Fire and Water Presents: Who’s Editing! It’s the new show in which Siskoid and his guest – in this case, the bold and dangerous Ryan Daly – open an issue of Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe (or some other encyclopedia-type comic) and imagine a line of books based solely (and obligatorily) on the heroes found within. Can Siskoid and Ryan make it through the A’s of Who’s Who #1 without drowning in all the Atlantis stuff? There’s only one way to find out…
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Credits:
Theme: “Révolution” by Les Sherpas.
Bonus clips: Syfy Wire’s interview with Kelly Sue DeConnick at EECC 2019; overdub courtesy of Paul Hix, with Men at Work’s “Down Under”.
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I will admit, when Siskoid first pitched this show on the FW thread I didn’t understand the concept. Now that I’ve heard the first episode, I’m maybe a little closer to understanding it but I still very much enjoyed the show. Once again, the network spins gold out of the air, coming up with concepts and ideas that are truly imaginative and unique to the hosts.
Of course, any super hero group with Aquaman, the Atom, Air Wave, and Amazing Man needs be to be called The A-Team.
Loved all the ideas for Aquaman. Of course, any universe where Aquaman is the Superman I am buying in.
Finally, I will now end all my shows with a clip of Ryan saying “I have new respect for Rob Kelly.” Sorry, Xum!
I took the role-playing game ruleset approach to make it as opaque as possible as an audition for future guests.
I guess I was equally foggy on the concept as Rob, but I knew Siskoid would take concept to produced show so fast, I wouldn’t stay confused for long. And now I get it! A very fun idea, with some interesting takes on the concepts herein. As evidenced in the “If I replaced DiDio as publisher” show, Siskoid is more traditionally skewed, whereas Ryan wants to Tanget-ize and take the name and start over from scratch, for the most part. It made for a fun back and forth discussion. Having that guest Zeta Beam in was quite a surprise, too!
Chris
Yes, I would argue Ryan is more savvy in this regard. Kill the past!
Tangent? Okay, I guess. I thought I was more like Julie Schwartz: “His name is Green Lantern and he’s got a green energy ring that does whatever he wants. That’s all you keep. Everything else is brand new.”
Yes, you were truer to the concept than most of Tangent. Though I’m for it. Let’s get rid of Flash and Joker as they are and replace them with the Tangent characters.
I didn’t mean it as a derogatory statement. I thought the Tangent idea was a good one. The execution was a bit…meh overall to me. But yes, the Julius Schwartz analogy is more flattering, because all of those were very successful.
Chris
Agreed, Cfranks.
But Tangent was specifically advertised as doing just what Julie Schwartz did. So you’re all pretty.
Get me on this show! I have so many ideas for Balloon Buster!
PS – I don’t.
Great show concept. Also, Siskoid, yes Hal Foster is NOT discussed enough.
Really fun episode. I really enjoyed most of your ideas but I thought I’d throw in my two-penneth…
All-Star Squadron- I want to see more stories set after they’re forced to disband. The 50s are a relatively unexplored era for DC. Particularly as during the 50s most published DCs were set in the past or the future. After the recent Marvels story I’d be asking Alan Brennert and Jerry Ordway to work on it.
Ambush Bug has to be by Giffen. I would be tempted to produce his series as a series as specials rather than a monthly book.
I would like to see Animal Man become Animal Girl and focus on Buddy’s daughter Maxine. I see her as a character that could really reach out to kids if it was done right.
Great Apokalips ideas. I would be tempted to try and make it a one pager that appears in every book. If you got someone who could lean in to the political satire without losing the characterisation you could create something meme-able to reach beyond standard comics fans.
I don’t care what you do with Aquaman as long as you get Alan Davis as artist.
Is it too far from Siskoid’s concept to create a Valda series from the Arak entry? JLGL would be the perfect artist for it.
My villain series would be start from the Arcane entry and would be about life in hell. Using the characters from Swamp Thing annual 2 with Phantom Stranger as the narrator.
I could also see someone getting a story out of someone with real-life mental health issues being in Arkham Asylum. How does someone with OCD or depression experience being in the same facility as the Joker and Two-Face?
