Several months ago, it was revealed that the Red Circle heroes would be relaunched in 2015 under the new brand "Dark Circle Comics". The first wave of heroes to see their own titles will be The Shield, The Fox, and The Black Hood (check them out in Francesco Francavilla's NYCC poster above). For those waiting patiently for more details, I can now tell you that David Williams will be the regular artist on "The Shield" and Jose Villarrubia will lend his pencils to "The Fox".
Dark Circle editor Alex Segura had the following to say about the tone of the line:
"They're very different tonally, but overall, the creators we've assembled are a great group of people to work with -- across the board. "The Black Hood" is a dark, dark book, but Duane and Michael couldn't be more easygoing and professional. Chuck and Adam are overflowing with ideas on a regular basis, and Dean and Mark are always a pleasure. It's really made getting the books rolling easy, at least in the sense that I know the work will be great and often better than expected. I'd be remiss if I didn't give props to Rachel Deering and John Workman, doing the letters on "The Black Hood" and "Shield" and "Fox," respectively, and Kelly Fitzpatrick handling colors on "Hood" and "Shield." Class acts, all around. I also have to give a big high five to the entire team at Archie. Our Publisher/Co-CEO Jon Goldwater has been extremely supportive, and I've had the pleasure of bouncing ideas off our CCO Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who happens to write a little book titled "Afterlife With Archie." Never hurts to have his input. Our President Mike Pellerito's also been a great resource. And I doubt I would be able to make the transition from publicist to editor without the help of Editor Paul Kaminski, who's been a huge resource when it comes to navigating the wild waters of comic book editing, while also line editing "The Fox" series.
"The books themselves have become more "real," for lack of a better term. We've got scripts in, pencils and inks and more already in the pipeline, and each book has started to develop its own personality. "The Black Hood" is really an intense, dark crime book with a completely flawed narrator -- a superhero noir that's heavy on the latter and light on the traditional superheroics. "The Shield" has really gained depth and a wider scope in terms of showing where our country is and how it would benefit from a hero like The Shield appearing now, in arguably our greatest time of need. And while I loved the first "Fox" mini, Dean and Mark have really pushed the story forward with Fox Hunt -- now paired with new colorist Jose Villarubia!"
Before I go, I'll provide you with some official descriptions for each title. Stay tuned for more possible details coming out of New York Comic Con.
THE BLACK HOOD is a gritty, noir crime thriller written by Duane Swierczynski with artwork by Michael Gaydos presenting the Black Hood as an urban vigilante.
THE SHIELD features a new and different incarnation of the classic character in a superhero action-adventure story by Adam Christopher, Chuck Wendig, and David Williams.
THE FOX by Dean Haspiel, Mark Waid, and Jose Villarrubia, will follow the crazy and entertaining adventures of Paul Patton Jr in his attempts to fight crime in Impact City.