A-list creators Robert Kirkman and Chris Samnee are collaborating on a new comic called Fire Power, according to an announcement Thursday from publisher Image Comics.
Fire Power is an Image/Skybound book, and in addition to Kirkman and Samnee, its creative team also features colorist Matt Wilson and letterer Rus Wooton. The project is Kirkman’s first new series since he concluded the comics run of The Walking Dead, which as we all are well-aware has gone on to become a lucrative multi-media empire. This also represents the first major project for Samnee since departing Marvel Comics exclusivity following the conclusion of a relatively short Captain America run with Mark Waid back in 2018 during that publisher’s short-lived Legacy publishing initiative.
The plot of Fire Power involves a protagonist named Owen Johnson, who journeys to China in search of his birth parents. His quest takes him to a Shaolin Temple, wherein he finds students working to re-discover the lost art of throwing fire balls with your damn bare hands. These students claim the power will soon be needed to save the world, and so ol’ Owen gets to work trying to be the first person in a thousand years to do it.
If I was a betting writer, I’d bet he learns to do it and the book becomes about the end of the world in relatively quick fashion. But I’m not a betting writer and also this is a comics news note, so I should probably get back to that.
Anyway, a massive 10 pages of lettered preview art from Fire Power can be found below, following the official press announcement from Image…
The New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award winning comics titan Robert Kirkman (Oblivion Song, The Walking Dead) is teaming with Eisner winning artist Chris Samnee (Daredevil), Eisner Award winning colorist Matt Wilson (Paper Girls, The Wicked + The Divine), and letterer Rus Wooton (The Walking Dead), to bring fans an all-new, full color, action-packed ongoing series—Fire Power—which will launch from Image/Skybound in May 2020.
“Getting to create a whole new world with its own mythology and rules is always the highlight of my life. Getting to do that with Chris Samnee is definitely a high water mark in this dusty old career of mine,” said Kirkman. “With a massive cast of characters populating this sprawling globe-spanning epic Chris has proven more than adept at handling anything I’ve thrown at him in the time we’ve been toiling away on this series in secret. Kung Fu, Fireballs, Chris Samnee, crazy action, Chris Samnee, Chris Samnee. What more could I say to get you excited about this book?”
This is the first new project from Kirkman since the surprise conclusion to his pop culture phenomenon The Walking Dead. Fire Power will more than fill a walker-sized hole in your monthly pull list. This new series also marks Samnee’s return to comics after wrapping up his bestselling run on Captain America that concluded in early 2018.
Owen Johnson’s journey to China to learn about his birth parents eventually leads him to a mysterious Shaolin Temple. The students there study to rediscover the Fire Power, the lost art of throwing fireballs. A power they claim will be needed soon to save the world. Will Owen Johnson be the first person in a thousand years to wield the Fire Power?
