Never let it be said that Dynamite is shy about making announcements during convention season. Another, wide-ranging, batch of announcements dropped today.
Announcements with creators attached:
007
After successfully testing the waters with James Bond arcs written by Warren Ellis and Andy Diggle, Dynamite will be launching an ongoing 007 series in 2017.
Benjamin Percy says, “When I was a kid, my father and I would watch — over and over again — the Bond marathons on TBS. When I was in high school, I took a career test and wrote ‘spy’ as my dream job. When I was in college, I signed up for an espionage novel course and fell in love with Fleming’s books. The first drink I ordered was a vodka martini — shaken, not stirred — though I now stay true to the novels and favor bourbon. And over the past few months, I’ve followed the Warren Ellis run at Dynamite with admiration and jealousy. Bond is ingrained in me, a character who has centrally influenced my life and sense of story. I love the legendary, exquisitely cool 007 franchise and I couldn’t be more excited to thrill readers with exotic locales, nifty gadgets, colorful villains, dangerous seductions, and wildly orchestrated action set-pieces. Cue the theme music.”
Percy is probably best known in Beat circles as the writer on the Rebirth edition of Green Arrow, but he’s been around a bit longer in other formats and I’m not sure everyone’s aware of that.
Benjamin Percy is a novelist, screenwriter and comics writer. He is the author of four novels — The Dark Net, The Dead Lands, Red Moon, and The Wilding — as well as two books of short stories, Refresh, Refresh and The Language of Elk. He writes the Green Arrow and Teen Titans series for DC Comics, and his fiction and nonfiction have been published in Esquire (where he was a contributing editor for ten years), GQ, Time, Men’s Journal, Outside, The Wall Street Journal, Tin House, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, McSweeney’s, and The Paris Review. His honors include an NEA fellowship, the Whiting Writer’s Award, the Plimpton Prize, two Pushcart Prizes and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best American Comics. His novel Red Moon is currently in development as a TV series at FOX.
The Greatest Adventure (Tarzan / John Carter, Warlord of Mars / Pellucidar)
Bill Willingham continues his post-Fables career by teaming up with artist Cezar (Warlord of Mars) Rezak for a big Edgar Rice Burroughs franchise team-up. (Which is actually a very Burroughs thing to do. Tarzan did take a trip to The Earth’s Core, after all.)
A crash landing reveals a secret plot by a mysterious cabal of scientists to weaponize Jason Gridley’s famous wave, turning it into a disintegration ray that can bypass distance, on a galactic scale, to destroy a single person, or even an entire world at a time. Gridley seeks the help of Tarzan and Jane to stop these villainous adventurers from finding the final piece needed to fulfill their devious end. When Tarzan puts the word out to assemble a crew to man Jason Gridley’s Martian Flying Ship, the galaxy’s greatest fighters and adventurers come together to stop this evil plan.
“Here we are with my chance, at long last, to play in the very fields that Burroughs created, and to marry my two loves of comic book and prose fiction in doing it,” says Bill Willingham. “One comic series couldn’t possibly contain everything I’ve loved and discovered in his books. The Greatest Adventure contains everything I love that I could fit into a single series, including his most popular characters, as well as many obscure ones, which are nevertheless beloved to me.”
This one is also scheduled for 2017.
Women of Dynamite Vampirella Bust Inspired By Arthur Adams
Announcing an all-new Vampirella bust inspired by the artwork of comic book master Art Adams! Dynamite continues to build upon its relationship with creative partner The Brewing Factory and skillful sculptor Jason Smith for this second offering in the bust series, a limited edition poly-resin bust with cast-metal details and a base measuring 3″ by 5.5″. Packaged in a four-color display box, each of these highly-detailed busts celebrates one of the industry’s finest artists!
The Women of Dynamite limited edition Vampirella bust will be solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ December 2016 Previews catalog, the premier source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market, and slated for release in February 2017, priced at $89.99. Comic book fans and collectors are encouraged to reserve their limited edition bust with their local comic book retailers.
Licensing Announcements
Sweet Valley High
If, at some point after 1983, you’ve been around a Young Adult section at a bookstore or library, you’ve seen Sweet Valley High novels. This one seems like a really good get, particularly for the burgeoning bookstore and Scholastic book fair markets. Let us not forget that Raina did Baby-Sitter’s Club graphic novels for a similar market.
Sweet Valley High has been published for over 20 years, beginning in 1983. Francis Pascal’s iconic young adult series produced over 600 novels, in addition to multiple spinoffs and popular television series. Now, the Wakefield sisters have graduated from books and television to their first-ever graphic novel series from New Jersey’s Dynamite Entertainment.
