I Heart Skull-Crusher! #8
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeI Heart Skull-Crusher! #8 represents a meaningful mid-arc turning point in writer Josie Campbell's wholly original post-apocalyptic YA sports series — her first creator-owned work in American comics — which proved that the BOOM! Box imprint could sustain an ongoing series blending sports-manga energy, queer romance, and dystopian worldbuilding outside the superhero mainstream. The issue deepens the central tension of the second story arc by placing protagonist Trini in direct opposition to her former teammates inside the Frost Dome bubble city, forcing the narrative to interrogate whether loyalty to found family or loyalty to an idol is the stronger bond. Campbell's series as a whole, of which issue #8 is the penultimate chapter before the collected Vol. 2 trade, helped demonstrate that BOOM! Box's YA-skewing, original-IP strategy could earn second-printing momentum on early issues and a series extension greenlit at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. Critically, the issue also advances the mysterious long-running subplot of the Mysterious Stranger, a recurring figure whose significance is teased as a major story revelation.
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The series launched in March 2024 under BOOM! Studios' BOOM! Box imprint, conceived by Josie Campbell — then best known as a screenwriter-producer on My Adventures With Superman and head writer of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power — who described it as the first wholly original work she had ever written for comics. Artist Alessio Zonno, who trained at the International School of Comics in Turin and had prior American credits on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, called it his first creator series in the US market. Campbell cited Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome and sports anime titles such as Haikyuu!! and Prince of Tennis as the conceptual DNA of the setting, while Zonno drew on Gurren Lagann and Inazuma Eleven for the kinetic visual language. After the first arc (issues #1–5) sold out at the distributor level and earned a second printing for issue #1 — as well as a second printing for issue #2 — BOOM! announced a continuation into an ongoing series at SDCC 2024, with issue #8 falling in the second arc (issues #6–10) that also added colorist Angel De Santiago and letterer Jim Campbell to the credited team.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published March 26, 2025, by BOOM! Studios under the BOOM! Box imprint; written by Josie Campbell, art and Cover A by Alessio Zonno.
- Issue #8 is the third chapter of the series' second story arc, set primarily in the Frost Dome bubble city and pitting Trini against her former teammates in a Screaming Pain Ball match.
- The issue features a significant plot beat involving the recurring character known only as the Mysterious Stranger, described in official solicitation copy as a surprise 'you'll never see coming.'
- Dual training dynamic: Skull-Crusher and Coach Blood-Bone serve as Trini's coaches in this arc, with their conflicting methods providing both comedy and character development.
- The series was Campbell's first creator-owned comics work; she credited Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome and sports anime (Haikyuu!!, Prince of Tennis) as primary inspirations for the concept.
- Alessio Zonno described the series as his first creator project in the American comics market; he is a Turin-based artist who previously worked on MMPR/TMNT for BOOM! Studios.
- Issue #8 shipped with four covers: Cover A (Zonno main), Cover B (Fell Hound Variant), Cover C (1:10 Alessio Zonno Black & White Virgin Variant), and Cover D (One-Per-Store Fell Hound Variant).
- Issue #8 is collected in I Heart Skull-Crusher! Vol. 2, which collects issues #6–10 and is available through Penguin Random House's book-trade distribution.
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