ARCHAIA ENTERTAINMENT

It’s the last Digital Wednesday of August 2012, and Archaia and comiXology are teaming up to bring you adventure, sci-fi, and mystery! Just like every week, we are making great Archaia titles just a click away. Want to read one of our comics before it comes out in print? Well now you can, with Archaia’s Digital First comics—titles that are available digitally before their print edition’s release—only available at comiXology. 

Digital Firsts Titles for Aug. 29

Space: 1999 - Classics Remastered, Part 2:
Writer: Andrew E. C. Gaska and Various
Artists: Various

A carefully selected body of original Space: 1999 comics from the 1970s, Space: 1999 - Classics is a celebration of the series that not only looks back in retro nostalgia—but also forward to the future of this dynamic space epic. After suffering the loss of Victor Bergman, Paul Morrow, and David Kano, John Koenig and Moonbase Alpha find themselves at the mercy of an alien mastermind and a biological computer, named PSYCHE, that eats minds. Their only hope is to appeal to the mercy of a madman’s daughter, a shapeshifting young woman called Maya, and convince her of her father’s sinister plan!

This is a two-part adaptation of the season two episode of Space: 1999, “The Metamorph,” expanded to include both new and cut dialogue, and utilizing the remastered art of comics legend Gray Morrow! Within these pages are not simply reprints, but remastered works, most in color for the first time. With respect to the intent and spirit of the original body of work, these comics have been enhanced and clarified within both the story and art, in order to bring these Alphan adventures more in line with both the established continuity of the original Space: 1999 original televised series and the new graphic novel series.

In Part 2 of this space adventure, Maya has chosen to confront her father about PSYCHE, but her father refuses to see reason. Now an alien among people she doesn’t know, Maya joins Koenig and his crew, but did Maya make the right choice? What adventures await her and the crew as they continue on their journey?

Other Digital Releases for Aug. 29:

The Dare Detectives! Vol. 1: The Snow Pea Plot, Part 7:
Writer/artist: Ben Caldwell

Reformed crook Maria Dare has assembled a team of misfits to crack the world’s weirdest cases! They have brains…they have guts…but they don’t have a clue! And in their first adventure, the Dare Detectives are finished! Rent’s due and their license is suspended, but Dare’s going-out-of-business festivities are interrupted by Madame Bleu—whose abominable snowmen pets are on a chef-stealing, radio-robbing, snowpea-swiping crime wave! Dare races against the clock to hunt down Madame Bleu with the help of corrupt cops and Chinatown’s old crime boss. But can these bunglers really prevent the most audacious—and inexplicably convoluted—crime of the century?

In Part 7 of this crimefighting tale, Madame Bleu reveals that Mr. White warned her that The Dare Detectives and the cops would be coming…she prepared ahead of time for their appearance at her villain party. Furious, George is there working on a machine that, coupled with Bleu’s ring, would freeze the entire city. The Dare Detectives must fight to try and save the city from its frosty future, but will they succeed or will this just be another failure?

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller Vol. 1, Complete: 
Creator: Jim Henson
Writers:  Katie Cook, Colleen Coover, Nate Cosby, Chris Eliopoulos, Roger Langridge, Marjorie Liu, Ron Marz, Jeff Parker and Paul Tobin
Artists: Ronan Cliquet, Katie Cook, Colleen Coover, Tom Fowler, Roger Langridge, Mike Maihack, Jennifer L. Meyer, Craig Rousseau and Evan Shaner

The much-loved, live-action/puppet combination TV show is now a graphic novel series! Archaia and The Jim Henson Company are proud to present ALL-NEW tales of fantastic wonder and extraordinary myth, as told from the tongue of The Storyteller and his loyal canine companion! Witness worded wonderment from a cavalcade of craft creators, including Roger Langridge (The Muppet Show comic, Thor the Mighty Avenger), Marjorie Liu (Black Widow), Ron Marz (Green Lantern, Artifacts), Jeff Parker (Thor,Thunderbolts), Francesco Francavilla (Detective Comics), Chris Eliopoulos (Franklin Richards) and Janet K. Lee (Return of the Dapper Men). Plus: a never-before-seen story adapted from a screenplay by The Storyteller’s original author, Academy Award® winner Anthony Minghella (The English Patient).

The complete volume is now available on comiXology. 

The Grand Duke, Part 6:
Writer: Yann
Artist: Romain Hugault

The Eastern Front during WWII: Oberleutnant Wulf, a young Luftwaffe pilot, is horrified by Nazi barbarism and at odds with his fellow pilots, even as he finds himself taking to the skies to fight the infamous “Night Witches”—the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, the most decorated female unit in the Soviet Air Force. Motivated only by his desire to return home to his daughter, Romy, Wulf tries to survive the increasingly desperate and ferocious Eastern Front, while Lilya, the “Red Witch,” leads her comrades against the German invaders. A Romeo-and-Juliet story set against the backdrop of WWII aerial dogfights.

In part 6 of our story, both Lilya and Wulf make it to their respected bases only to learn they are no longer trusted. Given impossible missions or sent away, they both must do their best as the war finally draws to a close.

