Announced at a press breakfast this morning, Milestone is coming back from DC as Earth M. The 90s imprint that promoted comics diversity long before it was fashionable will include a book written by Reggie Hudlin and drawn by Jim Lee, but the imprint plans to release up to two graphic novels each year and a number of one-shots/miniseries. Doubtless more will be revealed at this afternoon’s Milestone panel.
Original co-founders Derek Dingle and Denys Cowan were on hand along with new partner Hudlin. Dingle described how they had come together at Dwayne McDuffie’s funeral and decided “we have to keep this company alive, we have to maintain diversity in this industry. There have to be more stories to be told.”
Hudlin noted that the time was more right than ever to revisit the social commentary and diversity of the first run of Milestone. “Our mission was not only to do diverse characters of color but to bring in creators to reflect those characters,” said Cowan.
Hudlin said that one of the original Milestone characters was a black Republican because “he was alive when Lincoln freed the slaves.” and another got powers from a police attack. “These stories are just as relevant as ever or more so.”
“Milestone was a response to a lot of feelings and now it’s a response to the same things but it’s amplified,” said Cowan. “It feels like problems are bigger and more intense. We’re going to have characters and update our characters to address those situations. If a story makes us a little scared, we know we’re on the right track.”
(Original story below)
Our fearless leader Heidi MacDonald is live at the scene in San Diego, and she’s just informed us that yes, indeed, Milestone is back at DC Comics.
Milestone characters like Statik Shock and Icon will find a new home on a world designated as “Earth M.” Milestone co-founder Denys Cowan and Milestone partner Reginald Hudlin will be returning as creators for the newly rebooted imprint. They will be joined by other talents including Geoff Johns and Jim Lee.
The move is being trumpeted as a response to increased calls for diversity in superhero rosters, with Hudlin stating that “it was a call that we could not ignore. We had to do it.” The imprint plans to release up to two graphic novels each year and a number of one-shots/miniseries. — Alex Lu and Heidi MacDonald
More info as we receive it!
