Following in the footsteps of Ten Grand, is the second title from Joe’s Comics to be published by Image. Sidekick features the writing talents of J. Michael Straczynski and illustrations by Tom Mandrake and Brian Miller along with a variant cover by Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead).
For three years, flying, nigh-invulnerable teenager Barry Chase was Flyboy, sidekick to the imagination-impaired but crime-fighting master The Red Cowl, and all was well, though Flyboy was the butt of a lot of jokes. Together, The Red Cowl and Flyboy brought peace to Sol City, fighting for truth, justice and some third goal that the Red Cowl could never quite put his finger on but was sure he’d figure out in time. But then the Red Cowl was defeated and killed — some say by the villain Terraform, others by one of the Moonglow sisters — and Flyboy was left on his own.
“Sidekick is designed to turn the usual superhero tropes upside down,” said writer Straczynski. “Flyboy’s gradual disintegration into madness and crime is fueled by his desperate need for approval. His downward spiral slowly drives him to the dark side of the law, where he begins an affair with the villainous Moonglow Twins, who one night whisper something to him about the fate of his mentor that he could never have imagined possible. That secret may be the key to Flyboy’s redemption, or his damnation, giving him something to live for... and maybe, just maybe, something to kill for.”
Sidekick will be unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con which is taking place on July 17 – 21, 2013 with the first issue appearing in stores on August 7, 2013. It can be pre-ordered now from the June issue of Previews.
Originally produced by MonkeyBrain in 2012, the webcomic Masks and Mobsters is going from digital to print thanks to Shadowline which will be releasing a deluxe hardcover edition that contains all seven issues.
"One of the things that always has stuck with me was... if all these superheroes started to pop up, how did that affect the mob's business?” stated writer Joshua Williamson (Ghosted, Dear Dracula) who has collaborated with artists Mike Henderson, Ryan Cody, Jason Copland, and Justin Greenwood to produce a tale set in the 1930s and 1940s. “The masked men couldn't be paid off, and the supervillains didn't care about paying dues, right? How did organized crime deal with it all? I wanted to see that world from their perspective.”
Masks and Mobstersarrives in stores on July 3, 2013 and can be pre-ordered from the May issue of Previews.