Broken Frontier

Chumble Spuzz , SLG's newest debut digital comic tells an age-old story of two friends, one naïve and a bit dim, the other smart and practical, and their Satan-possessed pig. Klem's innocent hope of having a porcine pal to love and cherish are dashed, leaving him and Gunther no choice: They must travel to Hell to kill the devil. Maybe then their mouth-foaming, bile-spewing, fire-breathing pig will finally be a proper pet.

The three-issue series will be published monthly at SLG's digital comics site www.eyemelt.com , available for purchase in PDF or CBZ format for only $0.89. A print collection will follow in January 2008. Chumble Spuzz is written and drawn by Ethan Nicolle, whose previous work includes the graphic novel The Weevil, published by Bad Karma Productions.

In the introduction to the first issue of Chumble Spuzz, Nicolle recalls his first attempts to have a comic book published. At the age of 15, he received a rejection letter from SLG Publishing's Dan Vado, advising him to work on his drawing skills. "I read SLG comics all through high school," Nicolle writes. "I always wanted to do an SLG book." Eleven years after that first rejection, he got his chance when he scraped together the last of his money to make a copy of his latest work and drop it off at the SLG book at this year's Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle. This time his artwork and storytelling impressed Vado, and as Nicolle notes, the man who had sent him his first rejection letter now sent him his first contract.

Digital comics and a graphic aren't all that are in store for Chumble Spuzz. Nicolle's depiction of Jackson, the Satanic pig, leaves out no detail, from the tufts of hair growing from his torn ears and curly tail to his expression of pure, insane evil, and this is what SLG will attempt to capture in a Satanic Pig plush toy, to be released at the end of 2007. No guarantee that it will actually be possessed by Satan. But no guarantee that it won't be, either.

Nicolle will make his debut at a publisher's booth at Comic-Con International in San Diego this July 26 - 29, where he will be signing free aschans of Chumble Spuzz #1 at the SLG booth. Nicolle is also the bassist of the punk metal band Lunaractive, and the convention coincides with the San Diego show of the band's tour. They'll be playing on July 26 The Second Wind Bar, located at 8515 Navajo Rd. in San Diego. The show is at 9 p.m. and is 21 and over. Nicolle is currently working about a mini-comic called Code of the Juggernaut about life in the band. The first installment will appear at SLG's website, www.slgcomic.com, the last week of July.

Chumble Spuzz is available for download at www.eyemelt.com. For more more information about comic book publisher SLG Publishing, visit their website at www.slgcomic.com .