FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
AHOY Comics Announces DRAGONFLY & DRAGONFLYMAN,
From the Pages of the Acclaimed Comic Book Magazine THE WRONG EARTH
The Inaugural AHOY Comics Free Comic Book Day Issue Features
Stories from Tom Peyer, Russ Braun, Stuart Moore, June Brigman, and Roy Richardson;
A Cartoon by Hunt Emerson; a Cover by Jamal Igle; and More
#ExpectMore
December 20, 2018) AHOY Comics—the startup publisher that pledged for readers to “expect more” from its line of comic book magazines in 2018— will publish its inaugural Free Comic Book Day issue in 2019. From the pages of the breakout hit comic book magazine THE WRONG EARTH by writer Tom Peyer and artists Jamal Igle and Juan Castro, comes DRAGONFLY & DRAGONFLYMAN by Peyer, artist Russ Braun and colorist Andy Troy. On gritty Earth-Omega, Dragonfly prowls the darkness for his evil prey; on sun-splashed Earth-Alpha, Dragonflyman protects the status quo. DRAGONFLY & DRAGONFLYMAN will be available at participating comic book stores on Free Comic Book Day, Saturday May 4th, 2019.
"Whether you like your masked vigilantes violent or reasonable, alienated or all-in, sticking it to the man or saluting the flag, there's something in DRAGONFLY & DRAGONFLYMAN for you,” said Peyer, AHOY Comics’ Editor-in-Chief. “And it’s free!”
Like all AHOY Comics Book Magazines, DRAGONFLY & DRAGONFLYMAN will feature an assortment of extras, including:
- An early adventure of space hero CAPTAIN GINGER... from when he was a kitten, by writer Stuart Moore (Deadpool the Duck, Batman: Noir Alley) artist June Brigman (Power Pack), inker Roy Richardson and colorist Veronica Gandini;
- A a brand new cartoon by Hunt Emerson, in which Edgar Allan Poe battles his nemesis, the Black Cat;
- A new prose piece by Hart Seely;
- A cover by WRONG EARTH artist Jamal Igle.
“It’s been an incredible first year for AHOY Comics, and everyone involved wanted to give back something to our fans and provide an entry point for new readers,” said Captain Ginger co-creator Stuart Moore, freelance writer and AHOY Comics “Dark Ops” Manager. “So this book features a wholly self-contained Dragonfly/Dragonflyman story, plus a plethora of bonus stories.”
Since its launch in May of 2018, AHOY Comics has been shaking up the publishing industry with a bold new format: comic book magazines. The startup company is the brainchild of Publisher Hart Seely, an award-winning reporter whose humor and satire has appeared in The New York Times and on National Public Radio; two original editors of DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint, Tom Peyer and Stuart Moore; and Chief Creative Officer Frank Cammuso. The comic book magazines feature traditional, full length comic book stories all accompanied by extra material, including prose fiction by writer Grant Morrison (Happy!), cartoons by Shannon Wheeler (God is Disappointed In You), poems by Hart Seely (Bard of the Deal: The Poetry of Donald Trump), and traditional comic book back up stories.
Timed to the release of DRAGONFLY & DRAGONFLYMAN #1, AHOY Comics will publish THE WRONG EARTH Volume 1 Trade Paperback, collecting the critically acclaimed lead stories, all the original back-features featuring Stinger, Dragonflyman & Dragonfly, plus a generous selection of AHOY text-feature extras, including a prose story by comics legend Grant Morrison: ‘HUD’ HORNET’S HOLIDAY IN HELL, illustrated by best-selling artist Rob Steen, and a cartoon by Shannon Wheeler. THE WRONG EARTH Volume 1 Trade Paperback will be available in comic book stores on May 1, 2019 and in bookstores later that month.
“Our mission when we launched AHOY was to make the best comic book magazines on the planet,” said Hart Seely. “We’re not here for money or movies. We’re a publisher and we’re thrilled that Free Comic Book Day will make it easier for people across the country to read these stories. And just wait till you see what we’ve got coming up in our Second Wave of titles!”
