The Halloween Kid Has Landed!

Shown: a free card available at rhodemontijo.com 

8/31/10 SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:  Coming real soon in September- an all ages HALLOWEEN KID drawing contest with prizes galore! Also, a HALLOWEEN KID costume contest for the youngsters in October! Get ready!

Howdy folks,

It has been a bit busy lately, but I have lots of news to share. First, THE HALLOWEEN KID is officially out! I continue getting reports from those who pre-ordered the books and their arrival to homes. Books should be in stores, hopefully in the Halloween section or available online at places like at AMAZON .

THE SAN DIEGO COMIC CON has come and gone and aside from me getting sick, Jamie Baker and I had one of our better shows! Thanks to all who came to the booth and took a chance with picking up some of our items, while there was plenty to choose from on the epic convention space. I nearly sold out of all the advanced copies of THE HALLOWEEN KID, coming home with only a handful of books. I did not anticipate that kind of response. Thanks so much to everyone who picked up a book!

I have a few HALLOWEEN KID posters left over from the convention and I am making them available here, while supplies last. I will sign each poster and dedicate them (optional) if you fill in the space provided below. Poster measures 16x20 inches and is on glossy UV coated stock paper. $5.00 + $4.95 priority mail shipping. (Available in the U.S. only- sorry!) Note: If you can't see the Paypal button right below to purchase, please click here .

Signed to: (Optional)

There are also still a few SKELETOWN signed and numbered limited prints available, as well. Only 100 made. $20 + $4.90 priority mail shipping. The print is a two color screenprint on quality paper and printed by Bloom Press. (U.S. only) Note: If you can't see the Paypal button right below to purchase, please click here .


*Shipping Note: If for some reason you place an order for more than one print and/or poster and get charged twice for shipping, I will refund the shipping overcharge before completing the Paypal transaction.

More HALLOWEEN KID news: I've updated my site rhodemontijo.com with lots and lots of FREE HALLOWEEN KID goodies like this HALLOWEEN KID IRON-ON and OFFICIAL MASK. You'll find coloring pages, mazes, secret messages, pumpkin carving stencils and more- all free! Click image below to take you straight to all the goodies!

Shown: Halloween Kid Iron On #5 available at rhodemontijo.com 

Shown: Print your own Official Halloween Kid Mask! rhodemontijo.com 

Here are some recent reviews of the book:

The first one that came in was a really sweet write up from THE SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL Spoiler Warning: This gives away how the book ends. Skip this one if you'd rather be surprised:

“YEE-HA-LLOWEEN!” is the battle cry of the Halloween Kid, who rides his stick horse into suburban anytown USA and rids the place of all manner of Halloween-hatin’ varmints. Text written in cowboy lingo enhances the rootin’ tootin’ fun as the Halloween Kid lassos toilet-paper mummies, leaf-pile ghosts, and the Giant Miami Werewolf. When the Kid meets his match in the greedy Goodie Goblins, the local children rescue him for a change, bringing the tale to a sweet and satisfying conclusion. This rollicking story projects a delightfully retro style and sensibility, aided by black, white, and orange brush-and-ink illustrations reminiscent of cartoons from the Eisenhower era. A treat for storytime as well as for independent reading and a must for Halloween picture-book collections.–Amy Rowland, Shelter Rock Elementary School, Manhasset, NY

Next up was KIRKUS REVIEWS:

When pumpkin-suckin' vampires and other Halloween hoodlums threaten holiday fun, the Halloween Kid, who "loved him some Halloween," keeps the peace. He's so successful, they stay away for years--until the Goodie Goblins show up, and it looks like his skills are so rusty he won't be able to stop them! Who can save the Halloween Kid? While Montijo's plot may be a bit shopworn, his storytelling and stylish graphics more than make up for this. His old-time Western dialect drops gs with abandon and introduces to a new generation such fabulous vocabulary as "varmints" and "[o]oh-wee" as it drawls along. The brush-and-ink illustrations are digitally colored in oranges and yellows and manipulated to present a worn finish, and the 1950s cartoon aesthetic is completed with the Halloween Kid's Lone Ranger mask. "Yee-haw"--er, "Yee-HA-lloween!”


KIRKUS REVIEWS are tough sometimes. They blasted my first book, so I have to take this one as 'not-so-bad'

The latest comes from PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY review:

When Halloween tricks get out of hand, it's time to call the Halloween Kid, a cowboy bandit with a black mask and flying hobbyhorse. Every year, he fearlessly wrangles "pumpkin-suckin' vampires" and tickles "leaf-pile ghosts," but when goblins run amok, he may have met his match. Grainy vintage-style illustrations in mustard and orange evoke autumnal nostalgia, with a nod to old westerns: " `Y'all keep trick-or-treatin' now, ya hear?' and with a wink, he rode into the moonlit sky." Ages 3-6. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Also, I recently updated Skeletown with a few new drawings. I try to keep Skeletown growing by adding a few new images every so often, so please visit
skeletown.com to check out the latest.

I recently found these rocks that looked bone white, so I had an idea...

Last, but not least, check out the latest GIANT ROBOT MAGAZINE #66 that has an article about the free crayon portraits and short stories that Jason Jaworski  and I occasionally do out on the street.

Photo by Mark Mulhern

Thanks so much for reading. More to come real soon!
~Rhode