PRO SE PRODUCTIONS LICENSES BILL BLACK'S
AC COMICS CHARACTERS FOR PROSE ADVENTURES!
Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher of Genre Fiction, proudly announces a new licensing relationship with one of the best known names in independent comic books in the last 40 years. Beginning in 2016, Pro Se will be publishing the adventures of Paragon, DarkShade, FemForce, and an entire plethora of four-color heroes and villains from the pages of AC Comics, thanks to a licensing arrangement with AC’s founder Bill Black and his company, Nightveil Media.
“This,” says Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions, “is in many ways a fan dream come true for me. I was, as a kid in the 1980s, the only comic collector my age, I thought, with any interest in the Golden Age characters. When AC Comics began reviving some of those characters and a whole slew inspired by that era, it meant the world to me. To be able to say that, thanks to the suggestion of writer Barry Reese and the wonderful working relationship we’ve already established with Bill Black, Pro Se will be bringing those wonderful characters with such vivid histories to life in prose is not just a fantastic business move. It makes the ten year old kid reading comics in me jump up and down with joy.”
“Each of these characters,” continues Hancock, “still has pages and pages of stories to tell. And Pro Se has access to writers who grew up with these heroes, who understand what it takes to bring a comic character to life in Pulp Fiction. Translating comic characters to the Pulp page adds a certain edge, a visceral expression to them that I think lends itself well to Bill’s awesome cast of players.”
Evolving in 1982 out of Bill Black’s Paragon Publications, AC Comics® (Americomics in it’s first year of existence only, AC since 1984) was one of the initial quartet of independent color comics companies who pioneered the direct sales phenomenon in the early ’80’s. Within the framework of the four hundred-plus books AC has released, multitalented publishing maverick Bill Black has introduced a plethora of his own fascinating characters. From his new-wave super-hero universe of the companies’ early years (when costumed defenders like Captain Paragon, Commando D, The Scarlet Scorpion and Bolt gave readers an alternative to Marvel and DC fare) grew AC’s best known feature — The Femforce, Comicdom’s first and only successful all-female super-team book. In 1997, Femforce became the 229th comic book ever to pass the one hundred issue mark, and spawned an ever-increasing circle of spin-offs, support books and licensed merchandise.
A unique, eclectic and personal blend of tastes and influences have led publisher Bill Black to construct an engrossing matrix of fun and interesting comics and related publications. And now that creativity takes on new life in hands of today’s best Genre Fiction authors in new prose tales from Pro Se Productions!
"I'm truly excited,” says Bill Black, “about a new line of novels to be written about my comic book characters. This will open new vistas for Paragon, Nightveil, Femforce, and so many others. Comics and even the movies cannot come close to the in-depth characterization that novelization will bring. Prose adventures is something I've always wanted to do but never had the time. Pro Se, with talented writers like Barry Reese, will do it far better, so this promises to be an amazing joint venture. I can't wait to read the first book!"
Even though the slate of AC characters is wide and varied and will be explored over time in various Pro Se volumes, the initial collections and books will focus on Paragon, Nightveil, DarkShade, and FemForce. Other characters that may show up in the first year of this arrangement include the Latigo Kid, The Black Shroud, The Haunter, and Alizarin Crimson. Hancock states that the first call for submissions would likely go out in late August/Early September 2015 with the focus for publication to begin in 2016.
For interviews with either Hancock or Black or to learn more about this project, contact Hancock at editorinchief@prose-press.com.
For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions. Discover all you need to know about AC Comics at www.acccomics.com. ;.
Replies
While it is a writing challenge to tell superhero tales in a straight prose medium (as people such as Roger Stern, Dennis O'Neil, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and a host of others can attest from past DC and Marvel efforts), there is a growing interest in caped adventurers within the small press venues.
Nick Ahlhelm is currently self-publishing his own superhero Lightweight. Van Allen Plexico has his long running Sentinels team through his White Rocket Press imprint, and I'm currently working on a sequel to my own superhero Alpha for Pro Se Productions. Project Alpha, Book 2: Wayward Son will more than likely be a 2016 release, although I am writing as fast as humanly possible.
Those listed in the previous paragraph are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There is even a whole group dedicated to straight prose superheroes called the Pen and Cape Society at http://penandcapesociety.com/
So why all the interest in telling such adventures in what has in the past been traditionally a visual medium?
Varying opinions on the quality and status of the comic book medium. Wanting to tell stories in the more classic traditions of the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age(s) instead of whatever passes for a tale nowadays. The desire to see your own creation(s) in print when the established companies are basically "closed shops".
The reasons are just as diverse as the characters and creators involved.
So go check out a straight prose superhero or two today. You'll be glad you did.
...So , what what were the other trio in this initial quartet of " kicking off the eighties " companies ??? If that's supposed to be " a well-establihed fan/comics history truism/saying " I ain't hoid'a it none , noper :--...
Intrying to find apulp-style\
wayto render in prose the adventures of the Femforce , say , will they be checking out vintage SPICY pulps and the like to try & translate into picyureless fiction..." that " aspect of the Black titles ???
(" Her breasts
bulged at their covering , fairly threatening to break their bounds , as the nipples at their end showed..." :-() !!)
I suppose this may be deleted , but hey , guys , c'mon !!!!!!!!!!! Didn't that come to YOUR mind ?
I'd betcha a bagged n boarded DRENCED DAMSELS No. 1 , were I a betting man.........
There's also the fact in a prose book you don't have to find and pay for an artist.
Not so graphic but the 70s prose novels would describe Sue or Wanda or Jean Grey's figures when they were first introduced.
I very rarely ever bought any AC Comics, especially the reprints, because they were so expensive. Ten dollars for 48 black and white pages of Redmask isn't a good deal.
Pro Se Press also has a deal with Heroic Publishing to make books on Flare, and, I'd guess, Champions.
The other companies back then I remember were Eclipse, First, and I think Comico, although I never bought any of those except Kurt Busiek's Liberty Project from Eclipse. Still hoping he'll go back to that team some day.
That's fascinating, Lee. I had no idea these characters existed, and now I'm curious to know more!