I Heart Skull-Crusher! #4
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeI Heart Skull-Crusher! #4 serves as the penultimate chapter of the original five-issue arc that proved a fully creator-owned, queer-inclusive YA sports comic could find a committed audience within BOOM! Studios' BOOM! Box imprint — a line already associated with boundary-pushing titles like Lumberjanes and Giant Days. The issue raises the dramatic stakes of Queen Mob's Screaming Pain Ball tournament while weaving in the will-they-won't-they romantic tension between protagonist Trini and her hero, demonstrating that post-apocalyptic sports action and sincere emotional storytelling are not mutually exclusive. Its narrative momentum — specifically the revelation of why Queen Mob has targeted Podunk Lil' Team and the cliffhanger involving a mystery 'secret guest of honor' — provided the propulsive energy that helped convince BOOM! Studios to expand the series from a five-issue miniseries into an ongoing franchise. Within the BOOM! Box tradition of anime-influenced, emotionally grounded comics for young-adult readers, issue #4 represents the arc's fulcrum: the moment the series shifted from underdog setup to genuine consequences.
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I Heart Skull-Crusher! was conceived as Josie Campbell's first fully creator-owned comic, a significant departure from her prior work writing licensed DC Universe titles such as Amazons Attack and the Shazam ongoing, as well as her television work as head writer and co-showrunner on My Adventures With Superman. Campbell developed the project alongside Italian artist Alessio Zonno — whose earlier work included Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for BOOM! and sports comics in the Franco-Belgian market — with the full creative team rounded out by colorist Angel De Santiago and letterer Jim Campbell; series editor Dafna Pleban oversaw the initial arc. The series launched on March 13, 2024, and early issues sold out and went to second printings, giving #4 (released June 19, 2024) the commercial backdrop of a series that had already outperformed its original limited-run expectations. The strength of the first arc directly led BOOM! Studios to announce a continuation starting with issue #6 in October 2024, officially reclassifying the series as an ongoing.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Issue #4 (of 5) was released on June 19, 2024, by BOOM! Studios under their YA-focused BOOM! Box imprint.
- Written by Josie Campbell and illustrated by Alessio Zonno, with colors by Angel De Santiago and lettering by Jim Campbell — the same core team from issue #1.
- This is the penultimate chapter of the original five-issue arc, set during the finals of Queen Mob's Screaming Pain Ball tournament in Crater Town.
- The issue reveals why Queen Mob has been targeting Trini's team (Podunk Lil' Team), a key plot disclosure that sets up the arc's conclusion.
- A 'secret guest of honor' cliffhanger is introduced at the tournament finals, directly teasing the events of the final issue (#5).
- Characters spotlighted in this issue include Trini, Cutter Dan, Coach Blood-Bone, Marcus (former Bubble City Bullets captain), and David the Anti-Mutant Bear-Man.
- The series was Campbell's first creator-owned comic work; all prior comic credits were work-for-hire DC projects.
- The success of the first arc (issues #1–5) prompted BOOM! Studios to expand the series into an ongoing, with a second arc beginning at issue #6 in October 2024; a trade paperback collecting issues #1–5 followed on December 25, 2024 (comic shops) and December 31, 2024 (bookstores).
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