Tulsa-born comic-book writer Sterling Gates is headed to deep space in his next assignment, a revamp of the Jack Kirby character Captain Victory for Dynamite Entertainment.

Captain Victory, created by Kirby, was one of the first hits in the direct-market comic-shop environment of the early 1980s, and of course Kirby is perhaps comics’ most prolific creator, responsible for creating or co-creating concepts including the Fourth World, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Captain America.

Gates plans to stay true to the core of the original concept while updating it for modern audiences.

“I went back and found Jack Kirby’s original issues and pored over them, taking extensive notes,” Gates said. “Kirby was in the military for a while, but he didn’t follow any traditional structure for the Rangers or their hierarchy. Deciphering who outranked who and how took a little bit of work, but I think I’ve put most of the pieces together.”

Gates says fans can expect “big, space-opera action with well-defined characters leading the charge.”

Gates said he has an overarching plan in mind for Victory and his crew.

“Victory is the grandson of Blackmass, a malevolent force that was banished outside our universe a long time ago,” Gates said. “Victory was being raised to be his successor, but at some point and for some reason, Victory left. He joined the Galactic Rangers when he was a kid and has been quietly training them to fight Blackmass ever since.”

But Victory finds himself questioned.

“Victory’s actions, however, come in direct conflict with his superiors at Galactic Command, so there’s conflict all around him,” Gates said. “Even his own men question what he does from time to time, and we’re going to get into a lot of that kind of thing across the first couple big stories.”

The first issue of “Captain Victory” is set for release at the end of this month.

Gates is also exploring big action as part of DC Comics’ The New 52, as the writer for “Hawk and Dove.” Two issues of the series are out so far, drawn by “Youngblood” and “X-Force” creator Rob Liefeld.

“I’ve been working on ideas for Hawk & Dove for over a year,” Gates said via Twitter. “Which is nothing compared to Rob, who’s wanted to return to these characters since the ’80s.”

Gates, who also is a musician, will indulge his Smiths fandom in a new writing project. He’s the writer of a story in an upcoming Smiths tribute comic-book anthology, “Unite and Take Over.”

“I read about the project and found the editor, Shawn Demumbrum, on Twitter,” Gates said. “I told him I’d love to take a crack at a story, so we started emailing back and forth. By the end of that chat, I’d pitched him a story inspired by the song ‘William, It Was Really Nothing.’ He loved the idea, I wrote it, and it’s being drawn right now.”

“Unite and Take Over,” which is set for a November release, takes lyrics of songs by the Smiths and interprets them in a new way in comic-book story form. Gates’ story imagines the Smiths’ song as an interpretation of a crime noir-type story.

“It’s a noir-ish story about a detective named William Black,” Gates said. “He’s on the hunt for a man who was responsible for a wedding day massacre in New York City, but he can’t find him. William’s been on the hunt for a couple years, and our story happens just as he’s deciding it’s time to stop looking. And that’s about all I can tell you about it without spoiling it entirely!”

- By Matthew Price
WORD BALLOONS
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Superman and Spider-Man both have big news this week, and Oklahoma writer Sterling Gates is tabbed to write “Captain Victory,” based on the Jack Kirby character, from Dynamite.

FIRST LOOK AT SUPERMAN

Warner Bros. has revealed a first look at Henry Cavill as Superman. He’ll play Clark Kent, aka Superman, in Zack Snyder’s film reboot of Superman, titled “Man of Steel.”
The costume has a beveled appearance and may not include the red shorts so familiar to Superman, also missing from the updated comics costume this fall. The costume appears to show some Jim Lee influence, as well as sort of a 1940s look. It also wouldn’t look out of place alongside Snyder’s “Watchmen” costumes.
The movie, set for a June 14, 2013 release, also will star Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. The evil General Zod will be played by Michael Shannon. Clark Kent’s adoptive parents, Martha and Jonathan Kent, will be played by Diane Lane and Kevin Costner.

NEW SPIDEY
Marvel Comics introduces a new Spider-Man in the pages of “Ultimate Fallout” No. 4, on sale now.
Miles Morales is a half-black, half-Hispanic American teenager inspired to do good after the death of Peter Parker at the hands of the Green Goblin.
A new “Ultimate Spider-Man” No. 1, starring Morales, will release in September.

GATES TO WRITE “CAPTAIN VICTORY”
University of Oklahoma graduate Sterling Gates, who was born in Tulsa, will take on the writing reins of “Kirby Genesis: Captain Victory.” “Captain Victory” was first published by Pacific Comics from 1981-1984.
“Captain Victory and His Galactic Rangers was one of the first books Jack Kirby wrote and drew outside of DC Comics and Marvel — making it one of the first creator-owned books in comic history — and I’m exceptionally proud to be continuing Victory’s story,” Gates said in a news release. “Fans of Kirby’s original Pacific Comics series will recognize these classic Kirby characters and concepts, but we’re going to be doing our best to present the Rangers in a bold and exciting way for today’s audience.”

