Details on PopCultHQ’s Exclusive BANJAX #1 “Demon in a Bottle” Homage Variant

We, at PopCultHQ, are committed to the comic book community in sharing news from within the industry, offering previews and reviews of upcoming releases, and interviews with the incredible talent from the indie scene to the Big Two publishers. We want to be the signal boost in getting the word out on some amazing projects, impressive crowdfunding campaigns, and creative individuals who deserve more of a spotlight.

In an effort to continue to grow and improve, we asked ourselves: How could we continue to show our commitment to the comic book industry? How could we be even more supportive of creators? In what way could we put our “Stamp of Approval” on the projects with which we fully endorse? The answer was clear…

We teamed up with one of our favorite people in the industry, Rylend Grant, creator/writer of the Ringo Award-nominated titles ABERRANT (including a win for Best Villain) and BANJAX at Action Lab Entertainment‘s Danger Zone imprint. Together, we discussed what it would look like teaming up for an exclusive variant cover of one of his books. Truth be told, we decided on TWO variants – one for BANJAX #1 (which we are offering now on our ShopCultHQ tab on the Menu Bar) and one for ABERRANT #1 (coming soon). For the BANJAX variant, we opted to pay tribute to Bob Layton‘s iconic “Demon in a Bottle” cover to IRON MAN #128.

For our cover, which is limited to a print run of 250 copies, BANJAX’s Laird Mason is facing his struggles – not with alcoholism like Tony Stark, but with the street drug Zap (prominent in the series). Rylend hooked us up with his BANJAX (2020 Ringo Award-nominee for Best Series) creative team to create this beautiful homage – illustrator Fábio Alves (2020 Ringo Award-nominee for Best Cover Artist), colorist Edson Ferreira (2020 Ringo Award-nominee for Best Colorist), and letterer HdE (2020 Ringo Award-nominee for Best Letterer).

One of the things PopCultHQ has strived to do is minimize ads our readers have to encounter. We understand how pop-up ads and requests to receive push notifications can be a headache. But, at the same time, for PopCultHQ to continue to grow and improve, we need sources of revenue. Offering this exclusive variant will help us in our efforts.

All net proceeds of sales of PopCultHQ’s exclusive variant of BANJAX #1, which can be found under ShopCultHQ on our Menu Bar, will go to increase the pay for our writers and to attract new members to our team. We are also using a portion of the sales to reinvest in another exclusive variant in the near future, specifically our next planned exclusive variant of Grant’s ABERRANT #1. Here’s your first look at that beautiful cover, created by the ABERRANT creative team of Davi Leon Dias (artist), Iwan Joko Triyono (colorist), and HdE (letters). Given Rylend’s love for the 80s (ours too!), as seen in the variants which have been offered for both seasons of ABERRANT, we chose to give a nod to the Weekend at Bernie’s movie poster, spotlighting ABERRANT’s Lance Cordrey!

The BANJAX #1 “Demon in a Bottle” PopCultHQ Exclusive variant is being offered for $15 each. With a limited quantity of 250 copies made of this variant, there is a max limit of 5 copies per order. Shipping is a flat $7.50/order which includes bag/board, Priority Mail shipping, tracking, insurance, and a Gemini mailer to ensure your order is well-protected. Currently, this offer is good for orders within the Continental U.S. For international orders, please contact reptile@popculthq.com. 

We know you are going to love this stunning cover as much as you’ll love all the content between the pages. Now is your chance to snag a copy of the 2020 Ringo Award nominee for Best Series – Rylend Grant’s BANJAX – created by the 2020 Ringo Award-nominated creators – Fabio Alves, Edson Ferreira, and HdE. 

And most of all, we want to thank every one of you for following PopCultHQ and for your support!