Bryan Hitch has been tweeting about how Atari Force was his favourite book when he was a kid. He’s able to write, pencil and ink a book a month nowadays. Sounds like a licence to print money.
I can’t believe you came up with nuclear boxing gloves and didn’t go for the pre-existing DC name Atom Smasher.
Looking forward to future episodes. It’s a great idea for a podcast.
Some great ideas there, Damien!
And since Valda has her own entry, yes, I’d say you’re off the reservation on that one ;).
Great ideas. And I *did* think of Atom Smasher and considered making Al Pratt a size-changer, too, but I felt like that went way further than the concept needed. Good thought, though.
A great concept for a show and a fun episode to listen to.
I would love to read Siskoid’s House of Secrets book. And Ryan’s Aquaman book sounded epic.
I looking forward to episodes with Legion members because I’m sure Siskoid has some fantastic ideas for them.
Great concept for a show. Building on something Siskoid said in his pitch for an Aquaman book, I’ve long thought that the Great Lakes could be an interesting setting for an Aquaman-like hero. The Great Lakes are large enough to hold different adventure, but small enough that you’re never too far away from the relatability of terrestrial life. And that terrestrial life runs the gamut from big cities to relatively unspoiled wilderness, which could provide settings for many different types of stories. Especially, if the hero is concerned not just with the Lakes themselves, but also with the watersheds that feed them. To top it all off, the Lakes sit on an international boundary. Even if that boundary isn’t a contentious one, it still provides a setting for international crimes and other clashes of cultures.
Disclaimer: I admit to being a little biased, because I did my graduate work on fish populations in the Great Lakes.
That’s a very specific suggestion for Aquaman, I really like the idea of Arthur patrolling the world’s coasts, the idea of a book not based in North America has massive appeal to this refugee from the UK JLI embassy.
I’d still like to see the occasional story set on the open seas, though, and in Atlantis. And maybe on Rann.
My idea wasn’t specifically for an Aquaman book. I was just thinking it would be nice to have an aquatic hero in the Great Lakes. All the aquatic heroes that I can think of are focused on marine systems, when there are some really unique freshwater systems out there that would make a good home for a hero.
When it comes to Aquaman, I agree that he shouldn’t bound to any one nation, and that includes Atlantis.
Ah, gotcha, thanks. Maybe Lagoon Boy…
In the context of the Great Lakes, a lagoon would be an industrial space for water treatment / waste dumping. THIS Lagoon Boy would be born of the sludge.
Now I’m picturing a hero based off of the three-eyed fish from the Simpsons.
Blinky rides again!
Sorry, this just came to me. Lagoon Boy’s primary power is that he can absorb pollution from his surroundings, thus helping the environment. Then, he also has a secondary power that changes and mutates every time he uses his primary power.
Love it.
Congratulations on a great opening instalment, this was a very fun listen.
Yes, it really is time Alley Kat Abra got a starring role and the idea of printing Readers’ Cats is splendid – our Emmy appeared in Patsy Walker, Hellcat #8, see her on Marvel Unlimited!
I love the idea of Amazing Man getting a big spotlight, too, but for me the original Jerry Ordway costume has to stay, I just love that yellow and green and the stylised ‘A’. The Extreme Justice version was, of course, an abomination, while the later JSA one was, well, I see what they were trying to do.
Yes to Ambush Bug but let’s not forget the contribution of Robert Loren Fleming in popularising the character.
The ideas for the Atom were all great but if I had to plump for one I’d go for the BDSM dwarf. Memories…
If I were allowed to do a story for your Arkham Asylum book I’d do something new – show a person who goes there and gets treatment and is cured rather than made worse/eaten by hyenas.
I’m already looking forward to next issue, which features three guys with the hottest looks in comics (no, not Baron Blitzkrieg).
So that’s ONE vote for doing these in order.
I gotta track down that Emmy appearance, not that I don’t see her all the time on social media.
Just call me Nabu.
But never Naboo.
