ARCHAIA ENTERTAINMENT

Welcome to August! We would like to celebrate the first day of the month by making sure you are the first to get a glimpse of our newest Digital First title,Space: 1999 Classics Remembered! Archaia and comiXology have continued to team up and are glad to bring you more exciting titles, as well as some complete volumes! 

Digital Firsts: Titles That Are Available Digitally Before the Print Edition’s Release

Space: 1999 Classics Remastered, part 1:
Writer: Andrew Gaska and Various
Artists: Various

Reprinting the best of the Charlton Comics series, the British LOOK-IN issues and Annuals, The German Zack Issues, and the Italian AMZ stories from the mid 1970s, these editions will feature restored and recolored art, showcasing the work by such comics luminaries as Gray Morrow, John Byrne, and Joe Staton. The restoration project, designed to return the original art to its former glory through the digital retouching of the actual printed comic pages, will be executed by a team led by Vanguard Production’s senior restoration artist, BLAM!s own creative director Andrew E. C. Gaska. Gaska has worked on several of Vanguard’s restored art books in this fashion, and these volumes have received critical acclaim in preserving the past of comic and pulp art. The same techniques will be applied here. 

But these will not be straight reprints, these will be remastered. The art will be corrected where the ships were drawn wrong, and character likenesses will be altered as well to fit the continuity (and legality) better. Finally, the written stories will be remastered as well—essentially, taking the same premise of each story and updating them to appeal to an adult 1999 audience while maintaining the spirit of the originals.

Other Archaia Digital Releases:

Black Charity, Complete
Writer/Artist: Bal Speer

A dark, cynical thriller set in the urban UK. When Charlie moves into his new flat, he meets a colorful array of new characters, including a dominatrix and a skinhead yabo, witnesses a murder, and finds himself on the run from assassins and fixers sent by the highest levels of government. Shades of Howard Chaykin’s Black Kiss and the hard-boiled style of 100 Bullets, all with a very British (as in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels British) accent.

Everlast, Complete
Writer: Chad Michael Murray
Artists: Danijel Zezelj, Robbi Rodriguez, J.K. Woodward, Andrew Huerta, Trevor Hairsine

A pre-apocalyptic tale, 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. Will you be chosen?

Hopeless, Maine Vol 1, Complete
Writer: Nimue Brown
Artist: Tom Brown

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 everyday 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.

The island has been isolated for a very long time. Partly because of being small and forgotten, partly because the rocks and currents do not encourage visitors, Hopeless is surrounded by fog and overrun with nightmarish creatures, from small things with tentacles to demons and vampires. 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.

Cow Boy, part 4
Writer: Nate Cosby
Artist: Chris Eliopoulos

Justice ain’t got no age. 

‘COW BOY’ is 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. In part four of our tale, Boyd heads past the border to turn in his no good brother Zeke. Join Boyd and his horse as they try to get justice the only way they know how. 

The Dare Detectives Vol. 1: The Snow Pea Plot, part 6
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?

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, part 4
Creator: Jim Henson
Artist/Writers: Roger Langridge, Marjorie Liu, Ron Marz, Jeff Parker, Francesco Francavilla, Chris Eliopoulos, Janet K. Lee

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! Part four of the Storyteller is an adaptation by “The Witch Baby,” based on the unproduced Storyteller teleplay written by Anthony Minghella, Susan Kodieck, and Anne Mountfield. It has been realized here by Nate Cosby, Roman Cliquet, and Adam Street.

The Grand Duke, part 5
Writer:
Artist: Romain Hugault and Yann

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

Join us next week! We will have the exciting new chapters for City in the Desert, Last Days of an Immortal and Mumbai Confidential!

Just a friendly reminder that Thursday, July 26 is the deadline to let your local comic book shop know if you’d like to order a bundle of Cow Boy: Hallows  mini-comics to give away on Halloween! The mini-comic, written by Nate Cosby and illustrated by Chris Eliopoulos, contains an original story you won’t get anywhere else and the best part is, it’s only $4.99 for a bundle of 25! You can find more information at this link. For now, check out the cover and the first two pages, all colored and lettered!

