Thunderfrog Charitable Anthology Volume 3
Written and Drawn by: Various Creators
Published by: Thunderfrog Studios
Website: http://www.thunderfrogstudios.com

It’s hard enough trying to make money in comics but to do so as an indie comic creator is truly a struggle. When an indie company puts out a comic book where all the money goes toward a charity, it makes me happy inside. It’s not just about making money. You are doing it for your craft, so people can dig your work while doing some good for others. In this case, all of the money made on this comic goes to Seattle Children’s Hospital, a hospital that saved Thunderfrog owner Harrison Wood’s life when he was younger.

The most surprising aspect of this book are the properties and the fact that there are established ones in this book. Tabletop gamers & cult movie fans may have actually heard of The Gamers and the three movies that have been released. Though I’ve never seen them, I actually know the title The Gamers: Dorkness Rising which is the second film. The flick is part of my pop culture awareness and thusly surprised me when I saw a comic in this anthology based on the movies.

Additionally, there is another tabletop gaming comic based on the web series Gamer Chick. I personally love Kickstarter and just look for hours on end at the projects that want to become a reality. I remembered looking at a Kickstarter for the Gamer Chick web series and searched the web for it, seeing that it was funded successfully so the team could produce a couple more seasons.

The story that spoke most to me from this anthology was one that was titled “Anu Nna Ki” by Harrison Wood. I’ll start by saying I’m a monster fan of ancient alien theory. Give me some Erich Von Daniken and Zechariah Sitchin books that talk about how aliens have visited us for thousands of years, throw in some Grey aliens with their huge black eyes and alien probes, and I am truly captivated for hours.

“Anu Nna Ki” is a future sci-fi tale which spins its tale from the roots of Sitchin. Innana is a space traveler coming to Earth to research what “her people” once did for the people of Earth. The Nibiru once landed on Earth which caused the inhabitants to worship these mighty travelers from far, even building huge temples and monuments in their honor. Innana travels from location to location checking out the beauty of each one of these temples. It’s at one of these locations where she finds an ancient text that talks about the first arrival of two gods in their sky chariot. Thus starts the tale of tale that will tell us how history was soon changed forever.

Another one of the great stories from the anthology is “Ultrakyle” by Don Edwards. It’s the story of a teenager who comes into possession of some alien technology that has the ability to bring his drawings to life. Using this technology, Kyle and his father search the universe for Kyle’s alien abducted mother. The premise is truly a fun one and there’s something about Edwards’ art style that I truly love. Kyle’s journey to find his mother, traveling the stars in a super suit he created, and fighting against weird aliens is truly a tale I’ll want to read should “Ultrakyle” see its own series.

With six stories total in this anthology, it is well worth the dollars to pick this book up. Beyond the shock of having those established properties in this book both the art and stories are quite entertaining and make the anthology a great read. If you are looking for a new few stories to read this one is well worth picking up. Plus with all the money going to charity you know that it is money well spent.

I asked Harrison Wood what led to the creation of the anthology to which he replied, “The Children’s Anthology originated back on 2003 when I was asked to do a commission about a little girl named Tao that had a brain tumor. I was asked to draw her as a superhero fighting the tumor, and upon doing it. Came up with a full story to go along with it. I gathered the original ThunderFrog staff and got us to each donate a story and art and the first “Mighty Mites” book was born.”

“The original book was short stories about shield rent who had diseases and took them into the fantasy realm of their mind as they learned to overcome, or live with their disease. It is also a cause I am directly late to as they save my life when I was 11 when I had my first asthma attack. With this new book we took a slightly different approach in that we did all original stories by certain creators. Woody Arnold used his connections in the web series world and was able to get us the rights to do comic shorts of some of those. All the proceeds still go the Seattle Children’s and we get to introduce the audience to a whole new set of stories including my ancient aliens story Anu Nna Ki.”

Find out more about Thunderfrog Charitable Anthology 3 by visiting thunderfrogstudios.com.

NEXT WEEK: A journey into Siberian Productions’ Darkest Night — a tale of love, death, and revenge

Have a indie comic you’d like to see reviewed? Contact Ryan at rdmclelland@hotmail.com