REVIEW FILE: G.I. Joe #4, The Infinite #1, Severed #1, Ultimate Fallout #4
Comics read in 2011: 1,133 Still to go: 878

- Matt Price

After making nearly $100 million at the box office, “Green Hornet,” which stars Seth Rogen and Jay Chou, will come to DVD in May.

Dynamite Entertainment, which provided a comic-book prequel to the film among its “Green Hornet” line of comics, follows up on the storyline of the film with “Green Hornet: Aftermath,” written by Kansas-based writer Jai Nitz.

The series follows the continuing adventures of Green Hornet and Kato as a power struggle for control over drug trafficking in Los Angeles turns violent. The first issue was released earlier this month.

Nitz, 35, interviewed recently at Planet Comicon in Overland Park, Kan., said he got his start at Dynamite through the recommendation of his mentor, Phil Hester.

“When ‘Green Hornet’ came about, they were launching multiple titles … they wanted people they could trust,” he said. Nitz writes “Kato Origins” for the publisher, which spun out from Matt Wagner’s “Green Hornet: Year One.”

“Matt was very supportive in helping me get off the ground with the book (“Kato Origins”), from his “Year One,” doing a spinoff of it and being very much on the same page,” he said.

Nitz also was named the key writer in the movie continuity for Dynamite.

“I was brought on to do the movie-continuity books,” Nitz said. “I got to read the script, and I got to write a prequel to the movie.”

It’s not the first movie-based comic written by Nitz, who also wrote the comic-book story “Tron: Betrayal,” that filled the gap between the original “Tron” and last year’s film “Tron: Legacy.”

The creative team of the “Green Hornet” prequel, called “Parallel Lives,” was Nitz and artist Nigel Raynor. They’ll reunite on “Aftermath.” The first “Aftermath” issue is priced at $1.99, a dollar less than a typical Dynamite title, to try to hook fans of the movie on following the characters’ continuing adventures.

Nitz also will be writing adventures of the Green Hornet in the “Golden Age,” based on the original conception of the character. He’ll follow Wagner, who established the “Green Hornet: Year One” series.

“It’s very inspirational working with Matt (Wagner),” Nitz said. “He’s got three Eisner (Awards); he’s an extraordinarily gifted creator.”

Each Hornet must accurately reflect its time period — the modern era for the movie-based comics, and the 1930s and 1940s for the “Year One” comics — but Nitz enjoys both assignments. He also has more projects at Dynamite that he expects to be announced in the coming months.

“I’m very firmly entrenched in the family of Green Hornet books at Dynamite, but I’m also doing a ton of other stuff at Dynamite,” Nitz said. “It’s a good home to have right now.”

- By Matthew Price
WORD BALLOONS
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Art by Jack Herbert and Alex Ross from "Kirby: Genesis."

DALLAS — On the same night that the late artist Jack Kirby was honored by the ComicsPRO comic-book retailer trade organization, Dynamite Entertainment publisher Nick Barrucci announced new details on the upcoming “Kirby: Genesis” series from Dynamite Entertainment.

Kirby, co-creator of characters including Captain America, Thor, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, was given the Memorial ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation Award for those who have passed away and left an indelible mark on the profession of comic-book specialty retailing.

Bob Chapman of Graphitti Designs accepted the Memorial Award on behalf of the Kirby family and spoke of Kirby’s dedication to the growing direct market in the 1980s, when he created the characters of Silver Star and Captain Victory at publisher Pacific Comics.

Those two characters, plus more, will return in “Kirby: Genesis,” by the “Marvels” creative team of writer Kurt Busiek and painter Alex Ross, joined by artist Jack Herbert.

“The best part about this is not only are Kurt and Alex co-plotting it; not only is Kurt writing it; not only is Alex doing thumbnails and helping to draw it; he’ll also be painting interiors on the book,” Barrucci said at the meeting.

Barrucci described the teaming of Ross and Busiek as their most substantial collaboration since the Eisner Award-winning “Marvels” in 1993.

In “Kirby: Genesis,” the Pioneer 10 space probe carried a message to the stars. Now an answer’s on the way — but not one that was expected. When it arrives, the lives of three ordinary people — and the entire world — will be changed forever.

New, previously unseen Jack Kirby creations will debut in this series, which will kick off with a 32-page $1 issue in May.

“I’m delighted to see how the artwork’s developing, from Kirby’s designs to Alex’s layouts to Jack Herbert’s artwork. Jack’s a terrific draftsman and storyteller, and he’s doing a really sweet job bringing the story to life,” writer Kurt Busiek said in a news release. “His work also meshes well with Alex’s, which goes beyond just layout, since there are various sequences in the story where Alex is doing fully painted art, including some where Jack’s line art and Alex’s painting are merged together. It’s a terrifically effective combination.”