Archaia is celebrating the Fourth of July with more digital releases! Just like every Digital Wednesday, Archaia and comiXology are bringing your favorite comics straight to you! That’s right, you can get your favorite graphic novels in a digital format, including our exclusive line of digital first comics. That means you can check out some of Archaia’s hottest new comics before they’re printed! This week’s lineup gives you a large dose of adventure! 

DIGITAL FIRST RELEASES:

Hopeless, Maine Vol 1, part 4: 

Being Hopeless isn’t just a state of mind.

Trapped on an island off the coast of Maine, the people of Hopeless find life a little darker and more dangerous with every day that passes. The number of orphans rises continually, but who can say what happens to their parents? Plenty of the bodies are never found. This is not the stuff of happy, careless childhoods, it is instead fertile ground for personal demons. In Hopeless, the demons are not always abstract concepts. Some of them have very real teeth, and very real horns.

It’s a peculiar place. Here, almost anything can happen, from the weird and unsettling to the darkly funny. With a cast of freaks, nutters and the odd power crazed psychopath, life in Hopeless is seldom dull.

Hopeless is also about who you choose to be. The tale is a protest against apathy, and against the small evils that everyone takes for granted. The worst monsters frequently aren’t the ones with the obvious teeth – who are merely dangerous by nature – but the apparently ordinary people who choose to do hideous things. Written and illustrated by Tom and Nimue Brown.

Mouse Guard: The Black Axe #5:

David Petersen’s Eisner Award-winning MOUSE GUARD returns with The Black Axe, the third volume of this fantastic series. Set in 1115, this prequel to Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 fulfills the promise the wise oldfur Celanawe made to Lieam the day his paw first touched the Black Axe: to tell the young warrior about the mouse who first wielded the deadly weapon. The arrival of distant kin takes Celanawe on an adventure that will carry him across the sea to uncharted waters and lands, all while unraveling the legend of Farrer, the blacksmith who forged the mythic Black Axe. 

The Grand Duke, part 4:

The Eastern Front during WWII: Oberleutnant Wulf, a young Luftwaffe pilot, is horrified by Nazi barbarism and at odds with his fellow pilots, even as he finds himself taking to the skies to fight the infamous “Night Witches” — the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, the most decorated female unit in the Soviet Air Force. Motivated only by his desire to return home to his daughter, Romy, Wulf tries to survive the increasingly desperate and ferocious Eastern Front, while Lilya, the “Red Witch,” leads her comrades against the German invaders. A Romeo-and-Juliet story set against the backdrop of WWII aerial dogfights. Written by Yann and illustrated by Romain Hugault.

DIGITAL RELEASES:

Cow Boy, Part 3:

“Justice ain’t got no age.”

Nate Cosby (Pigs, Jim Henson’s The Storyteller) and Chris Eliopoulos (Franklin Richards, Misery Loves Sherman) present Cow Boy, the all-ages story of a young bounty hunter determined to send his entire outlaw family to jail. He travels the Old West on a horse that ain’t his, and won’t stop til every one’a his kin’s in the clink.

The Dare Detectives!, Vol. 1, Part 5:

Reformed crook Maria Dare has assembled a team of misfits to crack the world’s weirdest cases! They have brains…they have guts…but they don’t have a clue! And in their first adventure, the Dare Detectives are finished! Rent’s due and their license is suspended, but Dare’s going-out-of-business festivities are interrupted by Madame Bleu—whose abominable snowmen pets are on a chef-stealing, radio-robbing, snowpea-swiping crime wave! Dare races against the clock to hunt down Madame Bleu with the help of corrupt cops and Chinatown’s old crime boss. But can these bunglers really prevent the most audacious—and inexplicably convoluted—crime of the century? Written and illustrated by Ben Caldwell.

Everlast, Part 4:

A pre-apocalyptic tale written by Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill), Everlast follows Derek Everlast, a man whose destiny in life is guiding others to a place of rebirth for mankind called Haven. Following an instinct called the Nudge, bestowed on him by a higher power, Derek is guided to the next chosen human destined to survive, a little girl named Melissa. In a harrowing adventure, he must deliver her safely to Haven before the End of Days. Everlast tells a story of choice, love, friendship, and, most of all, survival.

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, Part 3:

The much-loved, live-action/puppet combination TV show is now a graphic novel series! Archaia and The Jim Henson Company are proud to present ALL-NEW tales of fantastic wonder and extraordinary myth, as told from the tongue of The Storyteller and his loyal canine companion! Witness worded wonderment from a cavalcade of craft creators, including Roger Langridge (The Muppet Show comic, Thor the Mighty Avenger), Marjorie Liu (Black Widow), Ron Marz (Green Lantern, Artifacts), Jeff Parker (Thor,Thunderbolts), Francesco Francavilla (Detective Comics), Chris Eliopoulos (Franklin Richards) and Janet K. Lee (Return of the Dapper Men). Plus: a never-before-seen story adapted from a screenplay by The Storyteller’s original author, Academy Award® winner Anthony Minghella (The English Patient

Until next Wednesday!

Everyone at Archaia would like to wish our fans here in the States a Happy Independence Day, and hope you all have a great week, regardless of what country you are in! Make sure you check out our newest digital releases every Wednesday!