Skelton Crew Studio

LITCHFIELD, Maine — The Apocalypse is here, get your gear. Mike Mignola and Skelton Crew Studio LLC are excited to announce an exclusive license agreement to create the Artifact Archive Collection, limited edition prop replicas spanning the “Hellboy” and “B.P.R.D.” universe. “I’m approaching these as pieces that would have been in the pouches of Hellboy’s belt or picked up in B.P.R.D. members’ travels,” said Israel Skelton, the owner of Skelton Crew Studio. “The possibilities are almost endless and so awesome.” Upcoming replicas include the Elf Shot from “Hellboy: The Wild Hunt,” Bishop Zrinyi’s Button from “Hellboy: In the Chapel of Moloch” and the Bog Roosh’s Nail from “Hellboy: The Third Wish.” The first release is planned for winter 2013. “I’m a huge fan of Mike’s and I’ve wanted to build these pieces for myself for a while,” said Skelton. “He is a legend in the industry and a chance to work with Mike and on this property is such an honor.” Mignola has been crafting the Hellboy universe for almost 20 years. Mignola and “Hellboy,” published by Dark Horse, have been recognized by prestigious Eisner, Harvey and Eagle awards. His latest work, “Hellboy in Hell,” debuted earlier this month. “I’m very excited about this,” Mignola said. Skelton Crew Studio, a sculpting house in rural Maine, has built a name for quality, detailed collectibles since 2009. It’s already the exclusive home to 1:1 replicas for the Eisner-winning comics “Locke & Key,” published by IDW Publishing, “Mouse Guard,” published by Archaia Entertainment and “CHEW,” published by Image. The studio has been featured on G4, and in Wizard and MTV Geek online, and last Christmas made The Onion’s A.V. Club’s pop culture gift guide. Its latest release is a Black Axe pewter replica from “Mouse Guard.” Check the studio’s website, www.skeltoncrewstudio.com, for prototype shots and more release details on the Artifact Archive Collection in coming months. “This year has been amazing and I couldn’t wrap 2012 in a better way,” said Skelton. “The world can’t end now — we have too much work to do.”

Well, what haven’t we been up to the last few months? The studio has been on screech with a bunch of prototype pics to show for it below: * Work is coming (clucking?) along on the vinyl Chog from “CHEW.” Aiming for a winter 2013 release for it, in both a limited edition raspberry and yellow and a paint-it-yourself white. *  “Locke & Key” is keeping us busy with four keys in the works: The Undertree, Owl, Music Box and a key that appears in the Omega arc that I can’t tell you about. Yet. * The studio released The Black Axe from “Mouse Guard” today. Up next in that series: Rand’s Shield. It’s been busy and it’s about to get busier — more news and more prototypes coming at the end of the week. Take care, and as always, thanks to those who've supported the studio. Israel

The Black Axe will rise. Archaia Entertainment and Skelton Crew Studio are excited to announce an exclusive license agreement for the studio to create a line of prop replicas based on the Eisner Award-winning Mouse Guard, written and drawn by David Petersen. “David is such a huge talent and I’ve been a fan of Mouse Guard for years,” said Israel Skelton, owner of Skelton Crew Studio. “Taking the reins to build a mouse-sized armory? Honestly, it’s hard to get much cooler.” The studio plans to release pewter collectibles of swords, shields, and other armament from the Mouse Guard universe. Its first release, the Black Axe, is slated for Christmas 2012. “I’m thrilled about getting these into the hands of my fans,” said Petersen. “Israel has done amazing work bringing the Locke & Key keys to the real world, and I love working with him on the intricacies of all of the mouse weapons and arms so that he can work his magic with them. He’s a true craftsman who cares about the details as much as my fans do.” “Fans of Mouse Guard really love the setting of David’s world and its depth and fantasy realism, and we believe this is a great opportunity to offer them something that makes that world come alive,” said Archaia CCO Mark Smylie. “Israel and his Skelton Crew Studio do extraordinary work, so we are very excited they are going to create these wonderful Mouse Guard artifacts.” Mouse Guard is a comic book series, essentially, about mice with swords. An elite group of warriors are charged with protecting their fellow mice from the elements, predators, and other dangers that threaten their existence. Thus far, the series has been collected into two hardcover collections (Mouse Guard Vol. 1: Fall 1152 and Mouse Guard Vol. 2: Winter 1152); an oversized edition (Mouse Guard Vol. 1: Fall 1152 Black and White Edition);an anthology collection (Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard Vol. 1); and a roleplaying game, both in hardcover (for pen and paper) and a deluxe box set. This holiday season, Archaia will release the Mouse Guard Vol. 2: Winter 1152 Black and White Edition and in 2013, Mouse Guard Vol. 3: The Black Axe and Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard Vol. 2. Skelton Crew Studio, a sculpting house out of Maine, is already the exclusive home of replicas based on IDW’s popular Locke & Key series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. In July, it announced another exclusive license agreement to create replicas from the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning CHEW by John Layman and Rob Guillory, published by Image. “I can’t believe my good fortune in 2012 and I’m really excited about the future for all three properties,” Skelton said. The latest release from Skelton Crew Studio is a Legacy Edition Echo Key from Locke & Key, coming later this month. The Mouse Guard Black Axe replica will be available in December 2012 through www.skeltoncrewstudio.com. Other replicas will roll out in 2013 and beyond.

