Ladies and gentlemen of the world press - or, er, you folks:
Brendan Douglas Jones here and it's my pleasure to announce the launch of the third and final volume of my webcomic trilogy Breakfast of the Gods - the epic adventure that stays crunchy in milk.
For the uninitiated, Breakfast of the Gods is an illustrated saga starring a bowlful of familiar faces from your breakfast table. A critical success and a commercial non-entity (for obvious reasons), the series stands as both a pop culture-drenched labor of love and a minefield of serious copyright infringement.
When Book One: The Last Good Morning opens we find trouble brewing in Cerealia, a land eternally bathed in morning sunlight. The king and his wizard advisor have disappeared and a shadow of evil has fallen over the land. The old sailor Cap'n Crunch, noblest soul in the land, steps up to lead the fight against Count Chocula's forces of darkness.
In Book Two: O Cap'n, My Cap'n, stakes were raised as we met the determinedly neutral bar owner Toucan Sam, journeyed into the depths of Castle Chocula, witnessed the temptation of the Trix Rabbit and the ultimate fate of Cap'n Horatio M. Crunch.
Now, as Book Three: Apocalypse Yum begins, the sides have been drawn and the battle begins in earnest. What follows promises to be the most important battle of their lives as well as the most important meal of the day.
Described (by myself) as a deadpan satire of/homage to universe-shaking, internet-breaking comic book events, Breakfast of the Gods has struck a chord with readers and press alike. Here's a sampling of some of the nice things folks have been saying about the series to date:
"Let it be known now that Brendan Douglas Jones' Breakfast of the Gods is the Watchmen of cereal mascots. Genius, genius work. I would, in fact, say that's it's grrrrrreat! -- Yeah, it can be dark and violent, but it's always self-aware. No one's childhood is getting raped here; Jones is just telling a crazy, epic fantasy adventure that happens to star cereal mascots. The art's good too: the characters are well-cartooned and everything's as colorful as it was on the cereal box." --- Bill Reed, 365 Reasons to Love Comics 247, Comics Should Be Good!
"I found this to be a thoroughly entertaining and inventive comic. Much like Fables before it, this book takes childhood icons (this time characters from breakfast cereal boxes instead of those from fairy tales) and casts them all together in an intriguing mystery filled with twists, turns, and magically delicious characterization. Anyone who grew up when actual cartoons were shown on Saturday mornings and not Saved By The Bell spin-offs will appreciate seeing Tony the Tiger, Count Chocula, Captain Crunch, and Super Bear interact like you've never seen them before. The characters that leapt into action from your cereal boxes always looked as if they were heading out for some type of adventure. This story tells that tale." --- Ambush Bug, Ain't It Cool News
(BOTG was the first web comic ever reviewed on Ain't It Cool News, and I was flattered to rate a follow-up review after the completion of Book Two.)
"After reading the second book of this trilogy, I'm happy to report that Jones has gone through quite a metamorphosis as an artist and a writer. The story is much more involving. What was once an exercise in picking out recognizable characters from my childhood has now developed into an honest to gosh story. I actually began to forget about the characters as cereal box icons and saw them as characters I cared about in peril. I became invested in their well being and hopeful that the forces of good would come out alive. I know cheering for the Trix Rabbit and Cap'n Crunch sounds like an infantile and goofy thing to do, but like DC Vertigo's Fables, Jones captures the essence of what makes these characters iconic and utilizes them to full effect to push along the story and capture the audience.
Along with the strong storytelling, Jones' art has improved as well. His lines are stronger, his panels more varied, and his characters are more fluid. All in all, reading Book One and Book Two, the growth Jones has shown from one book to the next makes me anticipate the third and final chapter even more."--- Ambush Bug, Ain't It Cool News
"What really impresses me about Breakfast of the Gods is that Jones manages to actually capture a genuine sense of dramatic tension, despite the obviously ludicrous nature of the setting and the cast. He keeps the characters true to form in appearance - the art is perfectly cartoony and brilliantly rendered, which makes it all the more disturbing when the tone grows truly dark. That blend of the silly and the dark is what makes the comic so surreal, but also what makes it so effective." --- Matt Koelbl, Damn Good Comics
"This webcomic might be the best parody of "grim 'n' gritty" superhero comics I've ever seen. Pitch-perfect in tone, skillfully-drafted, it's just genius." --- Joe Gross, Austin360
"Brendan Douglas Jones is the Alan Moore of breakfast cereal! That's a strong (and infinitely weird) statement, but Breakfast of the Gods is a strong (and infinitely weird) webcomic." --- Mark Shainblum, Webcomics Nation
So go check it out, guys, and let me know what you think!