2007-02-02
The Rack is ANOTHER webcomic debuting this week this one by blogger Kevin Church (Beaucoup Kevin) and artist Benjamin Birdie. “Set at the fictional Yavin IV comic shop in Southern California, THE RACK promises to skewer the duo’s most beloved medium with the required sobriety and tact it deserves: none at all.”

More PR in the jump.


“Not to gush too much, but Birdie’s totally the Jack Kirby to my Stan Lee,” said Church about their collaborative process. “I can come up with a whisper-thin idea that he manages to blow into a full-page epic with nary a complaint. He also knows better than to interrupt me when I’m drinking.”

While Church is primarily known as a writer, this time around he’s taking the Aaron Sorkin / John Wells approach to the strip and assuming the role of a “showrunner.” He wrote the series bible and will contribute a few scripts a month, but Birdie will do what they both consider “the heavy lifting” with both writing and art chores.

“I can’t wait, not only to get THE RACK out there to the world but also to show people who might only know me as Kevin’s Art Monkey that I can actually write,” said Birdie. “Kevin has turned the smallest inkling of an idea (“Hey, why aren’t there any webcomics about comics and comics-related current events that are also awesome?”) into a full blown universe of legitimately endearing and great characters. We’re looking forward to taking the comic past a simplistic ‘Man, [RANDOM DECISION BY PROMINENT COMIC BOOK COMPANY] was really boneheaded wasn’t it?’ point of view and really delving into the lives of the hapless employees of this comic book store. Although there will be plenty of those kinds of gags too. It’s going to be tough work, as the comic demands that there not be a lot of lead time, but I really believe in this comic and, not to get too high handed, I think the industry is sorely lacking a world class webcomic devoted to it. And who better to do it than us? We’re both ridiculously talented.”

Church and Birdie first began working together on the BOOM! Studios promotional strip NITROGLYCERIN, which is available on the publisher’s website at http://www.boom-studios.com as well as the inside front cover of all their titles. They also released the AGREEABLE COMICS sampler at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, where it was met with a tasty mixture of delight and agony.

THE RACK will be updated regularly on Mondays and Fridays with random insertions just to keep things fresh. It will be available at http://www.agreeablecomics.com/therack . Journalists interested in making their careers by catching a pair of rising stars can contact the duo directly at [email protected]. Church’s personal weblog is located at http://www.beaucoupkevin.com; more information and other strips by Benjamin Birdie can be found at http://www.benjaminbirdie.com .

1 COMMENT

  1. A thin skinned comic creator will not last in this industry.
    You should focus on being creative for once.

    Hugs, kisses, fists!