The following is an interview with Shannon Eric Denton, Jeff Mariotte, and David Hartman regarding the launch of their Kickstarter campaign for the graphic novel, Sword of the War-Monster, in association with Monster Forge. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with the creative team about their shared creative process in bringing the sword-and-sorcery mash-up to life on the page, the backer rewards available to supporters of the campaign, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the recent launch of your Kickstarter campaign! What can you share with us about the genesis behind this epic love letter to all-things sword-and-sorcery and supernatural?
Shannon Eric Denton: I’m pretty sure this thing first popped in my head during my Stranger Things phase, playing DnD with my friends in junior high. The ’80s were a great time to be a fantasy fan. So much new material was being generated that it introduced a lot of us to all the amazing works that had come before it. I’ve worked on God of War, Final Fantasy, Dragonlance, Diablo, Warcraft, League of Legends, etc., so I was very familiar with the fact there’s such a huge fandom for fantasy in all kinds of media. I was looking over the books we’d already done with Monster Forge, and I realized the time was right to introduce this to the world, so I enlisted Jeff and David to join me. I knew they both brought an expertise and excitement that I was gonna need to make this work (and Kristen Denton to put it all together)!
BD: David, your character designs are always an incredible sight to behold! What will readers have in store when it comes to the variety of creatures included within this story’s pages?
David Hartman: This book is packed with all kinds of monstrosities! You’ll meet dark mutant wizards, a cyclops, skeletal warriors, a leviathan — and plenty of creatures I’m not even sure how to describe, ha! This book probably has the most creatures Ive drawn for Monster Forge yet.
BD: Jeff, at Fanbase Press, we always like to learn more about creators and what drives and inspires them. Are there any sword-and-sorcery or horror creators or projects that greatly influenced your creative process or that gave way to the genesis of this particular story?
Jeff Mariotte: I was sucked into the sword-and-sorcery craze of the early 1970s, and I inhaled the works of my heroes Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, and Fritz Leiber, among others (and the comics based on their stories and characters). I was born way too late to meet Howard, but I’ve had dinner with Mike Moorcock and briefly met and corresponded with Fritz. I’ve also had the pleasure of writing a licensed novel trilogy set in Howard’s Hyborian Age, in which I slipped in a cameo appearance by Conan, making me the first writer in the 21st century to write Conan into a novel.
Those writers paved my way into horror, starting with H.P. Lovecraft and continuing on through the modern era of Stephen King, Dan Simmons, Christopher Golden (with whom I collaborated on my first published novel), etc. I’m a two-time Bram Stoker Award finalist, and a finalist for the now-defunct International Horror Guild Award. So, combining S&S with a big helping of horror comes naturally to me, and the War-Monster is so much fun to write that he makes it easy.
BD: Shannon, you have had incredible success through Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms. As a publisher and creator, how do you feel that crowdfunding has aided in Monster Forge’s continued growth and success?
SED: It’s becoming an essential part of our business model. The interaction with our Monster Club has been so rewarding. It’s really helped fuel our growth and has allowed us to really get in sync with our audience.
BD: Are there any specific backer rewards that you’re most excited about with the campaign?
SED: That’s a tough one. I love all of the cards we’ve got in this set, but I think Grimbro’s sculpt of the War-Monster is next level awesome. I love the idea of folks having that on display in whatever room they game in!
BD: Are there any other projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight for our readers?
SED: Return of the Monsters, Monstrous Cryptid Creatures of the USA field guide, Forge of Monsters, Atlantean, Savager, Kraken, Spectors, and so many more comics on the way!
DH: This is my third book with Monster Forge and Shannon — our first was gHosts, followed by Kraken (from Titan Comics), which is out in stores now. We’ve also got another one with Titan called Spectors on the way. And I just wrapped a successful Kickstarter for my own book, Monster Drive-In: Isle of Evil.
BD: Lastly, what would you like to tell fans who want to learn more about Sword of the War-Monster and your other work with Monster Forge?
SED: We finally made a Linktree so folks can follow us however they prefer. We have all kinds of new projects coming in 2026 we’ll be sharing with everyone soon!
DH: Monster Forge books are everything we’ve wanted to see for years — action, adventure, horror, and, of course, monsters! They’re meant to be a fun, nostalgic throwback to the horror comics we grew up loving.
