I Heart Skull-Crusher!

I Heart Skull-Crusher! #1-5

by Josie Campbell, Alessio Zonno (Artist)

Teenage Trini will do anything to compete in her favorite sport, Screaming Pain Ball, alongside her longtime hero Skull-Crusher, and a gaggle of misfits is just what she needs to cross the American wastes and battle in Queen Mob’s deadly tournament. With Trini’s dreams of being just like Skull-Crusher on the line, what will it take to win a coveted spot on their team? With hope in her heart and an icepick in her hand, Trini will never stop chasing her dreams… and taking us along for the funniest, queerest, craziest, bloodiest underdog tale of all time.

Breakout writer of DC’s Amazons Attack event and screenwriter Josie Campbell (Wonder Woman, She-Ra And The Princesses of Power) along with rising star artist Alessio Zonno (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) bring sports action to post-apocalyptic America with enough comic relief at its brutal heart to keep anyone along for the ride!

Collects I Heart Skull-Crusher #1-5.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Young Adult, LGBT, Science Fiction, Manga, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2024

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series reminds me of the years of shonen sports manga I grew up reading, between the excessive expressions and tropes. To some they might find that annoying but I found it amusing and but endearing. The art and colors really pop on these issues, and Trini is a dreamer at heart, even if she's crazy. There is some pacing issues, but that might be rectified since the series is continuing.

[Sem · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, ridiculous manga-style romp that feels exactly like a random Nickelodeon cartoon in the 2000s. I am once again begging publishers to stop announcing "mini-series" that are just first volumes, though. I'm tired, boss.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably a bit too mature/nasty/not funny for the All Age Read it seems to be aiming for.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Screaming Pain Ball is the sport they play in I Heart Skull Crusher, and Trini has big dreams of somehow ascending out of the Wastelands forming a team and joining her long time crush in the big leagues. In true Hunger Games fashion, there are politico's pulling strings and using post-apocalyptic America as their playground.

This feels very Manga and since I've only read a handful over the years this felt very fresh and moreover I was actually reminded more of the outrageous over the top Japanese video games I've played like Donganrompa or AI Somnium Files.

Judging by the publisher imprint Boombox, this is clearly aimed at the 12-25 age crowd. I still enjoyed it quite a lot and will check out the next volume for sure

[Craig Schorling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and frenetic throughout. The art style matched the theme perfectly and was a great blend of anime and comics. The characters were fun. The twist and ending was a bit predictable but I am eager to read the next volume and see what happens.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic art, story and story telling. For young readers and more experienced.
Lots of fun.

[David Goldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, exuberantly drawn hunger games type story. A lot of fun but not much to the story.

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read Josie Campbell's recent Dawn of DC work with the Amazons and Shazam and love her high energy girl power vibes. I figured something with less cape and more self-driven ideas would be killer to read and have been craving to read this!
A great setting inspired by that one post-apocalyptic niche of insane death games and commentaries on society in Escape from LA, Death Race, and BallMastrz 9009. Similarly to any of them the themes and dialogue turn to how the sport is a cover up / there to keep the masses happy while those with real power aren't challenged. The plucky anime inspiration helps give a sense of unbridled optimism to the fight against that system and harrowing realization of said system. It's common ground for these sorts of stories but they're so rare and it's so fun with the bombastic setting and the message of these stories are so up my fucking alley.
It's got a great energetic optimism to it as befitting Josie Campbell and a nice foil to it with the serious cutthroat anything-for-personal-gain nature of Screaming Pain Ball.
Wonderfully written with fun anime inspiration that bleeds into the wonderful art. Seriously it is stunning to look at and full of kinetic energy and bombastic color choices that sell the atmosphere, energy, and every single fucking panel.
And what a clincher ending! It perfectly encapsulates the shitty system set up for you to fail and please / put the wool over the eyes of the masses that they can attain better when they can't. The system is always rigged as Trini and co. win only to be told they have to now face each other as leaders of individual teams with Trini on a team with Skull-Crusher with her sudden reveal that to achieve the title of the first ever non Bubble City player she had to literally kill her teammates due to the unfair system and dog eat dog world. If you cant tell by my rambling I am so on fucking board and I love this so much!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A zany sports satire, this graphic novel sees a teenage orphan from the sticks try to hustle her way into a post-apocalyptic murder-ball league.

Energetic and well crafted, it's stuffed with lots of "so random" comedy. But while the story has charm, I found the humor lacked actual laughs.

The framework of the sport doesn't quite work, either. It's like soccer, if Lionel Messi were armed with a flamethrower. But even within the cartoony framework of "I Heart Skull-Crusher!" it's hard to see how you can build a viable league out of wholesale slaughter.

