Talking Indie Kaiju Comics with the Creators of Monster Matador and Territory

Frank Laudato
Jan 8
2 min read

We’re currently in the midst of a Kaiju indie comic boom, with creators from all overturning to platforms like Kickstarter to share their amazing work. We had the chance to sit down with Blake McCarthy, creator of the Territory series, and Steven Prince, creator of Monster Matador.

Territory Complete Edition — Territory Trade Paperback Cover Art by Fell Hound

Both creators have active campaigns right now: Blake McCarthy has completed his series and is collecting it in the stunning Territory: Complete Trade Paperback with new cover art by artist Fell Hound, while Steven Prince is releasing Monster Matador: Blood of the Matador Issue 2, featuring three different covers, plus special lenticular and metal variants.

As an extra bonus, supporting both campaigns earns you a Monster Matador x Territory Trading Card along with your Territory Trade Paperback—so be sure to check out and back both campaigns!

During our interview, we spoke with Blake McCarthy and Steven Prince about the evolution of their series and how each issue served as a learning process for both the writers and their artists.

For Monster Matador, Steven has collaborated with artist Fabio Alves and colorist Alex Zief since the series first took Kickstarter by storm in 2020. Over time, the chemistry between them has grown and strengthened, making each new issue the best-looking Monster Matador yet.

Monster Matador: Blood of the Matador Variant Cover — Monster Matador: Blood of the Matador 2 Variant cover art by Jesus "El Kartun" Padroza and Marcos Rocha

Blake McCarthy, on the other hand, faced the challenge of needing a new artist midway through Territory after Chris Sassman had to leave the project due to schedule conflicts. Fortunately, colorist Ichsan Ansori had previously worked with new artist Donny Hadiwidjaja, and their collaboration brought a fresh yet familiar style to the series. This transition introduced a new tribe in the story whose designs really stood out, with Donny’s unique touch making this pivotal arc visually striking.

Additionally, we talked things that inspired them to create their series, the state of Kickstarter and the indie comic scene, as well as how great the kaiju and indie comic community is in supporting each other and creators.

We had a lot of fun and talked about so many other things related to making indie comics so check out the rest of interview in here in this special Monter Matador X Territory interview.