And watch your Twitter for Emmy!
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ABEL #1
written by NALO HOPKINSON
art by DOMINIKE “DOMO” STANTON
cover by MICHAEL ZULLI
“Where is Cain your brother, ” said the Lord, and Abel did not answer, for he knew not what he had done. In a field behind the House of Secrets, in the same manner as the ritual sacrifice of a lamb from the book of Genesis, Cain lay unmoving with his throat slit. Had Abel final avenged himself, as the victim of the first murder? Abel could not recollect, nor did he have the courage to face his God on the matter, and so he ran. Why had his mother Eve returned to the visage of a crone, her Sinister House barred to him? Why would Erzulie Fréda know anything about it, and could she be persuaded to share? For how long can Abel, long treated as a martyr and coward, evade the wrath of the Witches Three for the familal blood he may or may not have shed? What secrets are being kept from their master, and can Abel solve the mystery of the original sin of his first demise before his
Written by Nalo Hopkinson, award-winning author of Brown Girl in the Ring, Midnight Robber and HOUSE OF WHISPERS, with art by Dominike “Domo” Stanton of the acclaimed Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.
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Amazing! I knew you wouldn’t disappoint.
Love it!
I’m late to this but love the concept.
Especially love when you guys mention creators you have for the titles.
Late by a whole two days. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Doc.
Due to a power outage, I lost a detailed Adam Strange pitch that included the 12 million year war between the immortal Science-Emperor Sardath of Rann and the Adepts of the Polaran Heresy of Thanagar, including Adam’s live TV special where he opened the tomb of Nabu to find it empty (he time traveled and looted it decades earlier), plus what happened the last time that war came to Earth (what do you think caused Atlantis to sink?)
Auron would have been an alien cult leader that gave his followers super-powers temporarily. He’s here to conquer on behalf of Vega before Rann or Thanagar can take the planet, but the Omega Men are on their way to end him, along with the rest of the universe.
ABEL #1
…What secrets are being kept from their master, and can Abel solve the mystery of the original sin of his first demise before his final one?
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES
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AGES 17+
ADAM STRANGE #1
written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON
art by KHOI PHAM
cover by BRIAN STELFREEZE
“Hero is what you call people that you want to die in your place.” For years, Adam Strange was the only hero of the planet Rann, transported from earth by strange Zeta Beams to battle their monsters and menaces. Now Adam is dying from exotic cancers caused by myriad exposures. Deemed untreatable and unneccessary, he’s been involuntarily returned to his native Earth to die. But Adam Strange still has time left, and his past heroism was such a success that Rann is sending more Zeta Beams to claim more unwitting heroes. A deathbed makes for the strangest of bedfellows, and what exactly drew all those menaces to tranquil, insulated Rann in the first place? Adam will not go gently into that endless, starry night. He still has a few more lives left to save while he still has his own, and a moment to teach his wife, daughter, and father-in-law three very different lessons…
ON SALE 06.03.20
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ANTHRO: BERTH OF EVIL TP
written by MICHEL FIFFE
art and cover by MICHEL FIFFE
For years, the Flash rogue Abra Kadabra has plagued the modern day using the technology of the 64th Century to appear as sorcery in the 21st. Trapped at the dawn of mankind in his last misadventure, Kadabra seeks true, dark magic to escape his fate. Billions of years earlier, the Demons Three had been imprisoned beneath the Earth, and all Kadavra needs is to locate three objects of great mystical power to release the malevolent trio into his service. Who stands between Kadabra and a grim rewriting of human history? Only Anthro, the first boy hero!
Visionary creator Michel Fiffe (Copra) unleashes his imagination on the thrilling, amazing, and wonderful world of prehistoric DC! In a unique storytelling experience, the new series of ANTHRO all-ages original graphic novels will feature limited dialogue, allowing for bravura mixed medium visual storytelling in a time before language. “I’m trying to create a work for a universal audience. This type of project has been tried before in avant garde indie series like Underwater, but never to this scale. I’m looking forward to the challenge!”
