There were a lot of great-looking comics projects to look out for at this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival, but one I was very lucky to see – the only copy quickly snapped up by a Jeff Hawke fan! – was the collected edition of Frontlines: Requiem, released last month by Amazon’s comics imprint, Jet City Comics.
Written by Ivan Brandon (Drifter, Viking) it features positively stunning artwork from Gary Erskine (Star Wars, Dan Dare, Doctor Who, Judge Dredd), coloured by Yel Zamor. Frontlines: Requiem was originally published as a four-issue series and features a new stand-alone story set within the action-packed military SF world of Marko Kloos’s bestselling Frontlines novels.
In Requiem, when Earth is in the crosshairs, there’s only one thing standing between survival and destruction: duty. Colonel Soraya Yamin, commander of the Phalanx, a battle-ravaged space control cruiser, engages the “Lankies” in an apocalyptic assault over Mars. The Lankies, a merciless alien species that outguns, outmaneuvers, and outfights humanity at every turn, have been menacing Earth’s colonies. But now they’re suddenly in our Solar System, decimating the NACS fleet and swarming toward Earth itself. Facing insurmountable odds, Soraya must make a fateful choice between her sworn duty and the loved ones she desperately wants to protect.
Facing insurmountable odds, Soraya must make a fateful choice between her sworn duty and the loved ones she desperately wants to protect…
Gary not only drew this series – he also designed the whole universe for the comic. Characters, spaceships, aliens, uniforms, badges — everything. Needless to say, his work went down a storm with the creative team, who are hoping Frontlines will make the jump from the books and comics to TV or film.
Here’s the opening scenes from the story…
The Frontlines novels are by Marko Kloos, who is also a member of George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards consortium. Born and raised in Germany, he now lives in New Hampshire and he’s currently working on the sixth novel in the series.
Jet City Comics launched in 2013 with new comics from authors such as George R.R. Martin, Hugh Howey, and Neal Stephenson. Jet City issues publish on Kindle as standalone comics, as serialized comics released over multiple episodes, and as bundled graphic novels, with print editions available at amazon and other comics retailers.
• Frontlines: Requiem Jet City Comics, paperback, 112 pages, published September 2016 – available from all good comic shops and digitally on Kindle and via ComiXology
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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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