US publisher Dynamite Entertainment has announced husband and wife team Andy Diggle (2000AD, The Losers, Snapshot) and partner Angela Cruickshank will pen their new police procedural Control, which will feature art from Ben Oliver.
“Police procedurals are massive in film, television, and fiction, but they’ve always been strangely under-represented in comics,” he feels. “Even the very best of them, like Gotham Central, Powers, and Chew, often have an element of the weird, the supernatural, or the downright spandexy. With Control, we wanted to write a 100% police procedural, the kind of smart, character-driven, real-world crime drama that rules on TV.
“It’s about sex, power, and systems of control… and how the little guys have to game a system that’s rigged against them. If you like The Wire, Damages, State of Play, or Homeland, then hopefully Control will be just the comic you’ve been waiting for!”
“Power is all about perception,” says Angela Cruickshank. “I love that moment in The Sopranos when Tony agonizes about what they’re going to do when their teenage daughter realizes they have absolutely zero power over her. Wealth, looks, friends in high places; these are all great assets for the average power player, but the real key to success is fear. There’s a popular theory, often trotted out by the media, that ‘if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.’
“Well, who can honestly say that they have nothing to hide? No skeletons in the closet. No moment of regret. No dark little desire, that if only we thought they could get away with it… We wanted to explore the way that control pushes down from the privileged and the powerful and what happens when the people at the bottom start pushing back.”
Artist Ben Oliver says, “Andy Diggle gave me my first professional comics work thirteen years ago when he was then-editor of 2000AD. We worked together just once in the intervening years when I briefly filled in on a couple of issues of The Losers. I’m really looking forward to working with Andy, Angela, and Dynamite on Control, and collaborating on a fantastic new story.”
Dynamite’s CEO and Publisher, , says, “During our initial discussions, Andy suggested that Angela be part of the Control creative process and join him as co-writer. I was surprised at the request, but Andy immediately sold me on the fact that Control would be one of the most intense books he’d ever worked on, and having a collaborator would allow greater research and more compelling stories.
“It’s clear that this husband-and-wife team absolutely love the genre, and I’d almost imagine that they plant themselves together, surrounded by books, televisions, and computers, on a nightly basis, pouring through everything and watching one cop drama after another! At the end of the day, the collaboration will create an even better comic series. I can’t wait to see the fruits of their labors in print!”
Joseph Rybandt, Senior Editor of Dynamite Entertainment, summarizes the addition of Control to their publishing line succinctly: “More gritty and grounded comics from Andy Diggle? Yes, please!”
• Control will be solicited in early 2014 via Diamond Comic Distributors’ Previews catalog, the premiere source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market. In addition to availability as a printed comic in comic book shops and hobby specialty store, Control will be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, iVerse, and Dark Horse Digital.
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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