Archie Comics: Dark Circle Comics (2015)

[Dylan Davison]

So far there has really only been 2 months with only one title, since Black Hood started, I believe. So Black Hood ended in June, then Fox continued to July and August, I believe. In September The Shield shows up. So in total, we only had/have to deal with 3 months where there is only one title out, since Black Hood starts in October again. So that is not bad for a new wave of comics, which continues to grow. I think we are going to get less and less months where only one title is out, since The Hangman and The Web are starting, with more to come.

I know the delays for The Shield have sucked, but like I always say haha, I would rather have something good delayed then something bad come out not ready and rushed. I still think Shield is a going to be an awesome title. Two great writers on it, and Drew is an excellent artist. The preview art has been amazing. I hope more people give The Shield a chance XP.

I am so in love with these books, partly because of how much support they are getting from Archie. It is a risk to go into the Superhero game and Archie has done it in style. Alex Segura really loves putting these books out, as do the talent. It also seems like Goldwater is super supportive of these titles and giving Alex and the talent freedom to tell the stories they want.

[Javasaurus]

I know the delays for The Shield have sucked, but like I always say haha, I would rather have something good delayed then something bad come out not ready and rushed. I still think Shield is a going to be an awesome title. Two great writers on it, and Drew is an excellent artist. The preview art has been amazing. I hope more people give The Shield a chance XP.

I've come to enjoy these first Dark Circle titles too; and hope they do well because the quality and effort is something to be admired. I just hope that The Shield doesn't stumble any more than it has already. I have the same outlook that it's better to launch a little late rather than launch and then have a gap between the the next issues.

Hopefully I'm wrong, but I give the following example: Drew Johnson is also working on a creator-owned mini-series for Dark Horse (Midnight Society). Issue one hit the stores in June; but issue two has yet to show up. Last I checked, it's suppose to land on the 19th of August. I've read comments by others being concerned with the timeliness of projects that Drew works on. So I'm hoping The Midnight Society is just an isolated incident with a perfectly good explanation; and that I'm just being overly-cynical.

[Dylan Davison]

I've come to enjoy these first Dark Circle titles too; and hope they do well because the quality and effort is something to be admired. I just hope that The Shield doesn't stumble any more than it has already. I have the same outlook that it's better to launch a little late rather than launch and then have a gap between the the next issues.

Hopefully I'm wrong, but I give the following example: Drew Johnson is also working on a creator-owned mini-series for Dark Horse (Midnight Society). Issue one hit the stores in June; but issue two has yet to show up. Last I checked, it's suppose to land on the 19th of August. I've read comments by others being concerned with the timeliness of projects that Drew works on. So I'm hoping The Midnight Society is just an isolated incident with a perfectly good explanation; and that I'm just being overly-cynical.

I can't say much on his timelyness as I have not checked out his ongoing stuff before, when I met him he seemed really dedicated to The Shield and was a huge fan. He was drawing covers for her series at the start, but then they asked him to do the whole comic. He did this awesome quick sketch of The Shield on the table at the Archie booth, it was great.

All I do know is that Drew seems really excited to get The Shield out, and is excited to work on a title like this. They got that preview out pretty quickly after he signed on, so that's a good sign, maybe.

I am a hopeful guy, so I hope we don't have to deal with delays for the Shield here on out, once issue 1 comes out in September.

[Captain Craig]

Knowing that Black Hood #6(Oct) is a one off I'm wondering what the timeline is for another full arc?
If issue #7 is for Nov then we should see that in the Sept solicits, yes?

It'd be nice to see Shield, Black Hood & Hangman all on the rack together during the last half of the year. Bonus if The Fox also has it's next arc then...do we know about #6 for that title? I don't recall seeing any mention in the back of #5 on what the timeline was.

[Dylan Davison]

Knowing that Black Hood #6(Oct) is a one off I'm wondering what the timeline is for another full arc?
If issue #7 is for Nov then we should see that in the Sept solicits, yes?