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! 

Archaia and other publishers are once again teaming up with our distributor, Diamond Comics, to offer an alternative to give away to trick-or-treaters this Halloween. Instead of candy, why not encourage reading by giving out a 5.25” x 8.25” mini-comic instead! Or, okay, a mini-comic with the candy!
 
On pgs. 28-29 of this month’s Previews magazine, you’ll notice the ad for the Halloween Mini Bundles. For $4.99, you can buy a bundle of 25 mini-comics from your local comic book shop that you can give away to trick-or-treaters on Halloween!
 
Our mini-comic offering comes courtesy of Cow Boy creators Nate Cosby and Chris Eliopoulos! This is an original story created exclusively for this mini-comic! Titled: Cow Boy: Hallow’s, the story is an account of Cow Boy 10-year-old protagonist Boyd Linney’s run-in with that famed gunslinger, Billy the Kid. Here’s the official solicitation:
 
COW BOY: HALLOW’S
One-shot (Halloween Ashcan)
Retail Price: $4.99 for a bundle of 25
Page Count: 16 pages
Format: staple bound, 5.25” x 8.25”, full color
Genre: Western
Ship Date: September 2012
Country: U.S.
Written by Nate Cosby
Illustrated by Chris Eliopoulos
Cover by Chris Eliopoulos 
Rating: All Ages
Synopsis: All y’all step right up for the showdown of their century: Cow Boy vs. Billy the Kid!!! From the acclaimed team of Nate Cosby (Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, Pigs) and Eisner Award-nominated Chris Eliopoulos (Franklin Richards, Misery Loves Sherman) comes an all-new Cow Boy yarn from Archaia Entertainment, just in time for Halloween!
 
You can order this only through your local comic shop, so be sure to pre-order it this month! Let them know the Diamond Order Code is JUL12 0009. Supplies are limited so make sure you let them know as soon as possible to reserve your bundle!
 
Below is the cover and two uncolored pages for you to take a peek at. 
 
Happy Early Halloween!

Archaia and Comixology are working together to give you the latest issues of your favorite comics in a digital format!  Good news, right?  Well, it gets even better!  Not only can you get digital issues of the graphic novels you already know and love, but with our “digital first” line-up you can get titles before they’re printed!

Today’s digital releases include rootin’-tootin’ cowboys, high-flying pilots, cursed pirates, and more!

DIGITAL FIRST RELEASES

CURSED PIRATE GIRL #2 - Jeremy Bastian

Ahoy, landlubbers!  The Cursed Pirate Girl is on the search for her lost father, one of the dreaded Pirate Captains of the mythical Omerta Seas!  This swashbuckling adventure starts in Port Elisabeth, Jamaica, in the year 1728, and will take her on and under the high seas as she faces the strange and sensational creatures of the deep!
 
THE GRAND DUKE #3 - Romain Hugault, Yann

Set in the Eastern Front during WWII, the young Luftwaffe pilot Oberleutnant Wulf is disgusted by Nazi barbarism and at odds with his fellow pilots, even as he takes to the skies to fight the “Night Witches”—the 588^th 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.

HOPELESS, MAINE: PERSONAL DEMONS #3 - Tom and Nimue Brown

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? In Hopeless, the demons are not always abstract concepts. Some of them have very real teeth, and very real horns.

OTHER DIGITAL RELEASES:

BLACK CHARITY #3 - Bal Speer

When Charlie moves into his new flat in urban Britain, he’s only trying to get over his girlfriend.  He certainly isn’t expecting to meet a dominatrix and a skinhead yabo, or witness a murder that has him on the run from assassins and fixers sent from the highest levels of government!

COW BOY #2 - Nate Cosby, Chris Eliopoulos

Ten-year-old Boyd is a young bounty hunter determined to bring his no-good, yella-bellied family to jail.  He travels the Old West on a horse that ain’t his, and he won’t stop ‘til every one’a his kin’s in the clink!

