“For as long as humankind has inhabited the earth we have fought against things that go bump in the night. As children we are told that the sights and sounds that haunt us are simply nightmares, our imaginations run amuck. But not all shadows in the darkness that force us to call out for our mommies and daddies can be so easily explained away. The soothing words that help us fall back into slumber also fail to prepare us for the true dangers in the world. Monsters are real.”
This is how John Paul Russ introduces us to his 48-page (B&W) book John Paul Russ’ the Monster Hunters’ Survival Guide. With monsters being real, how does one go about dealing with them, befriending them or perhaps even killing them? If you thought you knew how before, then reading John Paul Russ’s guide will open your eyes to everything you need to know in his first issue that starts off dealing with the undead such as Vampires, Zombies, Mummy’s, and Non-Corporeal Beings (Ghosts, Poltergeist, etc..).
I grew up watching a few monster movies like Dracula (1931 version) and The Wolf Man (1941 film) that started my fears in monsters. If my parents had this guide with them they would’ve been able to share with me & comfort me on how exactly to deal with such monsters, instead of with some of the more traditional methods of dealing with them. For example; did you know that crosses, holy water, and other religious icons will not thwart a Vampire, and that Vampires don’t sparkle? Unbelievable right?
John Paul Russ’ the Monster Hunters’ Survival Guide is not some superficial guide, I don’t want to leave you with that impression, because John does delve deep into the undead unlike what some Hollywood movies and perhaps some comic books, and novels would like you to believe. And no, this is not a comic book. There are no panels filled with tons of drawings. The few drawings that are in this book are used primarily to help illustrate the various monsters, but most importantly this is an actual guide to let us know that monsters are real, and John gives us the knowledge of how best to deal with them and perhaps even hunt them down.
There are three covers to this issue, Cover B (shown here) is by Talent Caldwell & Jason Embury, Cover A is by Greg Horn, and Zenescope Entertainment (publisher of this guide) has a limited edition cover also done by Greg Horn (500 copies). John Paul Russ’ the Monster Hunters’ Survival Guide is written by John Paul Russ, illustrated by Shawn McCauley & Anthony Spay, inks by Andrew Mangum, production by David Seidman & Chris Cote, and edited by Ralph Tedesco.