There will be Chogs.

The creators of the Eisner and Harvey-winning comic CHEW and Skelton Crew Studio have reached an exclusive license agreement for the studio to create a line of prop replicas based on the series.

"We're positively thrilled about this deal. The Skelton Crew Studio's commitment to quality is obvious, and we've been looking for the best way to get CHEW-related stuff into the hands of fans, readers and collections – and this is it,” said John Layman, writer of the New York Times best selling series. “This is going to be a great partnership and one of the absolute CHEW highlights of an already monumental year for the book."

CHEW is drawn by Rob Guillory, the 2010 Harvey Award winner for Best New Talent.

"I've been a fan of Skelton Crew Studio's work for a while, and I couldn't imagine CHEW being in better hands,” said Guillory. “And personally, I cannot wait to have their CHEW merch on my shelves! The fans are going to LOVE what we have in store."

Skelton Crew Studio, a small sculpting house out of Maine, is already the exclusive home of replicas based on IDW’s popular “Locke & Key” by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez.

“CHEW is such a great book and these guys are amazingly creative, so I’m pretty amped,” said Israel Skelton, owner of Skelton Crew Studio. “Can I resist saying it? It’s a comic I’m really anxious to get my teeth into.”

Skelton has plans to tackle Chogs, badges and, of course, fan-favorite Poyo. The studio will roll out the first CHEW replicas in late 2012. Check out www.skeltoncrewstudio.com and www.chewcomic.blogspot.com in the coming months for updates.

The latest trade paperback from CHEW, published by Image Comics, “Major League Chew,” hit shelves in May. The latest issue, the spin-off one-shot CHEW: SECRET AGENT POYO goes on sale Wednesday, July 11.

The latest release from Skelton Crew Studio is a limited edition Omega Key from "Locke & Key," this year's 2012 San Diego Comic Con International exclusive.

Layman, Guillory and Skelton will all be attending SDCC this week.

Hope everyone’s spring is off to an awesome start. Our winter just flew by. Too many projects, but in a good way.* A life-size TARDIS dominated January. It’s installed at Hill House, complete with lights, sound and working phone (but sorry, I can’t divulge the number.) Many thanks to Al Landry, Corey Vintinner and Mike St. Germain for helping make it happen. * The Angel Key has been waiting in the wings — pun fully intended — so we could release it with the Animal Key as what we hope is a nice surprise. Sales for both open at 12 a.m. EST April 1. The first 400 pre-orders for the Angel will have tags signed by the amazingly talented Gabriel Rodriguez. (Talented and the nicest Chilean we know.) Both keys ship in May. * We wanted to give a shout-out to British sculptor Jamie Macfarlane. He did an amazing job on the Animal and we can't wait to see more of his work. * What’s down the ‘pike? Well, we hope fans go nuts when they scope out our next couple keys. We’ll say no more.* Making plans already for SDCC. Hope to meet a lot of you there. I do plan an exclusive, one that I hope is music to your ears. OK. Enough. Clearly, there’s too much near-April giddiness at Skelton Crew headquarters. Have a key you need to see? As always, drop us a line.Israel

What a year it’s been, personally and professionally, from the debut of nine new “Locke & Key” keys to the arrival of Skelton Crew Jr. This month saw mentions of the studio on The Onion’s A.V. Club, CNN, The Mary Sue and Wizard - what a way to end 2011.Here’s to starting 2012 with a bang. * The Moon Key is going to debut just after midnight EST on Jan. 1, signed by the one and only Joe Hill. We’re doing this release a little different. Instead of a two week pre-order window for his autograph, the first 400 keys will be signed by Joe. They’ll ship in late January. * The Angel Key, signed by Gabriel Rodriguez, will come out in February and we’ll release it the same way - the first 400 have his autograph. We’re hoping to hit you with many more keys in 2012, and the line-up isn’t confirmed yet, so if you’ve got a key that MUST be made, drop us a line. We’re definitely listening. Thanks again for all the support and kind words. From us to you, have an amazing New Year. Israel