ON SALE 08.05.20
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DC GRAPHIC NOVELS FOR KIDS
ISBN: 978-1-4012-9633-7
ALLEY-KAT-ABRA #1
written by DHONIELLE CLAYTON
art and cover by CRASH LANDEN
In a world of “funny animals,” Felina Furr was content in her life as a martial arts instructor before fate granted her a “Magic Wanda.” As the most powerful heroine in The Amazing Zoo Crew, the greatest super team on Earth-C, her good deeds were countless. None of that saved her reputation when she was framed for the murder of Little Cheese and exiled from a Crew all too ready to condemn. Though exonerated, it was a painful reminder that you can take the cat out of the alley, but the alley stays with the cat. Now preferring to work solo, Alley-Kat-Abra wields her magical powers against the problems of a very real world. From Dhonielle Clayton, CCO of We Need Diverse Books and author of the novels Tiny Pretty Little Things and the recent The Everlasting Rose, comes a new ongoing Young Adults series. A sure-to-be controversial animal allegory for the modern issues of our world, “Felix the Cat meets Blacksad” raves Entertainment Weekly.
ON SALE 06.24.20
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Not the Little Cheese murder! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
APOKOLIPS #12
written by ADAM WARREN
art and cover by JOSÉ LADRÖNN
The Fourth World Saga ends here. Apokolips strains against the leash of its supposed New Genesis masters, and the Hunger Dogs are ready to bite the soft hands that would feed them. In Darkseid’s absence, factions of his former Elite jockey for position both within and against the forces that would kill them with kindness. Alliances and betrayals aboud, even as the former Lord of Apokolips looks on, far from silent. The masks have fallen off. The nature of the conflict changes forever. And when the Justice League make the ill-advised choice to interfere, they and the universe itself will feel consequences that will reverberate for years to come.
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S.T.A.R. SQUADRON #1
written by PETER J. TOMASI
art by JORGE JIMENEZ
cover by JASON FABOK
variant cover by JIM LEE
card stock variant cover by STJEPAN ŠEJIĆ
The Gods have turned their backs to creation, looking inward at their own conflicts. The cosmic champions the Justice League were lost in their midst, leaving a power vacuum otherworldly legions would fill. Earth, long a focal point of universal interests, appears to have its belly fully exposed.
Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories have been crunching all of this data, and their projections are dire. This is the moment Lex Luthor has long held as his worst fear, as he offers the full resources of LexCorp to begin building a wall around his planet against these alien hordes. The call goes out for those who will man this orbital barrier, the first line of defense against the enslavement of the human race. A squadron will rise.
In the debut story arc, T.O. Morrow waits at A.L.L.S.T.A.R., the newly competed orbital space station he helped to construct. His greatest creation, the android Amazo, had been sent in search of the Justice League months ago, and returns from New Gods space… changed. Not everyone present will survive the reunion.
A brutal new series where heroes face threats far beyond their experience, to deadly results. Pictured from left: Steel, Air Wave, Skyrocket, Alpha Centurion, Technocrat, Iman, S.T.R.I.P.E., Vapor, Faith, Vibe, Razorsharp, Lionheart, G.I. Robot, Hero Cruz, and Snapper Carr.
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AMAZING-MAN #1
written by NAIF AL-MUTAWA
art by AARON LOPRESTI and MATT RYAN
cover by DAVID MARQUEZ
In the early 20th Century, Turkish-born Ghazanfar “John” Aman was selected for his “superb physical structure” from a Western-style orphanage to be raised by benevolent Buddhist monks in Tibet. He received training that granted him superhuman physical and mental prowess, as well as the ability to disappear into a green mist. As Amazing-Man, he used these gifts to battle the Axis powers, before returning to Turkey after the war to become a national hero. Generations later, Mustafa Aman has returned from his own training under the Council of Seven to find his homeland under the iron grip of an autocratic ruler who has spent decades tarnishing the legacy of Amazing-Man. Mustafa is forced to question his identity and purpose, as the Council has been betrayed to the Chinese by one of their own, who sees Amazing-Man as the only obstacle to his becoming a council of one…
ON SALE 06.10.20
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AMBUSH BUG #1
written by KEITH GIFFEN & J.M. DEMATTEIS
art by RONAN CLIQUET
cover by BRANDON GRAHAM
variant cover by RYAN SOOK
So appraently, joining the Suicide Squad was not quite the sure path to career rehabilitation Irwin Schwab thought it would be. Tired of having his bit bit by every two-bit bum, the former Ambush Bug and his sidekick Cheeks ended up stewn about as so much gory viscera and 100% pure polyester fiber stuffing. But Amanda Waller isn’t one to waste good material. The Wall selects Tyson Aikens to be her attitudinal assassin, a personal teleporting wetworks service. But see, there’s this little voice in his head telling him to go another way. What conscience? No stupid, there’s a literal voice– the utterly insane ghost of Irwin Schwab, and it’s screwing with Tyson’s body count!