Dynamite editor said Alex Ross’ artwork would appear throughout the series, in combination with Herbert’s.

“I’m satisfying my desire to get inside the story more by doing some full pages, panels, layouts and even some figures that will only be seen as paintings by me,” Ross said in a news release. “The excitement is that much greater when you’re working with such an amazing artist as Jack.”

Herbert said for his part, he hopes this project exposes the work of Kirby to new audiences.

“I’m very honored to be able to be part of this project. It’s such a huge honor for me, who grew up seeing the King’s art,” Herbert said in a news release. “Not to mention the opportunity to work with such talented comics masters as Alex and Kurt. I hope that with this series the new generation of comic readers fall in love with such amazing universe of characters that only the fruitful mind of Jack ‘The King’ Kirby could create.”

- by Matthew Price
From Wednesday’s The Oklahoman

Dynamite Entertainment has announced that its Buck Rogers series will conclude in May with issue No. 12.  In the concluding chapter of “Moonfall,” written by Scott Beatty and drawn by Carlos Rafael, Buck and his allies discover that the greatest threat to Earth is neither aliens nor warring city-states, but from a Lunar “separatist” colony that has the most dangerous (and simplest) weapon ever devised, according to Dynamite’s release.

“‘Buck Rogers’ #12 is the grand finale to “Season One” of the Dynamite series,” said writer Scott Beatty in the news release. “And as befitting a season capper for this series, it’s chock full of action, double-crosses, and sci-fi intrigue on the Moon! There’s an ending, a beginning, and a close encounter that Buck NEVER imagined as the past finally catches up with him in the 25th century!”

Buck Rogers made his first newspaper appearance January 7, 1929 and was repopularized in the late 1970s/early 1980s in a television program starring Gil Gerard and Erin Gray.

- Matt Price

Click past the cut for the Carlos Rafael cover to “Buck Rogers” #12

Dynamite has added a new character to its stable. According to a news release, Dynamite has bought the character of Vampirella, which will become part of its publishing lineup.

Vampirella debuted in 1969 in a black & white magazine titled “Vampirella” with a cover by Frank Frazetta.  The scantily clad horror icon has been written by some of comics best-known names including Alan Moore, Mark Millar, Grant Morrision and James Robinson.

“Vampirella is one of the most well known and longest running comic characters in the history of the business,” said Dynamite president Nick Barrucci in a release.  “Outside of Marvel and DC characters, very few comics characters that debuted in the 60′s still resonate with fans today. Our acquisition of this iconic brand is another step in Dynamite’s exciting growth and builds on the ongoing success of our line.”

Vampirella has had periods of high sales and interest – especially during the “bad girl” period of the late 1990s.  And Dynamite has done a good job of taking characters with a high level of name recognition — like the Lone Ranger — and turning that into a profitable comic-book series.   I think this seems like a good move from Dynamite.

- Matt Price

Alex Ross returns for “Project Superpowers” Chapter 2, launching from Dynamite in June.  The popular painter will paint ever cover of “Project Superpowers,” and will plot and direct the entire “Project Superpowers” universe.

Writer Jim Krueger returns to the series, joined by two artists: Edgar Salazar and Doug Klauba.  Salazar will draw the main story; Klauba paints a special painted origin sequence in each issue. He’ll kick things off with an origin of the Black Terror.

Issue #0 of chapter 2 will launch in June for a $1 retail price.

- Matt Price

See the full release after the break.

Ross and Krueger Continue Best-Selling Series from Dynamite in Full Size Comic Book featuring 32 pages of story and art for Just $1.00!

The next exciting chapter of Dynamite Entertainment’s PROJECT SUPERPOWERS begins this June! And, following up on the success of the first PROJECT SUPERPOWERS SERIES – quick Dynamite plug – Available in Hardcover at your local comics reatiler and in TPB in May, PROJECT SUPERPOWER Chapter Two is debuting with a full-size 32 page introductory priced #0 issue! Featuring 20 pages of original story and art, as well as a special two-page painted Origin sequence of the Black Terror for a total of 22 pages! And best of all, issue #0 features three connecting covers – forming one amazing and powerful image – by Alex Ross!

Alex Ross tackles every cover on Project Superpowers Chapter 2, and he brings this comic to the fans from beginning to end — plotting and art-directing the entire PROJECT SUPERPOWERS universe! Writer Jim Krueger is back on board and joined series by up and coming artist extraordinaire Edgar (DEATH-DEFYING ‘DEVIL) Salazar! Painter and artist Doug Klauba rounds out the Chapter two creative team with a special painted origin sequence in each and every issue of the series – first up, The Black Terror!