Man, it feels good to be back in the key business. The last three months I’ve been behind the scenes sculpting and working on cool projects I can’t talk about yet. To answer one question I’ve heard a few times this week – Why’d you pull the Animal and Undertree Keys off the site? – let’s just say I’m squirreling them away for later this winter. (Pun intended.) Undertree and Animal will go back up when they’re ready to ship.Meanwhile: - The Whispering Iron and Legacy Edition Omega Key, the key to Black Door, go live today. I’m excited about both but have to admit to a soft spot for the Omega. I’d been planning to release it timed to the last arc, but couldn’t resist. Hope people dig it as much as I do. - Stay tuned for cool signing news on the next two keys. - You know what? Don’t stay tuned at all: Best-selling writer Joe Hill is autographing one key, obscenely-talented Gabriel Rodriguez is autographing the other. Really psyched the guys are willing to take the time out of their crazy, award-winning schedules. But what keys are they signing? Well, I guess you will have to wait for that. - I have plans for December. Big plans. Deluxe plans. More later. Hope everyone’s well and hope you had a great Halloween. If you notice some of the e-mail now is being answered by Kathryn, that’s my wife. Skelton Crew Jr. is almost ready to start answering phones and if the studio keeps growing like this, he’ll have to. Israel

Hope everyone’s sliding smoothly into fall. I wanted to share a little news and a pic.- The Whispering Iron will debut online at the end of the month, alongside the long-awaited Undertree Key. The Whispering Iron is featured in the back of Clockworks 1 on the last page and, as a sculptor, too cool to ignore. This was the issue I’ve been waiting for —  to finally see the Black Door in all its creepiness. As always, Joe and Gabe knocked it out of the park. - A prototype of the Chain Key is below. It’s a little under three feet long and a few pounds. I’d love to hear if there’s any interest in a piece this large. On that note, still pricing out the Giant Key. Trying to get the cost somewhere under “astronomical” is proving to be a challenge. - I’ll have word next month on a cool signing timed around Halloween with the pre-order key, for now, under wraps. October should also see the Animal Key, followed by the Angel Key in November. - If you’re curious for a little more Skelton Crew back story, Jill “Nerdy Bird” Pantozzi had a nice piece in Newsarama last week. Larry Fire’s the Fire Wire also did a write-up –  thanks to both for the kind words. I’m hearing the same MTV rumors about the TV series that you are. Man, wouldn’t that be amazing? That surely would end my 20 year MTV hiatus. Israel

Couldn’t make it to Comic Con? As it turns out, I couldn’t either. Instead of catching my flight I was in the ER with my first kidney stone yesterday. Pretty awful, but I did get a get-well-soon call from Walt Simonson, a great consolation prize. And speaking of that, two consolation prizes for those of you who also are not in sunny San Diego this weekend:- The Giant Key prototype is below. (Seen here on G4 today with Blair Butler.) It took a crazy amount of work and, like the Ghost Door, wouldn’t have been possible without Mike “Germazing” St. Germain and Peter “Laser Eye” Gill. We’re still working up the final numbers on cost, hope to have details in late August. It’ll definitely be on a made-to-order basis. (Shipping alone from Maine to California was $160.)- Starting Monday, we’re going to try something new, a sort of post-order window: Orders placed for the new comic con exclusive IDW Key before Aug. 8 will receive a tag signed by two of the busiest – and nicest – guys in comics, IDW CEO Ted Adams and IDW Chief Creative Officer Chris Ryall. Meanwhile, in other key business, the Undertree Key will be coming in late August, followed by the Animal Key in September. Really appreciated all the support and have a great rest of the summer. Here's looking forward to NYCC, where, fittingly, the Mending Key might be the con exclusive. I'll throw up a prototype when it's finished. And, of course, huge congrats to Joe for taking home the Eisner for Best Writer and to IDW who raked in five Eisners overall. Well deserved. Wish I could have been there to toast you.Israel

Sorry it’s been so long between updates. We’ve been crazy busy trying to get sculpts done for San Diego. I’ll be at SDCC and bringing with me a limited edition con exclusive, the IDW Key. I’ve wanted to tackle it since seeing the key in the comic included with IDW: The First 10 Years. I’ve also got two versions of the Hercules Key, the Undertree Key and the Animal Key in different stages of production, all due out within the next couple of months. (The Hercules Key, formerly known as the Beast Key, won the fan choice vote back in February.) Because a lot of fans asked, I’m also releasing a Legacy Edition Head Key this month, plated in antique rose gold. Legacy edition runs aren’t limited or numbered and going forward, some keys will get limited edition variants and legacy runs, some won’t. I hope to run into a bunch of you at SDCC – I’ll be the one with the shaved head and the black t-shirt, I swear, you won’t miss me . . . I’ll also have a few goodies at the IDW booth in addition to the con exclusive key, so please stop by and check them out. Thanks, too, to everyone who’s offered well wishes and sleep advice for the baby. We were able to hit the snooze alarm this morning, twice, for the first time since he was born – that has to be a good sign. Israel