BOOM! Studios will release R.L. Stine's Just Beyond: Monstrosity 2021 FCBD Special on Free Comic Book Day in anticipation of the television series coming out on Disney+. Just Beyond is a middle-grade graphic novel anthology series created and written by Goosebumps author R.L. Stine to bring horror to younger readers once again. The books follow middle schoolers as they navigate the supernatural. Other books announced for FCBD this year include Assassin's Creed and The Witcher.
R.L. Stine is well known for introducing younger readers to the horror genre through his prose novels Goosebumps and Fear Street. Goosebumps became a popular television show and spawned several movies and Fear Street will be made into a trilogy of movies releasing on Netflix in 2021. He's already released three Just Beyond graphic novels: Just Beyond: The Scare School, Just Beyond: The Horror at Happy Landings, and Just Beyond: Welcome to Beast Island.
In an official announcement on their website, BOOM! Studios revealed Just Beyond: Monstrosity 2021 FCBD Special as part of Free Comic Book Day, which will be published by their KaBOOM! imprint. It will offer a sneak peek at the upcoming Just Beyond: Monstrosity graphic novel. The Free Comic Book Day Cover was illustrated by Julian Totino Tedesco, who is known for her cover art on Marvel titles like Hawkeye and Life of Captain Marvel. She previously worked on the cover for Stine's Just Beyond: Welcome to Beast Island. Written by Stine himself, the Just Beyond: Monstrosity art team includes artist Irene Flores (Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation), colorist Joana LaFuente (Transformers), and letterer Mike Fiorentino (Steven Universe Ongoing).
In this installment of the Just Beyond Universe, the focus is on siblings Ruthie and Ezra Dillon, whose dad and uncle have bought an old Hollywood movie studio. But while they're working on reviving the theater to play horror movies, creatures of yesteryear are planning on causing trouble. This includes the like of Wolfenscreem, the Lagoonatics, and the Wasp-Keeper. It is unclear if this particular anthology will be adapted into the greenlit eight-episode Disney+ series of Just Beyond, but it has been announced that the first two episodes will be directed by Marc Webb of The Amazing Spider-Man.
Despite the Goosebumps show originally airing more than 20 years ago, R.L. Stine's work as a whole seems more popular than ever before, prompting a slew of adaptations, including a revival of the Goosebumps television show. The popularity of horror targeted at young adults is a very powerful draw that will hopefully encourage more readers to face their fears at an earlier age and increase the number of both comic book and horror fans. Get the Just Beyond: Monstrosity 2021 FCBD Special for free at your comic book shop on Free Comic Book Day, August 14, 2021. The complete graphic novel of Just Beyond: Monstrosity can be picked up at comic book shops on October 20, 2021, or in bookstores starting October 26, 2021.
Source: BOOM! Studios