On sale today from IDW is Saucer State by Paul Cornell with art by Ryan Kelly, colour from Adam Guzowski and lettered by 2000AD stalwart Simon Bowland – and there will be a special signing at Forbidden Planet Megastore, London this Friday to celebrate its arrival in comic shops everywhere.
Saucer State is the story of Arcadia Alvarado, the former Governor of New Mexico, now the US President, who was once ‘abducted by aliens’ (although she’s never worked out exactly what that means). The story of her run for the Presidency was told in Saucer Country, from Vertigo, but this new IDW series explores her and her staff of (frankly quirky) advisors attempting to use the power of the Presidency to find out what happened to her, and if any human hands were involved.
“We explore UFO mythology in all its giddy glory, all its many flavours,” says Paul. “We also do real world political intrigue from the brightest timeline. And we very much go there in terms of relating this Presidency to, you know, that other one. We’ve actually been about that since the last series, as will become clear.
“And then at the end of #1, something enormous happens,” he hints, “and what Saucer State is about becomes extremely clear.”
Saucer State will be published as two 6-issue mini series, and by the end of those the creative team will have cleared up every mystery from both runs, and completed the story.
“So you will hopefully have satisfaction if you’ve been with us from the old story, or joined us for this new one,” says Paul. “You absolutely don’t need to have read Saucer Country. This is hardly even a jumping on point, more a whole new movie.
“I really hope you enjoy it. It’s such a labour of love for me. And you should see what Ryan Kelly is bringing. Phew!”
• Paul Cornell will be signing Saucer State #1 on Friday, 26th May, from 6.00pm, (and his novel Chalk, and the Emperor of the Daleks collection, and Vampirella #1 and #2), at London’s Forbidden Planet Megastore. You can see all the details, and if you can’t make the event, still order a signed copy, here
• Paul Cornell – Official Site: www.paulcornell.com
• There’s a new interview with Paul about the project here on Poplitko
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
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: Creating Comics, downthetubes News, US Comics