ON SALE 06.17.20
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ATOMIC KNIGHTS #1
written by CHUCK DIXON
art by GRAHAM NOLAN
Sgt. Gardner Grayle, as the “statistically average soldier,” was subjected to a bizarre experiment which offered him a computer-enhanced delusion of a post-apocalyptic future. The project triggered in Grayle latent ESP abilities, but its end left him without a purpose. Now, in a world left far more vulnerable in the absence of a Justice League, it’s up to soldiers like Grayle to protect us here on the ground from enhanced beings and technology falling into the wrong hands.
The Greek terrorist Nikos Aegeus possesses supernatural weapons of myth that threaten our safety. Employing their own modest, real world enhancements, Grayle and his fellow “Atomic Knights” are our best defense! Or are they, given their secret benefactors in the clandestine organization SKULL, and their ailing teammate Albert Michaels has already been compromised by their machinations? Will the Atomic Knights prove a greater threat than those they oppose?
ON SALE 06.24.20
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You guys really hate the Justice League, huh?
Great ideas Frank!
Re: Adam Strange. I really liked your “Zeta Beam Victim” idea, bouncing poor Adam from one cosmic calamity to the next. With that in mind, I’d add an extra little nuance to that idea – one that plays on the “Strange” bit of his name.
PITCH: Adam Strange is the mysterious Earthman who appears randomly across the galaxy, lending a helping hand at the moment of a planet’s greatest crisis, then disappearing as quickly as he arrived. In short, he’s become a cosmic version of The Phantom Stranger.
The peripatetic nature of his adventures would lend itself to rotating – or constantly changing – art teams.
Great show; reminds me of a feature in early 80s UK fanzine Chain Reactions called Do It Right! wherein someone would take a property and, uh, do it right as they saw fit. I think we’ve all at some time reimagined a character or group – I have a take on Batman and the Outsiders that’s been bubbling around in my brain since that comic was first announced sometime in ’82.
This time I especially enjoyed Ryan’s re-invention of Aquaman and Atlantis, and all the connective tissue with Arion, Atari Force and Aquagirl, and his idea for Ambush Bug vs DC Universe.
I’m looking forward to the show continuing and further fantastic takes on the Who’s Who of DC characters.
I got a kick out of most of your ideas. I did nave one that was pretty far afield of what you suggested for Apokolis though. My thought was to have the various minions of Darkseid appear in a dark spoof of soap operas, sort of what the the Carol Burnett show did, but much, MUCH darker. And of course the title would be – As the World Burns. I really liked how McDonnell did the Furies when they appeared in Suicide Squad so if he could do the art, that’d be sweet.
Contract sent to your house.
This is a great idea for a show- I’m a huge fan of world building on the fly. I wasn’t to play!
I want to play-
ARCANE ASYLUM #1
written by DAVE WIELGOSZ
art by SUMIT KUMAR
cover by KYLE HOTZ
Despite the best intentions and efforts of the state, Arkham Asylum is best known as the temporary holding place for the criminally insane of Gotham… at least until their next escape and reign of terror. In the absence of the Justice League, Batman and his allies are even more strained than usual, protecting a much wider territory. Arkham is curiously quiet in this time of upheaval, perhaps because they face a more pressing concern within its walls than without. The new chief psychiatrist is far more than he seems– a meat sack disguising the mind and spirit of Anton Arcane! Dark magics and mad science are visited upon the very special patients housed at Arkham, as Arcane pursues power and immortality through abominable acts. Can the inmates of this Arcane Asylum be saved from its deprivations, and what will they become in the process?
