The Pullbox Reviewed Missing Linx.

“Missing Linx created for me a feeling of geek-nostalgia and totally has a classic “Saturday Morning Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” feel to it – which by the way is beautiful thing!”

Full review Click HERE!

Strange Kids Club reviews Missing Linx.

“…Missing Linx is a book that will make a mighty fine gift to younger readers or hardcore hominid-cryptid collectors everywhere…”

Full review CLICK HERE!

The Comic Book Bin Reviews Missing Linx.

“This is definitely a winner. One of the best all ages comedy comics I’ve read in awhile. For it’s genre you will be hard pressed to find better. At the price Viper is offering this one is a no brainer! Buy, Bag, and Board.”

Read full review article from the Comic Book Bin, CLICK HERE.

Viper Comics and 1821 Comics team up to bring your favorite mythical creatures Big Foot, Sasquatch, Skunk Ape and the Yeti together as a comic book superhero team in Missing Linx.

Owen takes his two boys Luke and Zach on a camping trip. As Owen tries to show his boys that camping can be fun a giant, ferocious mythical cat appears. Fearing for their lives the family is only saved by the intervention of the Missing Linx. The Linx’s comprised of leader Big Foot, muscle Sasquatch, brains Skunk Ape and bravado Yeti easily deal with the creature, but soon realize the trouble isn’t over as the evil Dr. Bedfellow plots to take over the world.

The story, by Dale Mettam, is a really fun and light hearted adventure that would easily be at home in the Saturday morning cartoon block. It’s the type of comic you can just pick up and read easily without having to invest too much in the story. Also the Missing Linx complement each other well due to their diverse personalities creating a good group dynamic. I did find Sasquatch and Big Foot to have more than a hint of the Hulk and Wolverine, respectively, in their personalities and dialogue but then again Mettam throws in a lot of pop culture references throughout the book so it’s probably intentional.

Viper seem to have a knack for picking stories that are fun for both kids and adults to enjoy together and Missing Linx is no exception. There’s enough fantasy and comedy to appease both audiences and the dialogue is clean yet fun. I found Dr. Bedfellow to be particularly hilarious due to his unnatural obsession with Titanic. As you’d expect there’s also a good moral to the story for Owen and his two sons that would resonate with a lot of parents reading this with their kids.

Once again the art style really compliments the feel of the comic. The story is very cartoony and the art captures that really well, particularly in the character designs and use of bright colors, with an almost Hanna-Barbera feel to it. There are also more monsters than you can shake a stick at meaning in the abundant fight scenes the Missing Linx are always facing something new. About the only issue some people might have is with the onomatopoeia. I personally found it added to the cartoony feel of the book, but it can be pretty in your face and over the top.

Missing Linx is another quality all ages graphic novel from Viper. If you are a fan of old school Saturday morning cartoons and mythical monsters then Missing Linx is for you. Fun for the whole family.

Missing Linx: Advance Review

Published on April 13, 2011 by Molly Coffee

Missing Linx is a trade paperback coming out this month from Viper Comics. Written by Dale Mettam (Orpheus) and art by Courtney Huddleston (Decoy), this novel is fashioned with kids in mind but appeals to adults and kids alike.

Synopsis:
DR. ERASMUS Q. BEDFELLOW is bent on releasing the creatures of the Fantasy Realm into our dimension, using the creatures of nightmares to rule the world.  Only one thing stands in his way.  An unlikely group of heroes – the result of Bedfellow’s last attempt to breach the border between realities – BIG FOOT, SASQUATCH, SKUNK APE and THE YETI.

Right off the bat, the experience of this trade reminds me of watching Saturday Morning Cartoons. You have mythical creatures with almost super-hero powers fighting a mad scientist bent on destroying the world. It really does sound to me like the pitch for our next crime fighting team. And wouldn’t they make for cool action figures. Collect Sasquatch, Skunk Ape, Yeti and team leader Bigfoot; all with nine points of articulation, highly detailed and each come with their own accessories. I would be in collector heaven.

The novel opens with a father and his two sons camping in a national park who have to be rescued by our hero team and Mettam and Huddleston don’t miss a beat when it comes to introducing us with full action poses and comedic banter. The tone has been set for the rest of the story and exclamations like “Fudgecicles” mean you are having safe family fun. Instead of being turned off by that or thinking I might not be the target market, I am just filled with nostalgia for my childhood. And since I read this novel and wrote this review while sitting on the floor of my apartment surrounded by comics and Star Wars toys, I do realize some things have not changed now that I am on the cusp of turning 30.