“We’ve been working hard to continue the action, intrigue and excitement we started in chapter One, as Joe in my office stated, and to quote George Lucas “Faster, More Intense, more Power in every scene”!” said Dynamite President and Publisher Nick Barrucci. “Volume one dealt with quite a bit of introduction of the characters, with character build up. Now, Alex, Jim and Dynamite Editorial have ratcheted this new series up past full volume as we continue to explore the nature of power, and loss!”

This full-size, 32-page comic features 22 pages of story and art, INCLUDING two page origin sequence of the Black Terror by Doug Klauba (each issue of Chapter Two will feature extra content like the Origins sequences)! PROJECT SUPERPOWERS: CHAPTER TWO picks up from the events of CHAPTER ONE as the newly returned heroes have set out on a quest to use their newfound freedom to return the world to the power of the people, while facing the shadowy Supremacy and the unlikely foes of the Inheritors! Dynamite, Alex Ross and Jim Krueger have built up the SUPERPOWERS universe… now watch it be torn down! All for $1.00!

PROJECT SUPERPOWERS: CHAPTER TWO #0
Alex Ross, Jim Krueger (W),
Edgar Salazar (main story) (A)
Doug Klauba (painted Black Terror origin story)
Three Connecting Covers: Alex Ross, Sneak Peek Cover: Alex Ross
Price: $1.00

WORD BALLOONS
Writer Scott Beatty and artist Carlos Rafael will create the new adventures of Buck Rogers, under covers from John Cassaday (“Astonishing X-Men”).

“Buck is a sci-fi icon. We wouldn’t have ‘Star Trek’ or ‘Star Wars’ or many of the familiar trappings of the genre without the trails blazed by Buck with his trusty ray-gun and jet-pack,” Beatty said in a news release.

Buck Rogers started in the pulps in 1928, as Anthony Rogers in the story Armageddon 2419 by Philip Francis Nowlan. Rogers moved to the comic strips the next year, when he gained a new first name, Buck, and an artist, Richard Calkins, according to Don Markstein’s Toonopedia.

Buck Rogers is an accomplished pilot who is frozen in suspended animation for 500 years. He awakens in the 25th Century to a new world. He befriends Wilma Deering and Dr. Huer, and joins Earth’s defenders, as the planet is under siege from an alien force.

Buster Crabbe, who previously played Flash Gordon, brought Buck Rogers to movie screens in 1939 as part of a motion picture serial. The character briefly appeared on television in the 1950s; the comic strip ended in 1967.

But that wasn’t Buck’s last gasp. The success of “Star Wars” – which was partially inspired by “Buck Rogers” – brought Buck back to cinemas in 1979. The film, starring Gil Gerard, was followed by a TV series. These episodes are now available for viewing online at www.hulu.com/buck-rogers.

The series lasted two seasons. The comic book based on the series was published by Gold Key for three years, according to Toonopedia, and a new newspaper strip ran through 1983. Other than a brief revival in the early 1990s, it’s been mostly quiet for Buck since then. Dynamite aims to change that.

“We’re planning Buck’s launch to be one of our biggest of 2009, one that will propel him into the comics future,” Dynamite President Nick Barrucci said in a news release.

And Buck may grace the big screen again, as well: According to a December article in The Hollywood Reporter, “The Spirit” director Frank Miller was in talks to bring “Buck Rogers” to movie theaters.

By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Greg Elwell, Kyle Roberts and Matt Price talk about “Wolverine: First Class,” #1 ”Secret History of the Authority – Hawksmoor” #1, “Army of Darkness/Xena: Why Not” #1 and “Transhuman” #1 on this week’s comics podcast at newsok.com.

About “Secret History of the Authority: Hawksmoor” #1:  

Matt Price: I thought this had a decent feel with what you had of the early “Authority.”

Greg Elwell: Well, maybe … There are some good ideas in there. I certainly enjoyed Hawksmoor using the city to fight the robot, but, I dunno. The love story aspect – I wish there was one or the other.  But the nice thing is, a lot of characterization.

—

About “Wolverine: First Class”:

Kyle Roberts:  I liked it. It’s kind of the early 80s X-Men.  I really like all the facial expressions from Shadowcat and Wolverine, and the personality that shows through for both of them. … It’s written very well.

—

About “Army of Darkness/Xena”:

Greg Elwell:  I was not ever a huge Xena the Warrior Princess fan … when I did tune in, I’ll tell you the reason I did tune in: Bruce Campbell. … John Layman has done a really great job here by taking a couple of pretty wacky ideas and going full-tilt with them.

Matt Price: They’re taking it kind of tongue in cheek, and I think that’s the way to do it.

Greg Elwell: It’s an “A” in my book.

—

About “Transhuman” #1:

Matt Price: This is my favorite thing (Hickman) has done so far.  It’s about two companies that are both trying to build the next generation of humans. … I really wanted to read more.