Archie Comics: Dark Circle Comics (2015)

[Dylan Davison]

Here is another great review, from Bloody Disgusting this time: (May have spoilers)

The Black Hood Review From Bloody Disgusting: 5 out of 5 Skulls

[Dylan Davison]

May Solicitations for Dark Circle!

May:

4399732-theshield#2.jpg
THE SHIELD #2
NEW ONGOING SERIES FROM DARK CIRCLE!
“Daughter of the Revolution, Part 2”
Running out of places to hide, the Shield discovers she is not without allies. Detective Nicole Simmons seems to know exactly who—and what—the Shield is, but with the enigmatic government agent Walter Chase closing the noose, the pair face two difficult questions: why is the Shield back now… and whose side is she really on?
Script: Adam Christopher and Chuck Wendig
Art: David Williams, Gary Martin, Rachel Deering, Kelly Fitzpatrick
Cover: David Williams
Variant Cover: Wilfredo Torres
Variant Cover: Evan Shaner
Variant Cover: Steve Rude
On Sale Date: 5/20
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.

4399734-blackhood#4ffvar.jpg
THE BLACK HOOD #4
NEW ONGOING SERIES FROM DARK CIRCLE!
“Bullet’s Kiss, Part 4”
The Connection’s lieutenants have discovered the identity of the new Black Hood. And now Greg Hettinger has only 24 hours to unmask their boss—the man who set Greg up! As the badly-injured Black Hood struggles to piece together the puzzle, he’s forced to put his faith in a woman who could end up saving him… or sending him straight to the slammer!
Script: Duane Swierczynski
Art: Michael Gaydos, Rachel Deering, Kelly Fitzpatrick
Cover: Francesco Francavilla
Variant Cover: David Mack
Variant Cover: Howard Chaykin
Variant Cover: Bill Sienkiewicz
On Sale Date: 5/27
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.

June:

4399739-fox#3dino.jpg
THE FOX #3
NEW ONGOING SERIES FROM DARK CIRCLE!
“Fox Hunt, Part 3—The Devil You Know”:
Just as The Fox was through being a superhero, his son was putting the final touches on a gift for his dad—a sidekick. Enter: Kitsune—the Ghost Fox! But unbeknownst to father and son, a criminal mastermind has just put a million dollar bounty on the Fox's head. Now our hero must make sure his son isn't killed by an entire city filled with villains, including some familiar faces out for vengeance! Emmy award-winning artist Dean Haspiel and Eisner Award-winning writer Mark Waid bring you the next chapter in Dark Circle's most twisted tale yet! Featuring variant cover art from Chris Samnee and Steve Rude!
Plot: Dean Haspiel
Art: Dean Haspiel, John Workman and Jose Villarubia
Script: Mark Waid
Cover: Dean Haspiel
Fox-Hunted Variant Cover: Steve Rude
Prowling Variant Cover: Chris Samnee
Hunter and Prey Variant Cover: T.Rex
On Sale Date: 6/10
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.

The covers for these look great again! I am going to get the main covers for each three. And maybe one of the variants for The Shield. The Shield #2 sounds great, can't wait till issue #1 comes out in April!

[Javasaurus]

FYI: I just read this Den of Geeks interview with Alex Segura about the Dark Circle books. Here is the link for anyone interested:

http://www.denofgeek.us/books-comics...superhero-line

[Bslythegamerguy]

The fact that retailers can return the first issue of Black Hood should ensure that more and more retailers will order it. The trick is getting it to sell once it lands in stores. Marketing and promotion is the key here. They need to really take it up a notch and advertise like hell, and continue doing so, for these books to get off the ground.

[Javasaurus]

The fact that retailers can return the first issue of Black Hood should ensure that more and more retailers will order it. The trick is getting it to sell once it lands in stores. Marketing and promotion is the key here. They need to really take it up a notch and advertise like hell, and continue doing so, for these books to get off the ground.

They have been pushing Black Hood pretty hard in the Twitter realm from what I can see -- which is where I first heard of it. So it seems they are at least trying to use social media to promote it.

When I read the bit about the first issue being returnable, it struck me as being a pretty gutsy decision. That shows they have confidence in the quality of the book.

[Dylan Davison]

FYI: I just read this Den of Geeks interview with Alex Segura about the Dark Circle books. Here is the link for anyone interested:

http://www.denofgeek.us/books-comics...superhero-line

That was a cool interview. Loved the stuff about the 2nd wave, and they seem really confident in these series, which is great! Only a week left till The Black Hood #1!

Also, in this episode of Welcome the Riverdale they talk about Dark Circle as well and bit about the 2nd wave.

https://t.co/4L3UAyw0Mq

They say for us to pay attention to the Free Comic Book Day issue to find out who the next title/hero is. So I can't wait for May!

The fact that retailers can return the first issue of Black Hood should ensure that more and more retailers will order it. The trick is getting it to sell once it lands in stores. Marketing and promotion is the key here. They need to really take it up a notch and advertise like hell, and continue doing so, for these books to get off the ground.

I keep seeing ads for The Black Hood all over cbr, for example. They push it a lot on twitter and facebook, like java said. So they are doing some marketing and promotion haha.

And they are giving out a free comic on FCBD, so thats something too, which I am excited for haha.