ON SALE 06.03.20
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AMETHYST OF GEMWORLD #1
written by MARGUERITE BENNETT
art and cover by ARIEL KRISTANTINA & JEEYON KIM
card stock variant cover by LAVERINNE
Amy Winston is ten years old. She loves her purple My Precious Unicorn backpack, but the school says she has to use a clear plastic one since the shooting. The popular girls say she’s got potential, but if she doesn’t help them destroy her best friend Ty on social media, she’s next on their list. At home, Amy doesn’t know why her parents seem so distant towards her, compared to her younger siblings. She doesn’t seem to fit in her own family. Daddy’s started acting weird when they’re alone together.
“Princess” Amethyst would be about twenty by now. A bit of an old maid by Gemworld standards, but some duke or lesser prince would still gift her a few heirs. People still chatter about the unavenged massacre of her house, so even contested claims have some modest value for political leverage. Anything to get into the conversation.
Amy just wanted a fantasy land to escape into, but becoming Amethyst means she’s got a whole other kind of reality to confront. She’ll have to find her own way in these spaces that try to tell her who she’s going to be for them. Whether as Amy or Amethyst, she’ll have to figure out what she’s really made of, but trust that she’s got the stones…
ON SALE 06.24.20
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ANIMAL-MAN #1
written by DAVID BARNETT
art by JESSE HAMM
cover by MATTHEW LESNIEWSKI
variant cover by AARON KUDER
Another race comes along to take over for us. The girl is attractive and bright. She’ll make a great pet. With this pedigree, the woman is worth keeping for breeding, at least until she’s spent. The boy is ugly and dim. Cut it into quarters for meat. The man needs to be found. It will make trouble if it isn’t handled quickly.
Was there an invasion? Is this really happening, or is it a delusion? A vision of the future? Where are the other super-humans? This can’t all be on Buddy Baker, can it? He’s just the Animal-Man…
ON SALE 06.24.20
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ARAK #1
written by RICHARD VAN CAMP
art by MARCO CASTIELLO and DANNY MIKI
cover by TOM RANEY
Clash from the past! Hawkman and Hawkwoman wage war against the Lord Beyond the Void in a desperate bid to escape his realm! Once the god to whom Hawkman answered, now his mortal enemy—the Lord hates the hero Hawkman has become and will stop at nothing to drain his life force away and put an end to his reincarnations for good!
ON SALE 06.10.20
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ATOMIC #1
written by TOM KING
art and cover by RAGS MORALES
The state wasn’t deep enough. The highest levels of government have been compromised by grifters and foreign agents. The outgoing president’s interim Secretary of State Angelo Bend is treating a nuke deal with Kahndaq like his personal severence package. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been gifted to the Symbolix Corporation for a pandemic “cure” that’s never been adequately tested. The Russians need to be taught a lesson, but Task Force X would end up starting World War III. All the while, Checkmate sits on their hands, acting as if everything is fine.
No one can know the C.B.I. Has reached out to Ray Palmer. He’s a good man who can be trusted to keep a secret and quietly remove an unwanted player. But his new role gives him access to questions the agency doesn’t want answers to. Like the death of Mary Pratt during childbirth. Like Terry Kurtzberger’s benefitting from with Operation Paperclip. Like who really paid Slade Wilson for the attempted murder of Ryan Choi.
This is big– too big for Ray Palmer alone. He’ll need to bring in his own trusted ones. The C.B.I. never expected the investigations to go this deep, and no one goes deeper than The Atom.