It'd be nice to see Shield, Black Hood & Hangman all on the rack together during the last half of the year. Bonus if The Fox also has it's next arc then...do we know about #6 for that title? I don't recall seeing any mention in the back of #5 on what the timeline was.

Issue 7 comes out in October, it will be a stand alone story. Then the next arc starts after that, so in November, yes.

I am sure we will see more Fox, but nothing has been said yet, so we will see. In November when Hangman comes out, issue 3 of Shield should be out, and issue 7 of Black Hood. I agree, I think it is great that those three will be together on the rack.

November is my birthday month, so I tend to buy a ton of comics that month, so adding three new awesome superhero titles to that sounds amazing haha.

[Javasaurus]

I finally got read issue #5 of The Fox. Wow.

I've been wondering what might happen if Mom found a reason to jump into the mix of the action; and now I know. Seeing how each family member reacts under pressure was kind of eye-opening. So for me this was a very satisfying end to the first arc; and I'm looking forward to the next one. I wonder if at some point we might see the step-daughter make an appearance.

[Tula's boyfriend]

I really enjoyed the new Archie # 2. Anyone else reading it?

[Aomalle27]

Well, I guess The Shield is being delayed again. This time without explanation from the folks at Archie/Dark Circle. It's now being hyped as an October release.

[Den]

Well, I guess The Shield is being delayed again. This time without explanation from the folks at Archie/Dark Circle. It's now being hyped as an October release.

Oh for the luva...
I've had that waiting on my pull list so long I think the ink is molding

[Aomalle27]

Oh for the luva...
I've had that waiting on my pull list so long I think the ink is molding

Yeah; here's the link http://www.themarysue.com/the-shield-interview/
And the weirdest part is they nonchalantly say launching Oct 7th when just a week ago
The Solicit was for Sept 16th. Not sure we'll ever see this book.

[Den]

Well, it certainly is hurting my enthusiasm.

Then again, if it's even 2/3 as good as Black Hood was, it'll be worth it.

[Javasaurus]

Well, it certainly is hurting my enthusiasm.

Then again, if it's even 2/3 as good as Black Hood was, it'll be worth it.

*Drops down on knees, shakes fists up toward the heavens and cries: "Noooooooooooooo".*

Well. That was cathartic.

Seriously, the delays are putting dents in my enthusiasm too. My fear at this point is — when issue #1 does finally arrive — I'll be harboring more scrutiny than usual. So I'll subconsciously be more critical. This means I may be expecting the book to not just be great; but absolutely perfect in order to justify the long wait. If this keeps up much longer, it won't be enough for the book to be great: the freaking book had better be able to levitate to the kitchen and bring back coffee in the morning.

[Tula's boyfriend]

I can understand there can be problems or mishaps, but the delays really make me wonder are they just trying to get it perfect or is the company not really ready for prime time. I really want to have faith in the company and the creative team....but this is not helping. I am hoping this series really blows me away when it does come out.

[Javasaurus]

I can understand there can be problems or mishaps, but the delays really make me wonder are they just trying to get it perfect or is the company not really ready for prime time. I really want to have faith in the company and the creative team....but this is not helping. I am hoping this series really blows me away when it does come out.

True. The publisher isn't doing themselves or this series any favors with all of the delays. Once it does launch, they won't have much (if any) margin for error. I'm thinking that the book will be facing higher-than-usual scrutiny; so it's going to have to blow people away. And then it will have to keep doing that on a consistent schedule.

[wwise03]

I can understand there can be problems or mishaps, but the delays really make me wonder are they just trying to get it perfect or is the company not really ready for prime time. I really want to have faith in the company and the creative team....but this is not helping. I am hoping this series really blows me away when it does come out.

Well their performance on Afterlife and Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina suggest that the company isn't ready for prime time. I actually dropped all Dark Circle comics due to the delays and just came into this topic to see if there was any reason to pick them back up...it doesn't sound like there is at this point.