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Everything you know about masked heroes and comic books changes this June with the release of BLACK SUMMER from creator/writer Warren Ellis. Avatar Press will debut the saga with BLACK SUMMER #0, a 99 cent comic featuring an all-new, full color story which leads directly into the beginning of the $2.99 monthly seven-issue series in August. Warren Ellis is considered one of the comic industry's best writers, and he has worked on some of comic's most popular and recognizable titles like Marvel's Wolverine and Iron Man, and DC's The Authority and Planetary. BLACK SUMMER also features artwork by Juan Jose Ryp (Frank Miller's Robocop) and color by Mark Sweeney.
"I've always said I'm not going to publish superhero comics at Avatar until I can do them better than Marvel and DC. I just did," says Avatar Press Editor in Chief William Christensen. "Black Summer is Warren Ellis on fire. He's out to redefine the masked hero and take us all for a ride the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time." BLACK SUMMER is the first masked hero title in Avatar's 10-year history and the first creator-owned hero title written by Ellis.
Masked hero John Horus, one of the central characters of the series, takes destiny into his own hands in the events of BLACK SUMMER #0. "John Horus, a man with the personal destructive capability of a fleet of Apache helicopters, walked into the Oval Office and killed the President," says Ellis. Horus was a retired member of the once government-endorsed team of superheros called the Seven Guns, but when the political situation in the USA becomes more than he can stand, he moves to take matters into his own hands. Since all his other team-mates aren't so eager to throw the world into apocalyptic turmoil, an epic conflict starts to form.
"In a field as well-mined as the superhero genre, it's hard to find questions to ask that aren't also complex or self-referential," notes Ellis. "And I wanted something direct that stood on its own two feet. So when this hit me, it spoke to me not only of the reasons why someone might put on a helmet and find justice their own way, but also why we read these myths of social justice ourselves. Where would YOU draw the line? And where's the line before which you embody the outrage of the people and beyond which you become the fears of the people?"
Avatar Press regular and critically acclaimed artist Juan Jose Ryp will pencil the entire series. "Ryp can draw anything. He's not human," says Ellis. "And that high-definition, super real style of his gives genre work a killer punch. He does incredibly dynamic action stuff, but he gives everything weight and texture. Working in superhero fiction, he gives pages a density and reality that people haven't seen in the genre from a page-a-day guy in years."
BLACK SUMMER begins with the full color, 16 page #0 preview comic book featuring an all-new story which will be released the first week of June at a special price of only 99 cents. The regular seven issue comic book series will continue in August, publishing monthly for a cover price of only $2.99. The series is written by Warren Ellis with artwork by Juan Jose Ryp and color by Mark Sweeney.
Avatar Press (avatarpress.com) is a comic book publisher that continues to push the boundaries between mainstream and independent comic book publishers with current and upcoming work from creators such as Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, Brian Pulido, George A. Romero, George R.R. Martin, Joe R. Lansdale, John Russo, Mike Wolfer, Juan Jose Ryp, Jacen Burrows, and numerous others. The company has published a wide range of comic books including creator-owned titles like Garth Ennis' 303 and Brian Pulido's Lady Death, company-owned comics such as Pandora and The Ravening, licensed hits like Frank Miller's Robocop and George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, and numerous other titles. A publisher that has established itself as one of the cornerstones of the American independent comic book scene over the past decade, Avatar has published some 500 comic books since 1997.
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