Each of our heroes has a very different personality and work well together while irritating each other just like any other family. I say this while humming the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme to myself.

The dialogue is funny. And is accomplished in a not so juvenile kind of way. And the monsters that our hero team are forced to battle are a kaiju nerdgasm.

You wont regret picking up this fun gem from Viper when it comes out later this month. Clocking in at 72 pages and $7.95, you wont want to miss out. Preorder on Amazon now.

Wired Reviews Missing Linx. Link to original article HERE!

Full Review is below >>>>>

Weird Science: Missing Linx and Uncle Silas: Genetis

Link to original posting : http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48700#6
 
Advance Review! In stores April 2011!

MISSING LINX #1
Writer: Dale Mettam
Art: Courtney Huddleston
Publisher: Viper Comics & 1821 Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug

Shrewd readers of AICN HORROR already know I love me some Bigfoot stories.
MISSING LINX not only is a good Bigfoot story. It’s a good Sasquatch story, a good skunk ape story, and a good yeti story. In fact, MISSING LINX has all four types of the world’s missing links on one super team. Writer Dale Mettam and artist Courtney Huddleston have put together a fun American myth story for all ages.

A father and his two children are out for a man-cation in the wilderness. The kids, of course, would rather be anywhere else and are bored without video games and television–that is, until the Missing Linx show up battling beasts of mythology threatening the campers and the rest of the free world. The evil Dr. Bedfellow (who reminds me of the bad guy from AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE) has a half-assed plan to take over the world: he sends monsters of myth to take out a power plant causing a nuclear winter. The only folks standing in their way are the science-minded Skunk Ape, the roguish ice-powered Yeti, the brawl-happy Sasquatch, and the leader of the Missing Linx, Bigfoot. What transpires is the kind of story that I would have loved to have been read to as a kid and one, as a big kid, enjoyed reading too.

Courtney Huddleston does a great job of making the characters fun and the monsters menacing without being too scary. He has a nice cartoony style which makes this story something I’d have loved to see on Saturday morning (back when there used to be cartoons on Saturday mornings, that is).

The tone is light, but never talking down to adults or over kids’ heads. MISSING LINX hits that middle ground where both kids and their parents could enjoy it. MISSING LINX was a refreshing mix of mythology and modern super-heroism. I love the use of different species of Bigfoot and the cool nods to Harryhausen films in this one. If you’re looking for something for all ages, MISSING LINX is one to seek out when it hits stores in April.

Original Article HERE

“Missing Linx” reveal themselves in April, 2011

All humanity has seen of them are blurry photos and secondhand accounts — until now. This April, Viper Comics brings the missing links of humanity to comics in an original graphic novel as the “Missing Linx,” the world’s newest premiere super-team. Together, Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch and Skunk Ape fight off mythical creatures from other dimensions while thwarting the nefarious schemes of the evil Dr. Erasmus Q. Bedfellow, who seeks to destroy the world for his own personal gain. Along the way, the Linx encounter a human family — a father and his two teenage sons — who aid the team in their quest to defeat Bedfellow and restore order to the planet.

Bringing the Missing Linx to life are writer Dale Mettam and artist Courtney Huddleston who readers might recognize from their webcomic, “Luci Phurr’s Imps: A Children’s Story for Grown-Ups.”

CBR News spoke with Mettam and Huddleston and filled in our own missing links on the team’s roster, how the project came to Viper and some of the challenges they faced in revealing these beasts of legend to the world.

CBR News: Dale, what can you tell us the story behind “Missing Linx?”

Dale Mettam: These guys are the legends we all know about. There always seems to be just enough evidence to leave us thinking, “Y’know, there could be something to this,” but never enough to be completely convincing.

EXCLUSIVE: Pages from the first chapter of “Missing Linx”

And then naturally you start — well, if you’ve got the same kinda mentality I do — you start to think, why? Sure, there’re the obvious reasons. These are incredibly rare wild creatures who simply avoid human contact as much as possible. But that’s kinda boring. What if they’re secretly heroes, working behind the scenes, for the betterment of mankind? Now that’s a story I’d like to read. 

Next thing you know, you have Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch and Skunk Ape saving the day.

Courtney, how did you get involved in “Missing Linx?”

Courtney Huddleston: I’ve known Jessie (over at Viper) for a while, and we had done some stuff together. He pitched the idea of “Missing Linx” to me, and I thought it would be a lot of fun to draw. I was wrong — it was more than a lot of fun to draw!

Dale, who are the main characters of the team and what can you tell us about them?

