BOOM! Studios' Road to SDCC Announcements
Cornelia Tzana ‘17 / Emertainment Monthly Executive Comic Books Editor
Every year, in preparation for San Diego Comic Con 2016, one of the biggest pop culture conventions, BOOM! Studios releases ten announcements for the ten days leading up to the event. With the Previews day of SDCC already over, Emertainment has compiled a list of the announcements of BOOM! Studios’ Road to San Diego for your convenience.
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#1 – WWE Comics
BOOM! Studios has partnered with WWE for new comics! The company will launch the initiative at Comic-Con with a set of six, blind-bagged, one-page comics ($5 each, for sale at the BOOM! Studios booth #2229) titled WWE: Then. Now. Forever. Each comic will feature a pin-up image on one side of a different wrestler and a one-page info-comic on the other side that explores that wrestler’s background and history in the ring. Three of these comics will focus on current wrestlers (Now), two on retired favorites (Then), and one on a legendary WWE talent (Forever). A seventh one-page comic will be given out FREE to all attendees of our panel on the WWE comics (see below). Each info-comic is illustrated by Russ Manning Award nominee Daniel Bayliss (Kennel Block Blues,Translucid), colored by Doug Garbark, and lettered by Jim Campbell.
#2 – The Empty Man Movie
After 2 Guns, BOOM! has its second movie completely underway based on Cullen Bunn and Vanesa R. Del Rey’s supernatural thriller The Empty Man! This is the first film based on a BOOM! title to go into active production since BOOM! announced its exclusive deal with 20th Century Fox. Actor James Badge Dale (“13 Hours,” “Rubicon”) was announced to star and filming is set to begin in South Africa in the fall.
#3 – BOOM! Studios Partners with DCBS for Webstore Fulfillment
BOOM! Studios has partnered with Discount Comic Book Service (DCBS) to handle fulfillment of its rapidly growing webstore. DCBS is the largest online comic book retailer in the United States and ships both domestically and abroad.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the team at DCBS. Their dedication to customer service and rapid, accurate fulfillment is second-to-none,” said Filip Sablik, BOOM!’s President of Publishing and Marketing. “By partnering with Cameron, Christina, and the rest of the team at DCBS, even fans who don’t have a local comic shop near them worldwide will be able to enjoy all of our great titles.”
To celebrate this new partnership, BOOM! is offering 30% off to new subscribers to the following titles: Adventure Time, Giant Days, Kurt Sutter’s Lucas Stand, Lumberjanes, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Over the Garden Wall, and The Woods. Next week, fans will be able to pre-order BOOM! Studios exclusives from Comic-Con International in San Diego to be delivered in August while supplies last. Read the full press release here.
#4 – Big Trouble in Little China/Escape From New York Crossover
BOOM! Studios announced a BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA/ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK crossover limited series, which will be debuting in October.
Jack Burton meets Snake Plissken in the most unlikeliest of team-ups that will shake the pillars of heaven! Written by Greg Pak (Totally Awesome Hulk,Action Comics) with art by Russ Manning Award nominee Daniel Bayliss (Kennel Block Blues, Translucid), the six-issue limited series is the first time two John Carpenter creations have crossed over in any format, and he’s excited about it!
#5 – Namesake by Steve Orlando
The fifth announcement in BOOM! Studios’ #RoadToSanDiego reveals the only original series coming from Steve Orlando (Midnighter, Virgil, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) in 2016, debuting in October.
Namesake is a four-issue limited series by Orlando and artist Jakub Rebelka about Jordan Molossus, a young man with an unusual mission: He is tasked with delivering the remains of his deceased fathers—contained within two enormous urns—to their final resting place, which happens to be a place called Ektae, a world that interconnects with Earth for seven days every seven years. This fantasy epic is as much about Jordan’s commitment to his family—no matter how weird or nonsensical his obligation may be—as it is about his journey, which is littered with twists and turns galore.
