Frank Cho debuts first image from Guns and Dinos

The Beatles and Jay-Z. Cowboys and Aliens. Now Guns and Dinos?

Guns And Dinos is the name of an upcoming comic series by Frank Cho, and the first image just saw the light of day over on his blog. Cho describes the story as an “action adventure time travel story” where a military base is plopped down in the dinosaur era. The cartoonist promises “tons of violence and gore,” as U.S. Armed Forces go muzzle-to-snout with T. Rexes and their friends.

This is the latest in a volley of creator-owned work Cho has been lobbing to comic audiences; his new Image series 50 Girls 50 is set for release in June, and he’s already announced a harsh super-hero title called Brutal with Joe Keatinge. Although he might be best known as an artist on Marvel titles like the recent New Ultimates, Cho has spent most of his adult life as writer-and-artist on Liberty Meadows, University2 and the much-talked about Shanna The She-Devil series for Marvel.

As readers of that last title can attest, Cho knows dinos — and I can’t wait to read the book!

Cho knows super-heroes

Artist Frank Cho is a busy man. Between illustrating Marvel’s New Ultimates, working on his  upcoming Image series 50-Girls-50 and continuing his newspaper strip Liberty Meadows on his website, he’s just announced a new creator-owned project. Talk all we want, but this released art will tell you more than we ever could:

According to Cho’s blog, the working title of this series is Brutal and is being done in collaboration with Popgun impresario Joe Keatinge. More to come, we’re sure!

Marvel goes bananas for Hitman Monkey

Jason Pearson's Deadpool #20 cover, featuring Hitman Monkey

The teaser image set the monkey-loving section of the comics Internet on fire — and let’s face it, that’s a pretty big section of the comics Internet. Now the truth about Frank Cho’s gun-toting mystery monkey has been revealed: He’s Hitman Monkey, a new character swinging his way into the Marvel Universe. Editor Axel Alonso tells Marvel.com this simian assassin (technically a Japanese macaque) will first appear in a two-part Marvel Digital Comic Exclusive by Daniel Way and Dalibor Talijic — featuring Cho’s cover — before wreaking havoc in February’s Deadpool #20. Here’s hoping for an eventual crossover with Gorilla Man from Agents of Atlas.

Marvel’s monkey business

Who is this monkey? Why is he two-fisting handguns? Who’s his tailor? I have no clue what the answers to these questions are — all I know is he’s drawn by simian specialist Frank Cho and being teased on Marvel.com as “Marvel’s hottest new character.” If there’s one thing for sure about comics fans, it’s that we’re monkey whores, so I am therefore passing this on to you our readers.

Tune into Marvel.com on Monday for the big reveal, whatever the heck that might be. And check out Cho’s blog for a sketch version of the piece labeled “Hitman Monkey.” Are there two more glorious words in the English language?