Mettam: Bigfoot is the leader. He’s got a very strong sense of right and wrong and when he gives you his word, you can take it to the bank. I also thought it would be funny if he also had an accent you might hear from a New Jersey Longshoreman. Next, you have Skunk-Ape. He’s the brains of the outfit. Sure, he has a slight personal hygiene problem, but I’m sure we’ve all met that big-brain guy with the incredible I.Q. who can’t seem to work a stick of deodorant. Then you have Sasquatch, who’s the muscle of the team. He’s not the brightest bulb, but he’s always there when you need him. Rounding out the team is Yeti. He’s the hothead of the team — kinda like the baby brother who always wants to prove himself.

Courtney, what was your design process for each of the main characters? What kind of research, if any, did it involve?

Huddleston: I actually had done some research a while back, when I did a short entry in Viper Comic’s “Sasquatch” anthology. I just worked off of that material as I designed each “Missing Linx” character and made sure to differ them based on what the script asked for.

Dale, you explained where the story originated, but how did it end up at Viper as opposed to becoming a webcomic or settling with another publisher?

EXCLUSIVE: Pages from the first chapter of “Missing Linx”

Mettam: Projects I’ve done with Viper tend to fall into two categories. Some are my pitches and others come from Viper. This was one of the latter kind. They usually involve a chat, which goes, ”Hey, Dale, we were kicking around an idea about (insert something here that’s weird, like masked luchadores non-powered super heroes or urban legends that save the world) want to write a book about that?”

I ponder this for two, sometimes as long as four seconds before saying, “Yeah, sounds fun.”

This is then followed by, “Have fun. Do what you want. Here’s the deadline for the script.”

That’s what happened here.

The villain, Dr. Erasmus Q. Bedfellow, seems to have a huge vendetta against the Missing Linx. What’s his story and why does he hate our heroes so much?

Mettam: First off, I had seen lots of “mad scientist” type villains, and this the first time I have really done one. So I decided to go all out. This guy is nuts. He’s like the guy from “Fringe,” drifts off on a tangent but usually he’s shouting and evil. So part of his fixation is based on nothing other than his own slipping grasp on reality. But he’s also responsible for our heroes coming through from the “fantasy dimension” in the first place. Of course, our heroes wouldn’t bend to his evil will, [leading to] his second attempt to open a portal to that dimension and bring through all manner of fantastical creatures to use in his mad, world conquering plans.

Why choose the four characters that you did? Was there a method behind your madness?

Mettam: This was actually part of the package that came from Viper. If I had felt strongly enough about a character that I didn’t want that one, or I wanted someone else, I could made that change, but this team seemed to work, once I’d given them all their own personalities.

Can you take us through your collaborative process?

EXCLUSIVE: Pages from the first chapter of “Missing Linx”

Mettam: We’ve worked together on several other projects — the biggest being Luci Phurr’s Imps — so we have a pretty good groove when we start. I like to get Courtney’s sketches to see what he is thinking. But sometimes, we’ll just bounce a few ideas back and forth. Sometimes I might want a specific prop or element that will be in the plot, but I also like to riff on his designs. I like it when he adds a detail in the mix and it’s just something throwaway for him. I can take that and make it something bigger or more central to the plot. There’s a very free and easy give and take. We’re both looking to make the best thing possible, so we often scrap several ideas along the way before we hit something we both know we can’t top.

Huddleston: It’s really hard to explain. There’s a lot of throwing ideas back and forth, mixed with a few sketches for approval or sheer hatred — depending heavily on whether Dale is working on an empty stomach or not. Seriously though, we often times don’t work on projects in the traditional sense. I don’t just get the script and draw. We go back and forth on everything, from the script to the dialogue, until both parties are happy.

Dale, why do you think Courtney’s art lends itself well to the story you’re trying to tell?

Mettam: If you’ve seen his art, you know the answer to that. I’ve seen him do stuff that’s more realistic, and I have seem him do things that are very loose and cartoony. The common element in there is the expressive nature of the designs. There are times when I look at his sequential art and my script, and I want to slash the words. He’s done, in one small panel of art, what I had 50 words of dialogue to nail. What I really like is [the way] Courtney’s artwork lends itself to any story I’m working on. Genre is not what defines his style.

Huddleston: Dale tends to write toward my strengths, so it makes it a lot easier for my art to automatically mesh [with his scripts].

EXCLUSIVE: Pages from the first chapter of “Missing Linx”

In addition to the four main beasts of urban legend, the book also features cameos from a number of mythical creatures and beasts.