To its credit, the book doesn't take the concept too seriously--it's intended to offer a bit of action, a bit of team-building, and a bit of fan-girl fawning. But the story drifts between serious stakes and goofy satire, and it left me wishing it would have committed to one or the other.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in a dystopian future where the sport of choice is functionally murderball, this comic feels heavily inspired by sports manga. For me, I felt like there was a major disconnect between the premise and what we see on the page. On one hand, slapstick humor and a plucky heroine. On the other, a bloodthirsty sport that literally gives points for murder. I'm not bothered by how unsustainable a sport that sees at least four deaths a half hour, because I could suspend my disbelief that far. But these characters, especially the main character, are remarkably happy go lucky for people who routinely murder for sport. I know this won't bother everybody, but to me the dissonance was too jarring to get fully invested. But the art is great, and there are a lot of teams with fun themes to fill in the background.

[SullyIsReading · Rating 4 out of 5]

(THIS REVIEW IS ORIGINALLY FROM STORYGRAPH, FROM 28TH JUNE 2025.)

There's not much to hate which is a very understated way of saying I loved the collection. I originally bought the first issue when it first came out and recently bought the collection of the first five issue-run and wow!

Incredible artstyle that features so many different elements and keeps the pace and tone fresh. The writing is comedic and hits with charm. The concept of the game which the story revolves around may not be totally original but it's still very enjoyable.

Give it a read, definitely. I know when the next run is released I shall look into purchasing it.

[Nikita · Rating 4 out of 5]

З цього коміксу треба зробити мультсеріал. На жаль, останні три випуски дуже скорочено передають певні події, але мабуть на це є якесь редакторське пояснення.
Бо «запихаєтся» багато всього, а хотілось би щоб про деякі події нам більше розказали.
Загалом це хороший та смішний комікс з приємним малюнком. Дуже відчувається, що автори надихались аніме та мангою

[Matt Glaviano · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Post-apocalyptical murder ball with a side of comedy and a bit of romance.

I was hesitant after issue 1, but 4-5 drew me in. Well structured silliness (and bloody mayhem) with distinct enough characters that you get to know and, dare I say, root for them.

If our actual dystopian wasteland is even half this much fun, we're all in for a real treat.

[Devonn Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love the art. It just scratches the right part of my brain for me. The plot and story beats aren't that unique,. They feel linear and predictable at times. But the humor and style make up for it tenfold. The way its laid out and drawn perfectly adapts to the atmosphere.

[Brenda Phillis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this. I loved the introduction of Trini but after that I just couldn't follow along. Characters introduced but plot development was all over the place. I order for a high school library.... probably won't continue the serious unless a student requests it.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute aesthetic and writing style that's reminiscent of anime/manga, but the characters didn't feel compelling enough to keep me reading. The main character in particular has some Harley Quinn/Deadpool energy that made her come across as really unlikable.

[Alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dystopian future murder game blatantly inspired by sports manga? I'm in!

[Zing Ho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of many favorite books.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork colorful and fun.

[Yona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun! Good readalike for the Hunger Games, but the tone is much wackier and sillier. Made me laugh despite how grim the setting is. Also, deeply gay!!

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

like if Daniel Warren Johnson made a Hunger Games

[Zachary King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of kinetic fun, with that Boom! Box heart.

[Cody Wilson]

The strength of recently released middle-grade comics consistently impresses me, and “I Heart Skull-Crusher!” is no exception. A pull quote describes this series as “all killer, no filler” and I can’t think of a better way to characterize its pacing. The plot speeds along with plenty of clever twists and jokes as it hits its major emotional beats. It helps that writer Josie Campbell and artist Alessio Zonno can draw on readers’ familiarity with the formulaic aspects of the sports fiction genre, while subverting these conventions enough to keep things fresh. The creators provide just enough detail about the characters and their post-apocalyptic world to give the story meaning without lingering on minutiae. Given the many forms of entertainment vying for kids’ attention these days, this approach strikes me as shrewd. It never hurts to cut the fat.

The star of this story is Zonno, whose playful, kinetic art perfectly suits this action-packed story. Zonno’s work hails from an Italian comic art scene that encompasses other recent favorites of mine, such as Simone Di Mio and Luigi Formisano. Zonno channels the epic cinematic framing and video game influences of Di Mio while infusing his work with a similar cartoony energy as Formisano. These comparisons shouldn’t imply that Zonno is derivative by any means; he has a distinctive and compelling style, pushing his manga influence even further than his peers in many sequences. Angel De Santiago likewise understands the assignment, providing vibrant colors and going all out to bring Zonno’s characters to life on splash pages.

Found families, cut-throat competition, dark humor – I’m sold on another volume of “I Heart Skull-Crusher!” and can comfortably recommend this series to any middle-grade reader.

[Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is silly fun with a dynamic artstyle (and a bear). There is some awkwardness in balancing the more serious and the lighthearted, but taken with more of a goal of the latter it is enjoyable.