Sweet Valley High follows the exploits of identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield as they endure the common struggles of daily teenage life. These two beautiful young women live in the fictitious Sweet Valley, California. Elizabeth is warm, friendly, and sincere, while her twin sister Jessica is flirty, mischievous, and irresponsible.
“We are always looking for ways to expand our offerings for teen readers, and are thrilled to be able to publish the first-ever graphic novel series set in Sweet Valley, California,” says Dynamite CEO and publisher, Nick Barrucci. “Sweet Valley High has such an incredibly rich publishing history with fans of all ages, and we are honored to publish all-new adventures of the Wakefield twins and their friends!”
“I can’t wait to see Sweet Valley High as a graphic novel for the first time ever,” says author Francine Pascal. “I love the idea of Elizabeth and Jessica in four-color action. Fabulous!”
Look for more information on Dynamite Entertainment’s upcoming Sweet Valley High series in the months to come, set for release in 2017.
Charmed
WB’s long running series about three (or four, if you count the whole series) sisters who happen to be witches will be getting a new comic adaption.
Charmed premiered critical acclaim and commercial success, and by the end of its eight-season run, had won numerous awards and aired in more than 20 countries. Charmed follows the Halliwell sisters: three witches, each powerful in her own right, but invincible when they come together to summon The Power of Three. Protecting innocents from the underworld’s demons, the Halliwell sisters battle evil from their family home in San Francisco.
“Charmed is a perfect fit for Dynamite for a number of reasons,” says Dynamite CEO and publisher Nick Barrucci. “We have had tremendous success with cult television properties, and the Halliwell sisters will be right at home. Our plans for these new series are sure to please comics readers and die-hard TV junkies alike!”
Mighty Mouse
I guess it has been awhile since Mighty Mouse has had a comic. We’ll have to see which era of the character Dynamite pulls from, although I suspect several people around Stately Beat Manor will be pulling for inspiration from the Ralph Bakshi era.
Mighty Mouse returns to comics for the first time in 30 years, just in time for the character’s 75th anniversary in 2017! Mighty Mouse was first conceived in 1942 as a parody of another cape and cowl hero introduced a few years earlier, and went on to star in countless animated films for the better part of the next 20 years, finding a new life on Saturday mornings in the 1960’s.
“Mighty Mouse is as much a part of American pop culture as the two characters he is inspired by,” says Nick Barrucci, Dynamite CEO and publisher. “The original comics and animation entertained generations of fans, and with the popularity of superhero movies, there couldn’t be a better time for his return! I am thrilled that Dynamite will be able to bring this timeless hero to a whole new generation of fans.”
Bettie Page
If you go to a lot of conventions, it’s pretty clear Betty Page never really left the comics scene, but the actual _Bettie Page_ comic (as opposed to the character she inspired in the Rocketeer comics) has been out of circulation for quite a while.
The coming year will see the return of another female icon, one whose jet black bangs haven’t graced the pages of comics in far too long: Bettie Page! This marks only the second time in history that Ms. Page has appeared in officially licensed comic books, following the short-lived series Bettie Page Comics in 1996-97.
The Pinup Queen has certainly long been a staple in the comic book world, dating back to the 1980’s when Dave Stevens based the Rocketeer’s girlfriend “Betty” off of the iconic leading lady. Subsequently, Ms. Page was seen in the anthology series from Black Cat Comics, a limited pinup series, and lastly in Dark Horse’s Bettie Page Comics written and illustrated by Jim Silke.
“Bettie Page set the world on fire in the 1950s, and her influence still burns throughout American culture today!” says Dynamite CEO and Publisher, Nick Barrucci. “Think about the vintage fashion craze, those instantly recognizable and ever-popular bangs, the pinup queen tattoos that are so playfully taboo! In our own industry, Bettie’s striking look and wild spirit has taken shape in the pages of Rocketeer, in Watchmen, in the artwork of Joe Shuster, in the Batmanvillainess Poison Ivy, in DC Bombshells. We’re proud to contribute to the enduring legacy of one of the 20th century’s most unforgettable performers, and can’t wait to deliver new four-color adventures to her loyal fans.”
“I was Bettie‘s long time attorney & agent and now oversee her estate. We are thrilled to be working with such a great company as Dynamite entertainment, a company who knows how to publish iconic properties.” States Mark Roesler CEO of CMG. “We’ve been very protective of Bettie Pageas her heritage is historic. We’re happy that we found the publisher that can do her justice.”
