Frank Quitely is signing at Forbidden Planet, Glasgow this Saturday, 1st April 2023, to promote the launch of The Ambassadors, a new globetrotting superhero Netflix tie-in title from US publisher Image Comics, co-created and written by Mark Millar.
As well as working on Batman, Superman, X-Men and many other major American titles, Frank also created the awesome Superman mural you can see in the store.
Described by Image Comics as “the most ambitious comic book of all time”, The Ambassadors, #1 on sale from this Wednesday, 29th March, is a globe-trotting superhero adventure with a rotating cast of artists.
This six issue Netflix miniseries is part of the highly anticipated “Big Game” summer event being prepped by Nemesis: Reloaded (with superstar Jorge Jiminez), Night Club with Juanan Ramirez, and the brand new volume of The Magic Order – currently being made as a huge live action show for the streaming service.
The Ambassadors will lead directly into the big 2023 Image Comics Summer event Big Game, where all the Millarworld characters from Kick-Ass, Kingsman, Starlight, Jupiter’s Legacy, and more, come together in a huge adventure drawn by Marvel superstar Pepe Larraz.
The Ambassadors centres on a worldwide competition to find six people worthy of receiving superpowers. Scientist Choon-He Chung has cracked the super genome and plans to form an international rescue squad to help people in danger from floods, famines and other crises. Meanwhile, less benevolent parties are watching on with keen interest.
The series makes use of a stellar array of artists including Karl Kerschl, Travis Charest, Olivier Coipel, Matteo Buffagni and Matteo Scalera. It kicks off, however, with an issue drawn by Frank Quitely, who previously collaborated with Millar on Jupiter’s Legacy and The Authority.
“The idea for this is actually incredibly simple,” says Mark, who now works for Netflix since selling his own company, Millarworld, in 2017. “Superheroes have always felt very American to the rest of the world,,” he told Inside Pulse earlier this month, “but what if the scientist who cracks the super genome is in Asia? What if this genius billionaire Korean girl launches the world’s first real-life super-team from a headquarters in Seoul and it all takes off on the other side of the world with America watching like they watched the USSR putting the first man in orbit?
“What’s exciting is that this opens us up to doing completely fresh kinds of superhero stories and this one has a Willy Wonka appeal. This scientist putting out a message to the world to volunteer their services and say why they deserve superpowers. It’s a global competition and only six people will be chosen out of eight billion. It’s worked out great, and I’m really excited for people to see this.
“I started working on it back in 2018 and some of the artists are so brilliant and so committed to their work they’ve spent four years on their single issue. It’s going to blow your socks off when you see this.”
Talking to Games Radar earlier this week, Millar explained six issues are all standalones that form one big story, “so each character really gets a nice spotlight”.
Originally developed as a film franchise, Mark says the aim of the project was to create characters that had to be strong enough to support local language shows in their own territory if they do spin offs.
“I was constantly rethinking it,” he says. “I never normally do this, but I kept coming up with new ways of doing the story and how they have their powers. It’s a very unique book.
“Coming from another country, I was always confused why superheroes were always American,” he says. “I used to create Scottish ones as a kid, though I now understand that the demographics may be too small for Marvel and DC to make everyone Scottish!
“But my job at Netflix, after selling my company, is to create new franchises, as well as sequels to my old ones, and I’m really excited by the reach Netflix has. A story set in Brazil with no American actors might be a hard sell to a typical Hollywood studio, but Netflix has so many subscribers in Brazil who would love to see a local superhero and I love that too. It creates different types of stories when you move outside New York. It all feels really fresh.”
“Variety is the spice of life when it comes to drawing,” says Frank of working on the title. “Different characters, different locations, and a range of quiet moments and action sequences all keep it interesting from an artistic point of view – and hopefully that works for the reader too.”
• Frank Quitely Signing, 3.00pm Saturday 1st April 2023, Forbidden Planet Glasgow, 122-126 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3DH | Find Forbidden Planet International Glasgow on Facebook | Forbidden Planet International is online at forbiddenplanet.co.uk
• Follow Frank Quitely on Twitter
• Follow Mark Millar on Twitter
• The Ambassadors #1 will be available in all good comic shops from Wednesday, 29th March 2023
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.
Categories: Comic Previews, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, US Comics
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