ON SALE 06.03.20
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ATARI FORCE #1
written by SCOTT SNYDER
art by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPION
card stock foil cover by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPION
1:25 variant cover by DOUG MAHNKE
1:100 black and white variant cover by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPION
From BATMAN to DARK NIGHTS: METAL, you’ve thrilled to the most radest creative team in the history of all the comics! Now watch your genitals erupt into something resembling corned beef hash drowning in ketchup and mayonnaise as these insane sons of bitches take on all of your favorite Atari heroes! Commander Champion! Agent X! Meebzork! Major Havoc! Charley Chuck! Frisky Tom! And the Swordquest twins Tarra and Torr! Do we still have a piece of Alone In the Dark? Nah? Dag! You’ll be as insane as Raputin after entering the tempest of mind-bending multiversal mayhem across space and time battling Yar, Zachary Graves, Centipede, the Zylons, Millipedes, and Asteroids with a capitol “ASS!” And also, fuck it, we got Auron in this shit, dawg! We gotcha, wolf pack! Your missile command will breakout into pong over this one, bro! Don’t miss the debut chapter of the wildest ride in the Atari U-Verse, from the epic team of writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo! Dude!
ON SALE 06.10.20
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I forgot to write the copy for Arak. Uhh, how about…
In the Dark Ages, vikings carried away a North American Native child to raise as one of their own. They didn’t know that he was touched by divinity, or that they would be the second tribe from which Arak would be the sole survivor. In his short life, the bodies were already piling up. Even when the Old World was new, Arak could see this land was haunted by restless spirits. He lives in-between continents and cultures, between the lands of the living and dead. Decrepit deities starved for believers, creatures of the supernatural, survivors of fading myth, and zealots who make up for mystical deficiencies with material torture– all will cross the path of the warrior shaman. When he draws back his tomahawk, they will know why he is called the Son of Thunder!
For something you seem to throw away off-hand, it’s actually quite good.
Also, you did write copy for Arak, but it seems to be about Hawkman.
Atari Force sounds like all Bat-dick, all the time.
I literally copy-&-pasted recent text for a month’s worth of DC Comics solicitations into a (sadly) spellcheck-disabled word document. I just pick a book’s copy, then plug any of my changes in. You can tell the degree of my investment in a pitch by whether I bother to add my own creative team, or just leave the one from the base copy. Actually, I did spend a lot of time trying to find a generic action force drawn by Graham Nolan, but that was more because I had misplaced confidence that I could find something. I embarrassingly cracked myself up with the Atari Force copy. After I realized Atari’s IP was more bankrupt than the company, I just throttled up the meathead histrionics of Metal copy until I was giddy over the level of stupidity I’d managed to descend to. Something about the italicized and in “ketchup and mayonnaise” slayed myself, so of course I missed coding it here. It only takes a little research to see why these concepts worked when they did well enough to rate a Who’s Who entry. But then Arak becomes Telos in Convergence and you’re glad Dan Didio is out of work all over again.
It’s hard to find a more pointless decision, isn’t it?
AQUAGIRL #1
Written by ANNA OBROPTA and LOUISE SIMONSON
Art & cover by BRET BLEVINS
During ATLANTIS, it fell to Lorena Marquez to protect Dolphin and Cerdian from Orm’s coup. Later in her role as Sea-Shifter, and powered by the sacrifice of Atlan, Lorena resurrected Aquaman. Today, Tempest instructs Aquagirl in the use of her power to merge sealife into new creatures of her design. But Emperor Orm’s posturing has the world on edge, and sometimes it seems like Aquaman prefers his roguish existence leaping across the spires of Poseidonis over being a super-hero. Despite the revelations about her heritage, Lorena grew up like any girl from San Diego, and Atlantis isn’t her natural home. Can she find acceptance in a greater world that fears and hates the threat her adoptive country poses? Will Deep Blue help her find out?
