ComiXology, Amazon’s premier digital comics service, debuts issue #1 of the 4-part miniseries, The Stone King, a coming-of-age fantasy adventure written by Kel McDonald (Misfits of Avalon,Cautionary Fables and Fairytales) with gorgeous art by Tyler Crook (Harrow County). The highly anticipated series features a rock giant, a flying dog, and a young teenage thief who must learn to take responsibility for her mistakes.
“As a kid, I always craved adventure stories about girls and fantastical worlds,” said The Stone King writer, Kel McDonald. “I think right now the world needs more adventure stories about girls who’re flawed people. We are seeing more stories centered around girls, but mostly the focus has been on women/girls who are good role models. And it’s important to me to have more adventure fantasy stories where the main character is a girl, but also a flawed individual.”
The Stone King is a fantasy story about Ave, a young woman who is trapped in a life of petty crime. In an attempt to advance the life she desires, the young thief often steals magic moss from the Stone King. One day, she steals a bit more than magical moss and things very quickly go awry. The Stone King goes on a rampage, threatening Stoneport, the fishing and trading city Ave calls home. In order to save the city, Ave must track down the rare gem and return it to its rightful owner to make things right.
“I don’t know if I’m remembering this right, but I think I had a dream about climbing on giants and kept thinking I should come up with a story about them,” said The Stone King artist, Tyler Crook, who is illustrating and watercoloring each issue. “Then Kel and I were talking about how we should do a project together and I said ‘Let’s do something with giants!’ A few weeks later, she showed me the first outline for The Stone King. Our goal is to make a story that will engage the reader emotionally. We want to make sure the book can get into the hands of a kid and they will read it over and over.”
Announced earlier this year at a press conference during Comic-Con International San Diego, The Stone King is part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive digital content. Starting with the first issue debuting November 14, each subsequent monthly issue will be available to members of Prime Reading, Kindle Unlimited, and comiXology Unlimited at no additional cost, and available for sale on comiXology and Kindle for $2.99. The collected edition will be available via Print-on-Demand exclusively on Amazon.com.
The Stone King joins other comiXology Originals including, Superfreaks by Elsa Charretier, Pierrick Colinet and Margaux Saltel, Elephantmen 2261: Death of Shorty by Richard Starkings, Axel Medellin and Boo Cook, Ask For Mercy by Richard Starkings and Abigail Jill Harding, Savage Game by Ryan Kalil, Shawn Kittelsen and Chris B. Murray, Grave Danger by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton, Goliath Girls by Sam Humphries and Alti Firmansyah, Teenage Wasteland by Magdalene Visaggio and Jen Vaughn, Hit Reblog by Megan Kearney and curated by Hope Nicholson, and more.
In addition to being purchasable on comiXology and Amazon, comiXology Originals are also available through Prime Reading, Kindle Unlimited, and comiXology Unlimited. Prime Reading offers Amazon Prime members a rotating selection of over a thousand top Kindle books, magazines, short works, comic books, children’s books, and more – all at no additional cost. Kindle Unlimited offers over 1 million titles, thousands of audiobooks, and select current issues of popular magazines for just $9.99 a month with a 30-day free trial at amazon.com/kindleunlimited. ComiXology Unlimited offers over 15,000 comics, graphic novels and manga for just $5.99 a month with a 30-day free trial at comixology.com/unlimited.
For more updates on comiXology Originals, check out http://comixologyoriginals.com and follow comiXology on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
About The Stone King Creative Team
Kel McDonald has been working in comics for over a decade, spending most of that time on her webcomic Sorcery 101. More recently, she has organized the Cautionary Fables and Fairytales anthology series, while contributing to other anthologies likeSmut Peddler and Sleep of Reason. She has also worked on the comics Buffy: The High School Years. She recently finished her creator-owned series Misfits of Avalon for Dark Horse Comics. She is currently working on her self-published series The City Between.
Tyler Crook began his art career as a graphic designer and 3D-modeler. After twelve years making sports video games, he switched to illustrating comics. Tyler is best known for his work with Cullen Bunn on Harrow County for Dark Horse Comics, which received an Eisner Award nomination for best new series in 2016 and won the best ongoing series Ghastly Awards in 2015 and 2016. Tyler remains almost completely analog, still drawing and painting on paper because he enjoys the physical process more than working digitally.
About comiXology
ComiXology, an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is a revolutionary, cloud-based digital comics service. With content from over 125 publishers as well as thousands of independent creators from around the world, comiXology provides an unrivaled library of comic books, graphic novels, manga and bandes dessinées. The company’s first-in-class innovations include the exclusive Guided View technology which provides an immersive and cinematic reading experience and a new monthly subscription service. ComiXology is based in New York City, with operations in Seattle and Los Angeles. For more information, visit comixology.com and follow the company on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services
pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
“Gorgeous.” –io9
“Clever, captivating, and utterly unique–this is a gorgeous book, and I can’t wait to understand its many mysteries. Between the gorgeous art and the clever, concise writing, this is a title to watch.” — Seanan McGuire, author of the October Daye and the InCryptid urban fantasies
“The Stone King is visual masterpiece. Wonderful characters coupled with imaginative writing make this story an absolute gem.”
– David Gallaher, The Only Living Boy
“Tyler Crook’s outstanding painted artwork makes Stone King a must-read!” –Elsa Charretier, Star Wars Adventures, Superfreaks
“[The Stone King] effortlessly immerses you in its world—an exciting and mysterious story rendered beautifully.” –Evan Dahm, webcartoonist of
Vattu, Rice Boy
