AN EVENT 15 YEARS IN THE MAKING!

Cover Art: Kerry Talbott

15 years ago, artist Jeff Austin and I worked up a Knight Watchman tale for Big Bang Comics. Sadly, the story was rejected. These things happen. Finally, after a brief hiatus, Big Bang Comics returns with an all-new issue from powerhouse publisher, AC Comics and they’ve included mine and Jeff’s Knight Watchman story. As you can imagine, Jeff and I are both thrilled and surprised that this story will make it into the hands of readers. Look for it April 2015.

Just another one of the many reasons I love my job.

Bobby

Here’s the official AC Press Release notice for this title. You can see their other offerings here.

Company Name: AC Comics
Title: Big Bang Universe
BB Presents #1Frequency: semiannual
Issue/Number: #1
Retail Price: $9.95
Format: Standard comic book size, saddle-stitched
Dimensions: 10″ X 6.50″
Page Count: 80 pages
Color: Black and White (with color covers)
Intended Audience: All ages
Genre:  Action/adventure/superhero
Country of Origin: USA
Ship Date: April 26, 2015
Writers: Gary Carlson, Chris Ecker, Bobby Nash.
Artists:  C. B. Cebulski, Jeff Austin.
Cover Artist: Cover A- Kerry Talbott, Cover B-C. B. Burk

Synopsis:  BIG BANG COMICS is back!!  Original creator Gary Carlson returns with 80 pages of  all-new material!! The KNIGHT WATCHMAN in “Skeletons In The Closet”, a 48-page contemporary novella drawn by Kerry Talbott!! Solo GALAHAD  by C.B. Burk, featuring  SHUTTERBUG and a Retro-60’s KW adventure by Bobby Nash and Jeff Austin !!

Special Notes: Ships with TWO covers in an approximate 4-to-1 ratio, 4 with the Kerry Talbott Knight Watchman (cover A) and 1 with the Galahad-Lady In Waiting painted design by C. B. Burk (cover B)

Anybody (and everybody) who was collecting comics back in the 1990’s remember Big Bang Comics, right?  You probably last saw them appearing in titles from Image, as a line of classically-inspired superheroes (and heroines) lovingly echoing the comic book approaches of the 1940’s, ’50’s, ’60’s and beyond. Sound familiar? Yeah, in a lot of ways, Big Bang shared the same kind of sensibilities that make AC Comics unique in today’s market- but THEY did it in their own, distinctive way; featuring characters like The KNIGHT WATCHMAN, THUNDER GIRL, The ATOMIC SUB, The BLITZ, and dozens more. Big Bang  is the brainchild of Gary Carlson and Chris Ecker, two comic book creative fanatics who have themselves decades of experience in the field, great storytellers both. The “AC Comics family” goes ‘way back with the Big Bang crew. Mark Heike met Chris  back in 1978 doing fanzines, Stephanie Heike got up with  Gary (back in the days when she was still Stephanie Sanderson) in the 1990’s when she penciled a number of stories for Big Bang Comics , and Mark got to know Gary himself in the late 1990’s when Mr. Carlson was writing the TMNT book for Image, and Heike was inking it as a freelance gig. Well, Gary and Chris had a pretty good run with Big Bang; first at Caliber Comics, and some years at Image, until finally Big Bang got lost in the shuffle a few years ago- gone, but NOT forgotten.

AC has gotten back into contact with Gary and Chris with a plan to bring back Big Bang through AC in 2015, and in April it all starts with Big Bang Universe #1- 80 pages of unpublished, never-before-seen adventures starring that BB fan- favorite The KNIGHT WATCHMAN in a 48-page mini-graphic novel titled “Skeletons In The Closet”, written by Gary Carlson himself, with art by Kerry Talbott in a tour-du-force pitting the ‘WATCHMAN against Hal Owen in a story (and style) startlingly contemporary in tone.

The ‘WATCHMAN’s partner in crimefighting will be in evidence too, as GALAHAD crosses paths with SHUTTERBUG in a solo story titled “Lady In Waiting”, by Gary Carlson and C. B. Burk  that introduces a NEW GALAHAD !!

Then, the female member of the KNIGHT WATCHMAN cast, WATCH GIRL gets center stage in Knight Watchman Adventures, written by Bobby Nash with art by Jeff Austin. That alone may get AC regular fans excited, since Jeff Austin has been a regular illustrator on FEMFORCE for something like about TWELVE YEARS now!! It just so happens that Jeff had ALSO been an artist in the Big Bang stable.

And that is just the beginning, with more to come not only this issue, but in future issues if #1 gets a good response. So all of you old-time Big Bang fans out there, get out and preorder your copy of BIG BANG UNIVERSE #1, and you can be sure there will be more to come. Keep in mind that  this’ll be a whole SEPARATE  world of characters- not in any way related to AC, but likely JUST the sort of thing our regular readers will like. This is NOT a “crossover” of any kind; we won’t be running AC characters in this book, nor will BB characters pop up in FEMFORCE. Since WE in the AC editorial offices are big fans of the BBU, this will be Big Bang Comics 100% directed and driven by Gary and Chris, just as it always was.  We here at AC wouldn’t have it any other way. If you liked what they did before, you should love this, too!  DON’T be intimidated if you’re not familiar with Big Bang or any of their characters- you don’t NEED to be to get in on the fun!  Anyone who  likes rousing good superhero action/adventure stories well-told will enjoy this stuff! Look for Big Bang Universe #1 , 80 pages of all-new  black and white superhero action at standard comic book size, with full-color covers, saddle-stitched- for $9.95,  coming from AC Comics in April 2015. To celebrate the special event that IS the return of BIG BANG to the comic shop shelves, this very exciting premiere issue ships with TWO different cover options- a “standard” KNIGHT WATCHMAN cover version by Kerry Talbott, and a special digitally-painted GALAHAD-LADY IN WAITING design by C. B. Burk.

If you want to be certain of getting the LADY IN WAITING painted cover variant, be sure that your local retailer orders enough copies of this issue- and keep in mind that ordering through Diamond is the ONLY way to receive this variant. If you want to catch up on all things Big Bang before then, be sure to check out their website at www.bigbangcomics.com.
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