Comics / Press Releases

Dynamite Announcements From Emerald City Comicon

By News Editor
March 4, 2013 - 19:58

Dynamite Entertainment Founder Nick Barrucci brought a who’s who of comic book talent to the Emerald City Comicon this weekend. Among those in attendance were Matt Wagner, Mark Waid, Brandon Jerwa, Robert Napton, Chris Roberson, Ron Marz, Mark Rahner, Eric Trautman, cover artist Francesco Francavilla and newly announced Red Sonja writer Gail Simone.

The first issue of the new ongoing series will feature the work of an all-female group of artists, inlcuding Nicola Scott, Colleen Doran, Jenny Frisson, Stephanie Buscema and Fiona Staples.

“You’re definitely going to find humor,” Simone said. “I wouldn’t say Red Sonja’s funny herself, but she does have a couple of tomboy twins that feel it’s their duty to protect her at all times – as if she needed it.”

Writer Mark Waid spoke of his upcoming Green Hornet book, which will feature the 1940-era Green Hornet. His story will follow the continuity established by the radio show, while at the same time launching out of the Green Hornet history set up in Matt Wagner’s Green Hornet: Year One series.

Writer Ron Marz promoted several projects including Prophecy for Dynamite, as well as an original graphic novel Ravine from Image. He is also writing The Protectors with Chicago Bears’ defensive lineman Israel Idonije. It will be published by Idonije's Athleta Comics.

Francisco Francavilla was introduced by Barrucci as the artist who “is in steep competition with Alex Ross for the most monthly Dynamite covers.” Francavilla is also working on his own creation, the Black Beetle, for Dark Horse and is slated to work on Hawkeye for Marvel Comics.

Chris Roberson commented on his current series, Masks, which features pulp heroes such as The Shadow, the Spider and the Green Hornet. “As a fan of those heroes since childhood, it just made sense that those guys would bump into each other,” he said.

Barrucci explained that each character is owned by a different company and it took more than two years to get the rights. He said that The Shadow was a key element, so once they got his rights, it was all downhill from there.

Barrucci hopes to do more in the Masks universe, and has also been talking to Roberson about another character they hope to get in another year or so, and are excited by the prospects.

Fan reaction to the series has been fervent, even when The Shadow beat up Kato in the story. Wagner said, “Well, in that group, he’s like Superman.”

Meanwhile, Wagner’s Shadow: Year One miniseries has been expanded from eight to 10 issues.

Of Kirby: Genesis Barrucci said “‘Kirby: Genesis’ had a great story, but my excitement for it had us put out two spinoffs right away, and that hurt sales with retailers. When we bring it back, I want to bring it back as solid as possible with as many sales as possible," Barrucci said. He echoed the same commitment to SuperPowers, saying “We just want to make sure we bring it back right. Because, it is a universe of characters – it’s a universe we love. This is going to be our third outing with it, and if we don’t get it right this time, or if we don’t make it as big as possible, we can’t do it anymore.”

Jerwa offered some words of praise to Barrucci and Dynamite: “I want to give you guys credit. This is not something that I think people are aware of, but I’m sure everyone on the panel would say this, Nick and Joe, our editor – they actually let us write the damn books. They get people that want to work on their books, and then let them do just that.”

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12