Mettam: Well, a key story element is a breach in the wall between our reality and the fantasy dimensions, so you have all manner of things. From Greek Mythological elements to European “wee folk.” Because these are all fantasy creations, they all come from a common place.

Courtney, what was your favorite part of illustrating “Missing Linx?”

Huddleston: The variety. There was so much to choose from. Spaceships, giants, evil pixie characters, sea serpents and so much more.

What do you think was most challenging about doing a story like this?

Huddleston: It was all pretty easy. Again, Dale tends to play to my strengths when he writes. So by the time we started moving forward, everything felt comfortable for me.

Mettam: Trying to make sure the fun comes through. It’s easy to lose the plot in the fun. Or bury the fun in plot points. I also worked hard to make sure that this was the kinda book kids could read, but there are lots of nods to things the kids won’t specifically get first time, but older readers will latch on to. The aim of this book was to make something kids could read with their parents or grandparents, and everyone would enjoy it. Of course, when you have Courtney doing the heavy lifting for you, it’s a lot easier for me to do my job.

Viper Comics’ “Missing Linx” hits stores in April, 2011

Link to review CLICK HERE.

Missing Linx TPB – Review

The story opens with Owen Crockett and his two sons Zack and Luke camping in the woods. It’s their father son time whether the all like it or not. Everything is casual and normal until a huge red Manticore invades their camp. Thankfully for the family the “missing linx’s” are right behind them. Yeti and Sasquatch make quick work of the Manticore with their team work. After knocking out the beast Skunk Ape uses his new shrink ray to as you can imagine shrink the Manticore and place it in a containment device.

The problem is now what will the Linx’s do about the family they’ve been exposed to? The Linx’s have had bad experiences in the past when it comes to trusting humans so they’re not about to just let them walk away. The father Owen can’t really absorb what’s happening and offers for them to eat him if they’ll spare his children. Yeti informs the family that they are herbivores and have no fangs in which to pull the meat from their bones. The group banters for a bit until a nuclear plant is attacked by other fictional creatures.

They Linx’s explain that they are from a parallel dimension where all of these creatures exist. They begin fighting with the creatures and finally bring them down before the plant melts down. A Dr. Bedfellow begins broadcasting to the world saying that if they do not making him the ruler of the world he will continue to unleash monsters to wreak havoc. The Linx’s have to go after the evil Doctor not only to stop him from taking over the world, but to find their way home as well.

They attack him and find that he has summoned more monsters to fight the Linxs. After another short battle the Linxs are on top again, that is until Bedfellow reveals that he’s captured the family they’re traveling with. He orders them to back off as he teleports away, but not before Skunk Ape can place a tracking device on him. The Linxs use the family as bait in order to stop Bedfellow once and for all.

This trade paperback is fun as hell! Once it starts there’s no taking a break as the story continues to move forward. It’s a lot of action and comedy and really came off a lot like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a way. Granted their very different books, but the character types were very familiar to Turtles and other successful four team books. There’s the leader type character, the brains character, the comic relief and the bronzes. It’s very simple, but highly effective in creating relatable characters for the readers.

Dale Mettam’s (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes) story seems to be based more towards younger readers, which is still a very good thing. I think that it still appeals to older audiences. I found it very familiar and reminiscent of comics/cartoons of older days when characters could punch their way out of problem then clean it up with science. I think that this book would be a great trade to give a younger reader that’s looking to get into reading comics while at the same time appealing to older readers as well. Mettam gives it a great sense of campiness that isn’t annoying, it’s just wholesome fun.

The art is very stylized as looks very cartoony which 100% fits the book. Courtney Huddleston (Decoy, upcoming Last Dinosaur) does a great job of making the book fun to read and look at. Her breakdowns of the story are great and make the flow of reading the book easy. Huddleston’s character designs are memorable as she makes all four of the Linx’s look as different as possible from one another. Her action scenes are top notch and very enjoyable to read. She doesn’t cram the page with as much crap as possible, instead she streamlines it keeping it simpler to look at and read. Her art is good enough that at times you don’t even need to read the story to know what’s going on.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It introduced a world that is very clever and thought out that is easy for readers to attach themselves too. At the asking price of 7.95 I will definitely add this book to my collection in April when it’s officially released. I strongly feel that this will be a titled that shop owners recommend to parents that are looking for something that falls into the all ages category and I couldn’t agree more. If you’re interested in the book I recommend pre-ordering it from your local comic store.

Story – 8.0
Plot – 8.0
Art – 8.0
Overall – 8.0