ON SALE 05.27.20
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES
FC | DC
OFFERED AGAIN
TULA TP
written by FIONA AVERY
art by TODD NAUCK
cover by GEORGE PÉREZ
Everyone remembers the moment when Tula choked to death in the poisoned waters of Chemo. The schoolgirls still mockingly chant “Tula died and Garth cried,” as a warning to those who would adventure with “The King Who Wasn’t.” But who was Tula before she was just another tragedy of Atlantis? What of the charity work of the “Princess of Poseidonis” with her best friend Selena? Or wild nights of hidden discovery on the outskirts of Tritonis with Ulla Paske? Her secret therapy sessions with Dr. Lisa Morel, both to combat her failing abilities and her PTSD from the brief reign of Narkran? Most importantly, the mysterious man she meets in the Gulf of Mexico who can do things with marine life that haunts her. Tula’s lost life and legacy will ultimately shape the future of Atlantis! Collects 2006’s Tula: Water, Swim Through Me #1-6. Offered again ahead of the upcoming AQUAGIRL ongoing series!
ON SALE 07.29.20
$16.99 US | 160 PAGES
FC | ISBN: 978-1-4012-9965-1
ATLANTIS OMNIBUS HC
written by GEOFF JOHNS, GRANT MORRISON, TOM PEYER and MARK WAID
art by JOE BENNETT, CHRIS BATISTA, KEN LASHLEY, SHAWN MOLL, TODD NAUCK, EDDY BARROWS, DALE EAGLESHAM, PATRICK OLLIFFE, DREW JOHNSON, GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI, PHIL JIMENEZ, TOM DERENICK, JOE PRADO, DAN JURGENS, JAMAL IGLE, ANDY SMITH, DARICK ROBERTSON, JUSTINIANO and others
cover by BILL SIENKIEWICZ
”As addictive as any good TV series, any good dark fantasy novel series, any good comic book series.” — ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY ”Gripping.” — THE WASHINGTON POST ”A compelling, epic story that wound up saving the world five times over.” — NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
After INFINITE CRISIS, Atlantis has nearly been destroyed by The Spectre, and Aquaman’s crown has never rested heavier upon his head. Sensing blood in the water, Ocean Master strikes a fatal blow, completing a prophesy dating back to pre-history. Claiming Mera as his mad bride and a new role as Emperor, Ocean Master will raise Atlantis, not to mention the wrathful spirits of every person ever to die in the sea. So begins a metaphysical meltdown that threatens the globe, as ghost pirates carve the flesh of the magically vulnerable, and sorcery reigns over technology. The millennia old mage Arion returns to seek out the spirit of the former king, but reunited with his son and freed from his burdens, will the former Aquaman even want to return to the land of the living?
This massive hardcover collects the entire year-long run of the weekly series ATLANTIS!
ON SALE 09.02.20
$150.00 US | 1,216 PAGES
FC | 7.0625” x 10.875”
ISBN: 978-1-77950-551-4
AQUAMAN: HERE COMES YOUR MAN TP
written by ADAM BEECHEN and ETHAN VAN SCIVER
art & cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER
Bald and badly bruised in a new body based on his deceased son’s, Arthur is among the fighters captured and imprisoned in Poseidonis following the epic conclusion of ATLANTIS. Merged with a concentration of innumerable sea life, Arthur has powers even he hasn’t discovered yet, and a new mission. But first, he must test his abilities to break free and stealthily stalk the royal palace for one final night with his fallen queen. Next, he joins the resistance in a new world order where Poseidonis is only half-submerged, and its ominous presence casts a shadow of oppression across the ocean and upon neighboring lands. Can the risen Atlantis’ sorcery protect it from a nuclear response, and will Arthur accept a leadership role so soon after casting off his crown? The bold new direction that inspired the blockbuster Warner Brothers film starring Zac Efron! Reprints Aquaman (2007) #1-6.
ON SALE 07.15.20
$17.99 US | 144 PAGES
FC | ISBN: 978-1-77950-321-3
Fun show with some really creative ideas. Loved Siskoid’s Atari Force idea (full disclosure: I run an Atari Force themed art group & blog). Artist Kasey Quevedo did a mini fan comic a while back (https://www.kcqillustrations.net/#/atariforce/) that re-imagines the concept in a similar fashion.
P.S.: You can’t have enough Abel in your comic line.
That’s lovely!