Depending on the era you grew up in, your golden age of wrestling will differ. Some will say Roman Reigns’ Bloodline is the epitome of professional wrestling/sports entertainment, while others will praise the Attitude Era and Monday Night Wars as the epitome of everything great about the sport. That said, none of them would be possible without 1980s stars like “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Ric Flair, and Andre the Giant.
The bright colors, ridiculous names, and gimmicks combined with hard-hitting moves and dramatic finishes made wrestling popular. Fans of all ages cheer for the baby faces (heroes) and boo the heels (villains). The creators of Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia know all about this and combined their love of wrestling with a fun, interesting, and goofy story about wrestlers from Planet Wrestletopia.
"Wrestling played a huge role in Matt and I's respective childhoods. When we stumbled on the high concept--a wrestler's grandiosity sparks an alien invasion--we knew we had to put it out there into the world. Comic books gave us the most accessible path, plus the creative freedom (vs. being work-for-hire in the video game industry) was intoxicating."Ed Kuehnel
That’s right, readers, you read that correctly. There's a Planet Wrestletopia. A place where wrestling gimmicks are personalities and fighting with piledrivers, powerbombs, and leg-drops is a way of life. Now, imagine this is how your species lives, and you get a transmission from far away with a person calling himself the new “Galactic Champion of the Universe,”. If that wasn't insulting enough, he’s wearing a title belt to match. There’s no way you don’t take this offense as an open challenge. That’s exactly what the over-the-top antagonist, Manifest Destiny, does.
Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia is as silly as it sounds and expected. It’s about a planet of wrestlers coming to Earth and defeating world governments with suplexes, Boston Crabs, and gorilla press slams off the White House roof. However, there is depth within the story.
Interviews with former and current wrestlers and TV shows like Darkside of the Ring show the part of wrestling careers when the ring bell stops ringing. Many of our favorite stars turn to alcohol to ease their pain or have injuries that never heal. Our lead character/protagonist, “Rock ‘n’ Roll” Rory Landell, deals with that and more struggles within his personal life.
As you continue to read the story, you’ll find yourself understanding, hating, and liking Rory Landell. He’s everything that you love about wrestling, with a realistic view of post-wrestling life. That includes feeling like they were done wrong by promoters, swallowing your pride, and how being stubborn could cost you everything you love. Without spoiling too much of the story, let’s say that, like pro-wrestling events, the card is subject to change.
BicentenniKILL Kickstarter
Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia creators Matt Entin and Ed Kuehnel are also in the middle of a Kickstarter for their newest comic book, BicentenniKILL. The pitch goes, "Vote as if your life depends on it’ becomes reality for a small town police chief and his activist daughter when they are forced to defend it from power-hungry animatronic historical figures brought to life by a mysterious comet.”
Like Invasion from Planet WrestleTopia, the concept may seem silly. However, the description alone shows that there’s a deeper meaning to the story. As the explanation continues, we learn that the antagonists are Nina Harewood and her father, police chief Dennis Harewood. Nina is an activist, while her dad is politically neutral. We can guess that they find some kind of common ground, but there’s only one way to find out. You have to back the Kickstarter.
I asked Ed Kuehnel why people should support the Kickstarter for BicentenniKILL, and he gave a passionate response. Beyond getting a lot for backing the project, he said, "More than that, they're helping to support a comic book publisher interested in developing simple yet unique stories that are well-told, funny, and have a heart. Comic shops can always use more of those.”
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