DC Comics and General Mills are teaming up this fall to re-design the classic “Monster Cereal” characters – Boo Berry, Frankenberry and Count Chocula – for a new generation. The Monster cereals were first introduced by General Mills in the early seventies, and if you were a Gen X kid, at some point, these were probably  part of your morning diet. Eventually General Mills added to the monster menagerie with the werewolf-themed Fruit Brute, which was the first to be discontinued and replaced with yet another monster cereal, Fruity Yummy Mummy, which didn’t last too long either. Since 2010 however, all the monster cereals have been made available only during the September/October Halloween season.
This year, General Mills has teamed up with DC Comics to give their monsters a redesign for the twenty-first century. In a story run in USA Today, it was revealed that DC c0-publisher Jim Lee redesigned Boo Berry, while Terry and Rachel Dodson (Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Men) handled Count Chocula, and Dave Johnson (Deadpool, 100 Bullets) did the honors on Frankenberry. It looks like poor Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy were kicked to the curb again this year, after having a brief comeback for last Halloween.
In addition to the redesigned boxes, each cereal will contain comic strips drawn by Brent Schoonover (Batman”66) featuring the redesigned monsters. “I have a lot of highlights in my career that have nothing to do with superheroes. This is definitely one of them,” says Jim Lee, who cites Boo Berry as his childhood favorite.”I loved the milk turning blue afterward, and it brought back a lot of childhood memories.” Lee says each of the individual comic artists definitely left their stamps on each character; “At first glance, you might not pick up the nuances,”but Franken Berry is definitely Dave Johnson, and in the Dodsons’ take on Count Chocula, they’ve humanized him a little bit more.”
The limited edition packaging featuring the new artwork and comic strips drawn by Brent Schoonover will hit select retailers this month before nationwide distribution in September. Check out a preview of the box art below.
Which is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
Boo Berry for sure in this re-design!
I tried a box of each of these cereals last year. they definitely changes up the recipes on these. the best description of taste would be sugar sludge.
Man, I *loved* Boo-Berry back in the day. I think once I ate an entire box at one sitting. Last Halloween I bought a box and it was not the same — “clouded childhood memories” be damned. Something is different about it.
Same here….But I still love boo berry the most