cardstock cover. $6.99.