Avril Lavigne
Buy This Poster At AllPosters.com
X-Men 2
Buy This Poster At AllPosters.com
Friday, May 16, 2003
IMAGE COMICS FIRST LOOKS
For covers and four-page previews of Image Comics titles arriving in stores on Wednesday, CLICK HERE.
Titles include G.I. Joe Frontline #7, Invincible #4, Legacy #1, Witchblade #64 and Tech Jacket #6.
DRAGON'S LAIR DETAILS
Dragon's Lair, the six-issue mini-series based on Don Bluth's video games, will launch on Aug. 6 from MVCreations and CrossGen Entertainment.
The mini-series is written by Andy Mangels, with art by Fabio Laguna and colors by Tony Washington.
"Creatively, the comic book stays faithful to the story established in the original game, but puts a modern twist on things," said MVCreations president Val Staples. "So expect a lot of high action and comedy to drive the story."
In the debut issue, Singe, swearing revenge on his hated arch-nemesis, swoops up the Princess in his cruel claws. Now the brave knight must survive the dangers of the Dark Kingdom to save his true love.
"We're absolutely thrilled to bring this best-selling video game to comics!
And working with Don Bluth is a dream come true," Staples said. "The game made a huge impression on me as a kid, as the beautifully drawn game graphics really pushed the envelope of what was being done in the early '80s. And in my humble opinion, Dragon's Lair set a benchmark for other video games to follow."
IMAGE COMICS' FACTION PARADOX
Image Comics will launch Faction Paradox, an ongoing series based the work of British science-fiction writer Lawrence Miles, in August.
Miles is writing the book, with pencils by Jim Calafiore, inks by Peter Palmiotti and colors by Paul Mounts.
Miles' literary career includes Alien Bodies, Interference and The Adventuress of Henrietta Street for BBC Books, plus Dead Romance and Down for Virgin Publishing. His short story "Grass" -- which is tangentially tied to Faction Paradox -- appeared in Best Fantasy of the Year: 2001. In addition to novels, Miles has written for computer games such as Simisle and Azrael's Tear. He's currently serving as editor for the upcoming Faction Paradox novel series, and is busy writing the debut novel for the line, This Town Will Never Let Us Go, due out in September.
Miles previously debuted Faction Paradox in a string of science-fiction novels from BBC Books, chiefly Alien Bodies (BBC Books, Nov. 1997) and the two-part Interference (BBC Books, Aug. 1999). Last September, Mad Norwegian Press published Faction Paradox: The Book of the War, a guidebook to the Faction universe.
"Faction Paradox has a five-year history in science-fiction novels, but there's not a lick of pre-knowledge required for the comic book series," said series editor Lars Pearson. "Not a drop. I need to say that until I'm blue in the face. Everyone -- longtime readers and newbies -- will start from the same point. If anyone reads the first issue and is confused, I'll drive a nail into my hand."
Here's how Image describes Faction Paradox:
"It tells the tale of a group of time terrorists -- Faction Paradox -- who are trying to subvert the whole of history to their own ends. In short, the Faction's involved in a power struggle with other time traveling organizations and powers, each of them seeking to usurp the timeline and one-up their opponents."
"Faction Paradox and its rivals aren't interested in dominating territory," Pearson said, "They're trying to conquer history. Imagine that for a moment -- a conflict between time-active groups across the whole of space-time. It begs the question if anyone can really win this battle, since each organization can simply travel back in time and retroactively undo its defeats. I mean, the 'new' formula of Coke would be the first thing to go."
The comic series opens in 1774, when embassies from various groups -- the colonial Americans, the Prussians, etc. -- are trying to win favor from King George III. Faction Paradox is also present, trying to get a toehold in King George's court, because whomever controls the late 1700s will control a lot of history.
"The first Faction Paradox storyarc, certainly, is set across the span of the War of the Revolution," Miles said, "and that's an incredibly important time for the western world. Obviously it's the period that births the U.S., but at the same time you've got Kings and Popes dying in mysterious circumstances, at least one monarch losing his mind and various bizarre cults becoming fashionable all over the planet. By 1774, history's coming apart at the seams. Things from outside history get in, and they're strange and they're worrying and they're not entirely human."
Pearson said that the Faction has a distinct advantage in this conflict: "They're complete bastards. I say that even though their rivals are often worse. Even so, the Faction wanders through history like a New Orleans-style voodoo cult, quietly eliminating anyone who gets in their way. Whereas the Faction's (for now) unseen rivals actually do follow the Laws of Time, the Faction's got no such restraint. Hell, they're mostly hoping the other groups will massacre each other, then swoop in and claim whatever spoils they can find.
"It's also fair to say that everyone -- Faction Paradox, the colonial Americans, etc. -- starts out the comic series thinking they're in complete control. But of course, that notion quickly goes to hell, leading to a frothy bloodbath in just a few issues."
"Faction Paradox is, basically, a great big story," Miles said. "There aren't enough great big stories in comics these days. Everything's going for that 'cool' angle, everybody wants to be like The Matrix and have people in shades running down neon-lit subway tunnels in Tokyo. Or something. Whereas Faction Paradox is... well, actually, now I've said that, I'm going to have trouble making it sound better than people in shades running down neon-lit subway tunnels in Tokyo. But crucially, it's a great big story. You can think of it as an epic fantasy, like The Lord of the Rings, but with its roots in the real world and without the camp elves. It's about history, it's about the way the world got this way and it's about bone-faced things from outside time. Which would make me read a comic, anyway."
In addition to the comics series, Mad Norwegian will launch an ongoing
Faction Paradox novel line in September, which occurs at various
points throughout time and space. A variety of British novelists are
slated to write the series, which will publish quarterly.
ED BENES EXCLUSIVE TO DC COMICS
Ed Benes, who is becoming the regular penciler of Birds of Prey with #56, has signed a two-year exclusive deal with DC Comics.
"I'm very excited about this new stage of my life and career, and I'll give DC my best," Benes said. "It's a blast doing Birds of Prey! Gail is a great writer, and I owe a great deal to Lysa Hawkins, my editor. Many thanks to DC for trusting my work, and even more, for all the respect you treat your artists with!"
"Ed Benes has been a real talent for WildStorm, Vertigo and the DCU," said Dan DiDio, DC's vice-president-editorial. "He brought renewed energy to Supergirl, and based on the work he's doing, we expect him to help bring Birds of Prey to the next level. We're very happy to have him on board."
Benes' first issue of Birds of Prey is in stores on June 18. Some of Benes's recent work on Supergirl is collected in the Supergirl: Many Happy Returns TP, in stores on July 9.
BRIEFLY
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2003, The Comics Continuum