For additional information and interview requests, contact:
David Hyde
Superfan Promotions LLC
About The Creators:
June Brigman has enjoyed a long and varied career as a cartoonist, drawing such comic book titles as Alpha Flight, Supergirl, and Star Wars. She is the co-creator (with Louise Simonson) of the Power Pack series from Marvel Comics, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. Assisted by her husband inker/colorist Roy Richardson, she illustrated the Brenda Starr comic strip for 15 years, and has drawn many educational comics, as well as doing freelance illustrations for Horse & Rider magazine. June and Roy also draw the long-running “Mary Worth” comic strip. Her online portfolio can be seen at www.ArtWanted.com/juneart.
Frank Cammuso is the author/illustrator of the graphic novel series The Misadventures of Salem Hyde from Amulet Books. He also created the graphic novel series Knights of the Lunch Table from Graphix/Scholastic. Frank drew the comic Otto’s Orange Day and Otto’s Backwards Day for Toon-Books. He also wrote and drew his self-published graphic novel Max Hamm Fairy Tale Detective, for which he received an Eisner nomination. Frank is the former award-winning political cartoonist for The Post-Standard newspaper in Syracuse, NY. His cartoons have been reprinted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and Newsweek. He has written fiction and satire with his good friend Hart Seely. Their work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Slate, and on National Public Radio. He’s the co-author of 2007-Eleven and Other American Comedies.
Paul Constant is a co-founder of The Seattle Review of Books. He has written for The Progressive, Newsweek, Re/Code, the Utne Reader, the Los Angeles Times, the Seattle Times, the New York Observer, and many North American alternative weeklies. Paul has worked in the book business for two decades, starting as a bookseller (originally at Borders Books and Music, then at Boston’s grand old Brattle Bookshop and Seattle’s own Elliott Bay Book Company) and then becoming a literary critic. Formerly the books editor for the Stranger, Paul is now a fellow at Civic Ventures, a public policy incubator based out of Seattle.
Hunt Emerson has drawn cartoons and comic strips since the early 1970s. He has published around 30 comic books and albums, mainly with Knockabout Comics (London), including Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Casanova's Last Stand, and Dante’s Inferno. His latest books are Calculus Cat, a hilarious collection of stories about The Cat That Hates Television, Hot Jazz, a collection of jazz-flavoured comics featuring Max Zillion and his saxophone Alto Ego, and Bloke’s Progress, a graphic novel based on the unlikely subject of Victorian art critic and philosopher John Ruskin. In 2000 Hunt was chosen for inclusion in the exhibition The 75 Grand Masters of European Comic Art by the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and the CNBDI, Angouleme. Alongside his comics work, Hunt has wide experience in hosting cartoon and comics workshops. His work has been seen in countless magazines, ranging from Radio Times to Fortean Times; from The Wall Street Journal to The Beano. He is also a qualified t’ai chi instructor. You can see and buy his work on his website- largecow.com
Veronica Gandini's color work has appeared in books from DC Entertainment, Marvel, Image Comics, BOOM! Studios, Arcana, Ape Entertainment, and Atlantis Studios.
Jamal Igle is a recipient of the 2011 Inkpot Award for outstanding achievement in Comic Art, industry veteran Jamal Igle is the writer/artist/creator of Molly Danger for Action Lab Entertainment; the co-creator of Venture with writer Jay Faerber; and the artist of the series Black from Black Mask Studios.
Jamal's detailed pencils have graced books as varied as The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the all-ages action miniseries Race Against Time, and mainstream hits such as G.I.Joe, Iron Man, Spider- Man and Green Lantern. Jamal has penciled popular runs on Firestorm the Nuclear Man, Nightwing, Tangent: Superman's Reign, Superman, Supergirl,and Zatanna for DC Comics; Noble Causesfor Image Comics; and New Warriors for Marvel Comics. He's acted on the small screen, done voiceovers for commercials, packaged books for Scholastic, and drawn storyboards for Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles and Max Steel: MX1 for Sony Animation. Jamal is also a popular guest lecturer on the subjects of comics and animation.