I just hope if people see an ad or a tweet/post or the free comic they give these series a shot.

[Dylan Davison]

EW interviews Duane about The Black Hood, plus extra preview pages!

About 6 days till The Black Hood everyone! I am so excited.

[Javasaurus]

EW interviews Duane about The Black Hood, plus extra preview pages!

About 6 days till The Black Hood everyone! I am so excited.

LOL. At times like this, reading comics is a bit like what it would be to have Christmas more than once a year.

[Dylan Davison]

Here is a look at the ComicsPro exclusive cover for The Black Hood #1:

BlackHood-1comproVar-42ec3.jpg

Not sure how one gets this cover, or how much it would cost. But it looks really good!

[Bslythegamerguy]

So this is it....

My last foray into an indie publisher before I give up. Marvel and DC haven't done anything for me in a while and every indie publisher I've ever cared about has cancelled their books, gone out of business, or became so diluted that I stopped caring and it's up to Dark Circle now. Their books look fun, their creative teams are enticing, and their ambition is bold, let's see if they can deliver.

[Bslythegamerguy]

What we should do is put together some kind of commission or a board of directors among Dark Circle fans and create a quarterly report to send into the publisher on the overall state and quality of their comics. This would really show the publisher that there is a dedicated group of fans who demand quality content and care about the decisions the company makes. Would anyone be interested...?

If the group grew beyond just this forum than Dark Circle would see that fans care about their product and maybe they'd find a way to make it work instead of thinking nobody cares when/if sales are below forecast. It's an idea, anyway...

[Dylan Davison]

Glad to see you join us Bslythegamerguy! I hope these series are what you are looking for.


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Also just two days and a few hours till The Black Hood #1 hits shelves! I am so excited! Here is a picture of the comic that Dark Circle tweeted.

Also here is a little article from philly.com about Duane, The Black Hood and Archie:

THE Northeast's own Duane Swierczynski has a special place in the literary canon: He's the first guy to drop an F-bomb in an Archie comic.

No, Swierczynski is not sullying the Riverdale gang with foul language. Instead, he's the author of "The Black Hood," the first in Archie's Dark Circle imprint of comics, out on Wednesday.

"I'm sure my parents are very proud of that," he said. "If I had known that [milestone] before, I would have had Archie meet Samuel L. Jackson."

"The Black Hood," first created in 1940, centers on a cop who is horrifically wounded in a gunfight, leading him to become a vigilante crusading for his own brand of justice.


Not only is the latest "Black Hood" a milestone in Archie comics-dom, it also takes place in Philly, where Swierczynski sets many of his stories, including his works as a crime novelist. In fact, this week also sees the publication of his new book, Canary, about a college coed-turned-confidential informant. He'll speak about Canary on Thursday at the Free Library of Philadelphia, along with Laura Lippman.

(It's a big week for Swierczynski - yesterday was also his birthday.)

When I pointed out that the language Swierczynski is making headlines for is perhaps the most Philly aspect of his story, he laughed. "Exactly, especially Philly cops, they curse like plumbers, as do all of us," he said.

But Swierczynski wants to show a Philadelphia not often seen by the outside.

"Philly is underrepresented," Swierczynski said. "If it is represented, it's the most lame things: It's the Liberty Bell or City Hall. I try to set things in odd corners, like in the Northeast. 'The Black Hood' is around the El, and the Badlands."

Swierczynski praised "The Black Hood's" artist, Michael Gaydos, for capturing the city, even though he mainly used Google Earth as a resource.

Swierczynski said that not only does he try to use Philly as a setting but also uses the stories that come out of it as a source.

"The Daily News and the Inquirer were huge sources for me," Swierczynski said. "People in Philly will know what's real and what's not real, but everyone else won't believe what's going on in this town."

Source

[Dark-Flux]

What we should do is put together some kind of commission or a board of directors among Dark Circle fans and create a quarterly report to send into the publisher on the overall state and quality of their comics. This would really show the publisher that there is a dedicated group of fans who demand quality content and care about the decisions the company makes. Would anyone be interested...?

If the group grew beyond just this forum than Dark Circle would see that fans care about their product and maybe they'd find a way to make it work instead of thinking nobody cares when/if sales are below forecast. It's an idea, anyway...

Im sure they (and every other publisher for that matter) are aware that the books they publish have fans who care a lot about the books despite small sales.
But thats irrelevent. Sales bring in the money to keep titles afloat. No matter how dedicated a fan is, one sale is still just one sale and a publisher cant be expected to put out books that lose money.

Also, Valiant bro!

[Bslythegamerguy]

http://m.hitfix.com/harpy/exclusive-...y-motion-comic

Trailer for Black Hood #1!

[Bslythegamerguy]

Im sure they (and every other publisher for that matter) are aware that the books they publish have fans who care a lot about the books despite small sales.
But thats irrelevent. Sales bring in the money to keep titles afloat. No matter how dedicated a fan is, one sale is still just one sale and a publisher cant be expected to put out books that lose money.

Also, Valiant bro!

I tried Valiant and while it was great at the start I began to see a dip in quality about a year in. After that with the relaunches, changes, and stories I didn't care about I chose not to go back. As for losing money on the books, I highly doubt most of these publishers are losing money on them, if anything they're probably not making what they had hoped and they'd rather put forth the resources else. But that's probablynot every case.