Lovecraft lore—he bears a striking resemblance to a certain black goat of the woods—but also draws on other literary influences such as Hunter S Thompson and Kurt Vonnegut. Justin "Hateball" Jewett and Brian Ewing took a freeform and organic approach to imbuing their creation with a loose but compelling backstory; so much so that trying to determine which of his physical features are driven by thi
s story—and vice versa—proves to be tricky...even for his creators. Brian Ewing's highly characteristic renderings of realistic features paired with half-twist details makes the vision of Shub something to behold. The two worked together on a kitchen-sink apparition that, over time, was distilled into the final form that is at once digestible at a glance as well as over-the-top. To an avid toy collecting enthusiast like Jewett, the production details surrounding Shub Zeroth are almost as important and exciting as the creation of the character itself. The duo paired with Luke Rook of Lulubell Toys to bring their vision into reality. After working with Luke during the sketch phase to ensure that their vision was realizable in toy form, they brought in a true master in Miyazawa-san from Shikaruna Koubo to perform the sculpt. Rook himself will execute the wax prototypes and oversee the molding process, and vinyl will be poured/pulled/assembled at Blood Fort Omega in Koenji, Tokyo. In an effort to better define their partnership, Jewett and Ewing have formed Metacrypt, a company that will handle their collaborative push on Shub Zeroth, related merchandise, and any additional character-based products in the future.