#6 – Mega Princess by Kelly Thompson & Brianne Drouhard
Mega Princess by writer Kelly Thompson (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink, Jem and the Holograms) and artist Brianne Drouhard (Harpy Gee) will amuse and delight readers in the story about the Titan Kingdom’s Princes
s Maxine (Max, for short), who, for her 10th birthday, is endowed with the gifts of EVERY princess by her fairy godmother! This all sounds a lot cooler than it actually is, in Max’s opinion—she doesn’t need to sing on key or feel a pea under 20 mattresses, she wants to be a detective! But at least the power to talk to animals is useful, although she quickly discovers her pony, Justine, is downright saucy. When Max’s little brother, Prince Robert VI (better known as Baby Bobs), goes missing, Max and Justine are on the case, and her new Mega Princess powers just might come in handy after all!
#7 – Warlords of Appalachia
The seventh announcement in BOOM!’s #RoadToSanDiego reveals the new original series Warlords of Appalachia, debuting in October from Phillip Kennedy Johnson(Last Sons of America) and newcomer artist Jonas Scharf.
The simmering tensions of a range of current issues, including religious liberties, gun control, and international concerns, boil over at the same time with a new president at the helm, causing a second U.S. Civil War. The New Confederacy is crushed but Kentucky holds out, not recognizing U.S. sovereignty. It is during this tense situation that Chess, the 13-year-old son of Kade Mercer—a mechanic, former National Guard medic, and former MMA fighter—is captured by forces sent by U.S. President Roth, causing Kade to rise up and become the first feudal warlord of Appalachia.
#8 – Big Trouble in Little China the Game
Our eighth announcement in the #RoadToSanDiego reveals our partnership with Everything Epic, Flipside Design Studio, and 20th Century Fox Consumer Products to design and produce Big Trouble in Little China the Game, coming in 2017!
“Teaming up with an outstanding studio like BOOM! helps us bring enthusiastic lifelong fans of Big Trouble in Little China the gaming experience they’ve been waiting for. Bringing to life a nostalgic and beloved motion picture in a robust tabletop game experience is a dream come true for us and we’re ecstatic to be able to deliver it to gamers, comic book fans, as well as lovers of the film in 2017!” said Everything Epic games publishing company President and Lead Game Designer Chris Batarlis.
“It’s been a passion project that we’ve been dreaming about for some time. We wanted to make sure to do it right and bring an experience that we think the fans deserve. And that’s why we are so excited to partner with BOOM! Studios, because we believe incorporating their great work in keeping the BTiLC brand going is exactly what we needed to make this game right. We share a love for this franchise and look forward to putting out a truly special game that old and new fans will embrace,” said Flipside Design Studio President and Creative Director Boris Polonsky.
“The opportunity to continue expand the world of Big Trouble in Little China and dive into the exciting world of board games with superb partners like Everything Epic and Flipside is pure icing on the cake!” said BOOM! Studios President of Publishing & Marketing Filip Sablik.
#9 – Mouse Guard Movie
One of the most exciting announcements in this year’s #RoadToSanDiego is that a movie based on David Petersen’s long-running Archaia fantasy series, Mouse Guard, is in the works.
The film will be written by Gary Whitta, the screenwriter of December’s hotly anticipated Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and produced by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Cloverfield director Matt Reeves along with BOOM! Studios’ Ross Richie and Stephen Christy.
Launched in 2005, Mouse Guard is the epic series created, written, and illustrated by David Petersen about an elite group of warrior mice who are sworn to protect mousekind from their enemies and to help keep order within the mice territories. The series has sold almost a million copies combined and has been translated into 10 languages. Publications include Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, Mouse Guard: The Black Axe, and three volumes of Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, in which a host of writers and artists contribute Mouse Gaurd short stories. Recent releases include The Art of Mouse Guard: 2005 – 2015 and Mouse Guard: Art of Bricks, with the Mouse Guard Coloring Book coming in October,Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard Vols. 1-3 Box Set coming in November, and Mouse Guard: The Weasel War of 1149 expected in 2017.
David Petersen will appear at San Diego Comic-Con July 20-24 at Table GG-9 and host a panel, “The World of Mouse Guard,” at 5pm in Room 32AB.
#10 – SLAM! by BOOM! Box
Our tenth and final announcement in the #RoadToSanDiego is a new series debuting in November called SLAM!, coming from our BOOM! Box imprint.
SLAM! is set in the world of roller derby, as you can tell by the character designs below. More details and the creative team will be announced at the BOOM! Studios: Discover New Worlds panel at Comic-Con, taking place at 12:30pm in Room 24ABC of the Convention Center.
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