Authors/Film & TV

Published on December 18th, 2016 | by Ken Cosentino

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Killer Pumpkins From Space!

Legendary comic book artist, Mark McKenna, has ten days to go on his Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for issue four of Combat Jacks; Mark’s sci-fi space romp. In one corner is the Jacks; giant killer space pumpkins with a serious attitude. The fight is taking place on their home planet of Maia, in the distant future. In the other corner we have a group of rag-tag space commandos and a convict who are stranded on Maia and cornered by the Jacks, who are also currently enacting an age old invasion (sort of like War of the Worlds except with big-ass pumpkin monsters, who use their tentacle-like-vines to walk and also to whip out and grab their prey). Mark’s vision is clearly inspired by 1950’s drive-in monster movies, specifically of the giant monster kind. You know the ones: Godzilla, Them!, The Blob, The War of the Worlds, etc.

He nailed it. Combat Jacks is a very fun comic book that incorporates American lore such as The Headless Horseman, and tells us that the Jacks are responsible for the mass extinction of the dinosaurs*.

I have known Mark for several years. He’s worked on some of my favorite comics with Marvel and DC over the last three decades. Mark told me about his idea for Combat Jacks after it’s inception, and I thought it was brilliant. I encouraged Mark to make his comic, and he did. He came out with three issues, and in the fourth issue the story concludes. I helped Mark with his Kickstarter campaign by creating a Combat Jacks inspired short film, called Punk’n Chunk’n. I built some miniatures including a fully-poseable Jack puppet.


Space Commando, hand painted

Giant pumpkin puppet dangling space commando

I had a blast making this one minute long short sci-fi saga. Check it out below, and if you are a fan of these types of things and you want to see new, original content – make sure you donate to Mark McKenna’s Kickstarter Campaign which has raised $3,505 of $6,500 and only has 10 days left! Help Mark reach his goal, support independent artists and massive creative endeavors that are changing the faces of sci-fi and ushering in a new, golden era of artistry. DONATE HERE

I really had a blast shooting this film. Stop-motion animation is a lost art form in the mainstream world, but in the indie world it’s prevalent. Perhaps some day soon I will write a follow up article on the history of stop-motion animation. If you’d like to check out more of my work, see my website: The Niagarian

On another note, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Stay warm, mni wiconi.

~Ken Cosentino

*(Side Note: If you like dinosaurs, check out this article on IFLSCIENCE!)


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About the Author

Ken Cosentino is an artist from Niagara Falls, NY. He is an award winning filmmaker, CEO of White Lion Studios, LLC and a published author.


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