DARE DETECTIVES: SNOW PEA PLOT #4 - 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 haven’t got a clue!  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!

EVERLAST #3 - Chad Michael Murray

A pre-apocalyptic tale, 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 upon him by a higher power, Derek is guided to the next chosen human destined to survive, a little girl named Melissa, who he must deliver safely to Haven before the End of Days.

STORYTELLER #2 

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 crafty creators, including Roger Langridge, Marjorie Liu, Ron Marz, Jeff Parker, Francesco Francavilla, J.L. Meyer , Tom Fowler, Chris Eliopoulos, Colleen Coover , Janet Lee and many more!

Cow Boy is an all-ages title that packs quite an emotional wallop!  What sort of difficulties did you face in writing a comic that appeals to kids, but catches the attention of adults as well?

I’m (sort of) an adult now, but I’m pretty good at accessing my childhood memories, remembering what I liked, and what I didn’t. I sort of use my memories as a guide, and realize lots of the stuff I enjoyed back then worked on several levels, not just as surface entertainment. Rich, layered storytelling can excite anyone, no matter their age, as long as you make the audience understand the emotions and stakes of the characters.

There are some mighty heavy themes in Cow Boy, particularly about family ties and the idea of justice.  What was your inspiration for the comic, and what kind of message do you want to send to readers?

Boyd’s story is specifically his own, but behind that there’s plenty of underlying things that have to do with the journey from childhood-to-adulthood, and all the weird, strange feelings that come with aging. You’re becoming your own person, forming opinions, all while listening to adults around you and not being sure that everything they’re telling you is “right.” Boyd’s got a heightened version of this, in that everyone he knew growing up were outlaws. So at a very young age he’s decided that whatever he is, he’s NOT like his family. And his interpretation of “justice” is still forming, as he continues to round up his kin.

Boyd’s family is quite the cavalcade of troublemakers.  Where do you get the ideas for family members?

Mostly from my own family, or people I knew growing up with in Mississippi. No one in my family is an outlaw, but I like to cast the personalities (and sometimes the real names) of people I know well…it makes the characters more “real” to me, adds a texture that I hope shines through in the story. Boyd’s grandad is very similar to how my grandad was, his brother’s a lot like one of my cousins, etc.

Could you tell us a bit about your process for creating a page/writing a chapter?

I wrote the first chapter as a single-issue 22-page comic. I had literally no plot, no plan, just thought “I wanna write a Western” and I got to writing. After I showed Chris and he liked it, my process evolved, because everything after that is fully informed by the way Boyd talks and acts in that chapter. After that, I would write each chapter out long-form in my notebook, with very bare scene descriptions, but pretty much finished dialogue.

Then I’d hand it over to Chris, and he’d make magic. I started very descriptive in my initial scripts, but when you have such an amazing storyteller like Chris on art, it’s in your best interest to give him lots of breathing room to do his own thing. 

What’s your favorite part of making a comic?

The initial spark of an idea. That kernel of a concept that won’t get out of your head, distracts you from other projects you should be working on, to the point that you HAVE to write it down and tell your friends about it. I absolutely love the process of actually writing, editing, making the book…but that first spark is just the best.

Could you give us a hint of what’s to come for Boyd?

Boyd’s got a BIG family, and they’re ALL bad news. His journey is going to take him all across the American Wild West and beyond. Not all of his missions will be successful, and he’s going to encounter plenty of enemies along the way…but just like in life, there’ll be moments of joy and happiness, and maybe even longer down the line, a little bit of peace. 

Were you a troublemaker growing up?

I grew up a good little Christian boy, but even so I got into my fair share of trouble. I just have a tendency to find trouble and/or adventure. 

Did you ever want to be a cowboy when you were a kid?

Growing up in Mississippi, I always had access to farmland, animals, nature. I love being outside, phone turned off, getting my hands dirty on a project. So yeah, being a cowboy crossed my mind a few times. :)

Click here for more info and a preview of Cow Boy.