Red Range returns in “Pirates of Fireworld”

Red Range - Pirates of Fireworld - Cover by JokAce independent US publisher It’s Alive! has announced that Keith Lansdale, the writer who recently brought you The X-Files and Creepy stories, will unleash his imagination on the historical and somewhat Steampunk world his father, Joe R. Lansdale, created in the original Red Range graphic novel – and there’s a stunning variant cover on offer by Russell Mark Olson, the acclaimed creator of Gateway City.

Red Range - Pirates of Fireworld - Variant Cover by Russell Mark Olson

Red Range – Pirates of Fireworld variant Cover by Russell Mark Olson

Launching in 2019, Red Range: Pirates of Fireworld, with art by Jok, will be the first new Red Range story in almost two decades – and the first new comic book series from It’s Alive!

The original Red Range graphic novel was set sometime after the Civil War, when groups like the KKK were gaining popularity in the American South.  After having his family destroyed by the Klan, an African American man named Caleb Range donned a mask and sought his revenge, becoming The Red Mask. Along the way, he met a young boy named Turon, who’s family suffered a similar fate to his own.

Together, the two struggled to survive, while being pursued by the KKK.  Then, while trying to escape, they fell through a hole to some deeper layer of the Earth, finding relics from different time periods in Earth’s history, and a sky of fire!  A few dinosaurs showed up, and things were really staring to get weird… when sadly, the story abruptly ended, with a promise of “Pirates of Fireworld coming soon!”.

Red Range - Pirates of Fireworld variant cover by Ramón Pérez

Red Range – Pirates of Fireworld variant cover by Ramón Pérez

This new tale picks up right where the first one left off. Caleb Range (aka The Red Mask) and his young companion Turon, find themselves under the surface of the Earth, in a world that seems to be lost in time.  They are quickly confronted by a group of Steampunk-ish pirates in hot pursuit of a strange fellow who can only speak one name over and over again…Seetoc!

You’ll have to pick up the comic to find out what happens next!

Red Range: Pirates of Fireworld writer Keith Lansdale has adapted and written multiple scripts for film such as The Projectionist (currently in preproduction), The Promise, Best Sellers Guaranteed and The Pale Door (also in preproduction). Christmas With The Dead was previously filmed in 2012 and has recently been re-adapted to be filmed again as well as adapted for a stage musical.  He has a TV pilot Lost Echoes, based on a novel by Joe R. Lansdale, in consideration as a TV series.

Keith has adapted multiple comics such as Hoot Goes There, a short X-Files series for IDW comics, Mud for Creepy, Prisoner Of Violence (an extension of the Prisoner 489 universe by Joe R. Lansdale), along with comic adaptations of Crawling Sky for Antarctica Comics, Vampirella for Diamond comics, Dog, Cat, and Baby for Dark Horse and Avatar Comics, as well as God of the Razor, The Dump and The Fat Man for other comic companies. He also co-wrote the children’s story The Companion when he was twelve with his younger sister which was picked up by Creepshow, and was co-author of In Waders From Mars at the age of four! He was also a co-editor for Son Of Retro Pulp Tales, published by Subterranean Press.

Most recently, he has picked up the mantle of Joe R Lansdale’s Red Range, with Red Range: Pirates Of Fireworld.

“It’s been a wonderful opportunity to continue the epic tale of my father’s character, Red Range in the newest addition, Red Range: Pirates Of Fireworld,” says Keith Lansdale. “A big thanks to Drew Ford at It’s Alive!  I’m excited to see the series continue as we steer this dinosaur infested, steampunk-powered ship into the future.”

Jok was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the 1970s and has been working as a writer and artist since 1993. His work’s been published in the United States, England, Italy, France, Spain, Cypruss, Canada, China, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.  He runs a studio along with his comrades in arms since 2001, splitting his time among several endeavours, including work for hire projects, creator owned books, children illustration, color work, attending conventions all over the world, doing some writing, and not missing a match of his weekly soccer with friends and colleagues.

“After having had the chance and honour to colour Mr. Glanzman’s artwork for the original graphic novel, I’m now super-thrilled at the prospect to keep telling this awesome tale, and revisiting these characters and world,” says Jok.  “What could be cooler than Hollow-Earth Pirates, Dino-riders, prehistoric landscapes, and cowboys mounting pterodactyls? Hope readers have as much fun as I am!  Red Range adventures are back big time!”

It’s Alive! is the brainchild of multiple Eisner Award nominee Drew Ford, publishing out of print comics, English translations of foreign material, original projects, and other unique collectibles.

“Renowned novelist and comic book writer Joe R. Lansdale created Red Range with comic book legend Sam Glanzman nearly two decades ago, so both Joe and myself are incredibly excited to see his son take over the scripting on this next generation of Red Range comics,” says It’s Alive! Publisher Drew Ford. “We are also really lucky to be working with a talent such as Jok (who’s work Glanzman really enjoyed), as he takes over the art chores on this new story!”

The new Red Range comics will be launching with a beautiful standard cover by regular series artist Jok, along with a group of stunning variant covers by an international collection of artists including N. Steven Harris, Andrew Pepoy, Christopher Schenck, Russell Mark Olson, Ramón Pérez, and Aleksandar Bozic.

• For information on how to secure Super Early Bird Specials from the upcoming Red Range Kickstater, please send an email to: redrangecomics@gmail.com 

Please note: one variant will only be available via the Kickstarter campaign, and one variant will only be available via comic book shops



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