Todd Klein’s comics career began in 1977 when he was hired to work in the DC Comics production department. During ten years on staff there, Todd tried many kinds of freelance work including writing (Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, The Omega Men), inking and coloring, but found lettering suited him best, and developed a freelance career as a letterer and logo designer. Todd learned from and was inspired by the work of Gaspar Saladino, John Workman, John Costanza, Tom Orzechowski, and other letterers then working in comics. After leaving staff in 1987, Todd continued to work mainly for DC, but also for Marvel, Dark Horse, Disney, Gladstone, Image and many other companies, doing lettering and logo designs. Through the years he’s lettered over 65,000 comics pages and covers and designed over 800 logos. Todd has been presented with 16 Eisner Awards for Best Lettering, as well as 8 Harvey Awards and other honors. Recent projects include Sandman Overture with Neil Gaiman and J.H. Williams III, Starstruck with Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill, and logos for AHOY Comics' THE WRONG EARTH, HIGH HEAVEN, HASHTAG: DANGER, CAPTAIN GINGER, and EDGAR ALLAN POE'S SNIFTER OF TERROR. You can learn more at his website: kleinletters.com.
Stuart Moore is a writer, a book editor, and an award-winning comics editor. His recent comics writing includes Deadpool the Duck (Marvel), Batman: Noir Alley (DC/Turner Classic Movies), and EGOs (Image). Recent novels include three volumes of The Zodiac Legacy, a Disney series created and cowritten by Stan Lee, and Thanos: Death Sentence (Marvel). Other comics work includes Wolverine Noir and Namor: The First Mutant (Marvel); Supergirl/Jesse Quick: The Fastest Women Alive and Firestorm (DC Comics); assorted Star Trek and Transformers projects; and the original science-fiction graphic novels Earthlight, PARA, Shadrach Stone, and Mandala. Prose writing includes the novel version of Marvel’s Civil War and John Carter: The Movie Novelization. Stuart has also served as freelance editor of Marvel Comics’ prose novel line. In the past, he has been a book editor at St. Martin’s Press and editor of the Virgin Comics / SciFi Channel and Marvel Knights comics imprints. At DC Comics, he was an original editor of the acclaimed Vertigo imprint, where he won both the Will Eisner award for Best Editor and the Don Thompson Award for Favorite Editor.
Grant Morrison, MBE is a Scottish comic book writer and playwright. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and countercultural leanings in his runs on titles including DC Comics' Animal Man, Batman, JLA, Action Comics, All-Star Superman, and Doom Patrol; Vertigo's The Invisibles; Marvel Comics' New X-Men and Marvel Boy; and Fleetway's 2000 AD. He is also the co-creator of the Syfy TV series Happy! starring Christopher Meloni and Patton Oswalt.
Tom Peyer was a long-running writer on DC's Legion of Super-Heroes, an original editor at their Vertigo imprint, and the proud writer of their worst-selling, award-losing series Hourman. He has since written enough major characters to fill one of those hyper-populated superhero posters where you don't know who to look at first. Today he happily writes and edits AHOY Comics from his Ditkoesque office in Downtown Syracuse, NY.
Roy Richardson was inspired to pursue a comics career by the work of Jack Kirby, the ground breaking Fourth World series in particular. He has worked for all the major publishers, on such books as Captain America, Iron Man, the Flash, Star Wars, and his own co-creation, the Tomorrow Knights, which has been adapted into a roleplaying game from ZMan Games. He also worked for 15 years in collaboration with his wife, June Brigman, inking, lettering and coloring the Brenda Starr comic strip. The pair have recently taken over the artistic reins of the long-running Mary Worth comic strip. Roy is also hard at work on his first book of short stories, entitled "Hillbillies Prefer Blondes," tales of growing up in the South in the 1970's. His online portfolio can be seen at www.ArtWanted.com/royart.
Hart Seely is a former award-winning reporter and author. His humor and satire have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, McSweeney’s, National Lampoon, Politico and on National Public Radio. He is the editor of three collections of “found poetry;” Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld, Bard of the Deal: The Poetry of Donald Trump and (with Tom Peyer) O Holy Cow! The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto. Seely lives in Syracuse, New York.
Rob Steen is the illustrator of Flanimals, the best-selling series of children’s books written by Ricky Gervais: Flanimals, More Flanimals, Flanimals of the Deep, Flanimals: Day of the Bletchling and Flanimals Pop-Up. The third book in the series, Flanimals of the Deep, won the Galaxy British Book Award in 2007 for Children’s Book of the Year. He lives in New York with his wife Jill and cat Minnie.
Andy Troy has colored for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Extreme Studios, and others, working on such characters as Spawn, Batman, Captain America and Iron Fist. He lives and works in Hunsville, AL, where he used to play in the metal band Diamond White.
