I had the pleasure of speaking with Sam Haine (Slow City Blues) and John Schrad a Los Angeles-based illustrator about their new project A KAIJU CHRISTMAS. Which is a children’s book for All Ages based on The Night Before Christmas, but instead of a Santa flying down to drop off presents, a giant monster snowman appears through an extra-dimensional portal to ruin the holidays! And it’s up to a group of brave kids to save Christmas and the world!
Fans of Power Rangers, Godzilla, Pacific Rim, King Kong, and Voltron will love the action-packed story, but everyone who loves Christmas will adore the amazing painted art style that harkens back to the holidays of old but with a sci-fi twist!
Check out the Kickstarter campaign here: A Kaiju Christmas — Kickstarter
In this sprawling interview, I talk with Sam Haine (Slow City Blues) and John Schrad about their Christmas traditions, what lead to this project being developed, and the origin of their friendship! We even talked about their favorite Kaiju and Christmas movies!
It’s a not to be missed episode that will have you laughing and feeling the Christmas season!
LISTEN BELOW
Bios
Samuel Haine – Writer: Sam, was born six days before Christmas and grew up in the wilderness of Alaska. –So the Holidays are in his blood! The critically-acclaimed Slow City Blues was Sam’s first comic series, but he also has four more new titles coming out over the next 6 months! His mentors have included the legendary Jim Shooter and NY Times Bestselling author Kristin Hannah. Sam, his wife, Laura, and their dog, Sandy recently moved to Colorado to be closer to family. When he’s not working on comics, he’s reading(currently: Book 4 of The Stormlight Archives), playing MTG, working on their house, or Dungeon Mastering. –And on Christmas Eve, he makes sure that A Christmas Story is playing ALL DAY!
John Schrad – Artist: John is a Los Angeles-based illustrator who has worked along the edges of the art world and in the heart of the entertainment world for over 15 years. Working primarily in film and television John has done concept art, graphic design, and storyboarding for independent features hand-in-hand with his passion for film production. His friendship with Sam led to several projects in development with Kaiju Christmas being his freshman excursion into print. When he’s not drawing or filmmaking, John is spending time with his fiancé, Victoria and his cat Butters, or spending his Saturdays playing D&D.
