Round and round, the Red Circle has turned — and now we know who’s behind the wheel!
DC’s blog, the Source, announced today the art teams for J. Michael Straczynski’s miniseries the Red Circle, due out August 15th. This project was once a proposal for the Brave and the Bold, but since became a spotlight for the one-time Archie Comics superheroes. So the lineup as we know it:
- For the Hangman, a former doctor turned immortal, Tom Derenick (Smallville) will team up with the always-original Bill Sienkiewicz (New Mutants).
- Meanwhile, Roger Robinson (Batman: Gotham Knights) and Hilary Barta (Fear Agent) will work on the Web, a one-time playboy turned hero.
- Greg Scott (Gotham Central) will perform art duties for the amnesiac pyrokinetic known as Inferno.
- Finally, Scott McDaniel (Nightwing) and Andy Owens (Fray) will take on the Shield, who was created as a sort of human weapon to protect the country.
They totally had me at Roger Robinson, an insanely underrated artist if I’ve ever seen one. His work on Gotham Knights is easily my all-time favorite Bat-run. But Straczynski has an interesting, sort of Seven Soldiers kind of vibe to this system, based on this quote:
This is where it gets really interesting. All four books are connected. One book sets up the next, then sets up the next, via interrelated actions. Each book slides off the next, showing the interconnectedness of the world, how fate can launch a bank shot from one person to the next. The Circle of Life, again reinforcing the Red Circle motif.
What say you, Rama readers? Do you find Red Circle — wait for it — well-rounded?
May 15th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
I was a little wary of Sienkiewicz and Derenick teaming up on art duties at first, but I gotta say they make a good team. These books could be interesting, but I’ll probably pass on them.
May 15th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
For frag’s sake. McDaniel and Derenick? Are you fraggin’ kiddin’ me? Way to butcher Red Circle introduction by cheap fill-in art.