On sale 3rd July in comic shops from US publisher Dark Horse is Catalyst Comix #1, featuring the work of three British creators including the brilliant Doctor Who comic strip author and artist Dan McDaid.
The nine-issue superhero anthology series – the brainchild of writer Joe Casey (Sex, Gødland, Baker the Righteous Maker) – revives the heroes of Comics' Greatest World, originally conceived in the 1990s as an imprint of Dark Horse. The original comics saw the creation of a number of heroes and heroines such as Ghost and X, and Catalyst Comix brings back other characters – Grace, Titan and the Agents of Change.
The series, features wraparound series covers from Rafael Grampá, Paul Pope and Brendan McCarthy – will tell a series of interconnected, serialized stories… beginning with the end of the world!
Artists Dan McDaid (Doctor Who), Ulises Farinas (Glory), and Paul Maybury (Aqua Leung) are also part of the creative team.
“We took part of the name from the old series to re-brand what is essentially a New Wave superhero anthology title containing quite a few of the characters originally published by Dark Horse in the '90s,” Casey told Comic Book Resources back in May. “We're telling all-new, all-different adventures in all-new ways. The whole thing is being furiously written by me and drawn with mind-altering enthusiasm by Dan McDaid, Paul Maybury and Ulises Farinas. C'mon, if those names alone aren't selling it for you — get yourself to a doctor immediately!”
The three stories are:
• Frank Wells (drawn Dan McDaid): a Superman-like figure on the front lines of a violent battle with an extra-dimensional threat that's already obliterated most of New York City.
• Amazing Grace (drawn by Paul Maybury): As Wells fights his battle, elsewhere on the same day, the city council of what's left of a once utopian but ultimately failed city discuss their options while their leader makes an impossible cosmic journey into the heart of cataclysm.
• Agents of Change (drawn by Ulises Farinas): on America's West Coast, someone is recruiting dormant superheroes for a new team with an allegedly altruistic purpose that can finally begin now that the world's suffered an apocalyptic event…
“Each issue is structured with a main lead feature and two shorter back-up stories,” says Caey. “Every three issues, the lead feature changes. Frank Wells is first up in the rotation. These are serialized stories, some of them will end up being interconnected — they certainly take place on the same world, and it all builds to something fairly intense. At least, it feels intense to me. We're certainly not holding back in terms of where we're taking these characters.”
• More info: http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/22-539/Catalyst-Comix-1
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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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