Fans of comics in general, Vertigo comics in particular, and/or iFanboy favorite Paul Cornell are in for a treat next February when Cornell and artist Ryan Kelly launch Saucer Country for the imprint.
Cornell (Demon Knights, Stormwatch, Captain Britain and MI:13) had this to say about the upcoming book on his blog this afternoon:
It’s about Arcadia Alvarado, the Governor of New Mexico, who, on the eve of announcing that she’s running for President… is ‘abducted by aliens’.
Those speechmarks are because she’s not exactly sure what happened. But she’s going to use all her staff and resources to find out. What happened to her might also be a threat to US security.
It’s The West Wing does The X-Files.
Saucer Country is a trip through UFO mythology, a subject I’ve always been fascinated with. It’s a dark, suspenseful, serious thriller with, I hope, some warm, very human characters at the heart of it. Between arcs that feature Arcadia and her staff venturing into the murky worlds of flying saucer lore, we’ll be featuring one-off ‘true story’ issues, a short version of which already appeared in the Strange Adventures one shot earlier this year.
This is exciting no matter how you slice it. In addition to being an unfettered peek into the mind of Cornell as he works on characters of his own invention, this book’s existence is a welcome shot in the arm for Vertigo, the fate of which many grownup-comic fans have been fretting about for the better part of this year. Start watching the skies and counting the days until February 2012.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
oh hell yes I am so in for this
Eagerly awaiting this title.
Oh my. I do like that pitch quite a bit. Was there a release date given for the first issue?
At first it was “early next year,” but it now says “February 2012” on Vertigo’s web site (and this one).
Hmmmm this is the second time today that I’ve seen “west wing meets x-files” to describe a project. Apparently Seth Green and Jon Favreau have a similar project that they are pitching studios and it’s described that way, I think it’s called Xcom.
XCOM is actually a PC game that is getting a remake from the people who did Bioshock next year. But it sounds like Favreau/Green want to make a movie out of it too.
At first I misread those rally signs for “Avacado.” I now realize my mistake, but I’m still interested.
Or is that simply how they wish you to be misdirected (or is this simply where one of us makes a Freedonia aside?)
YES
Can’t wait to see this; I hope that it lives up to the high Cornell standards of M13 & Demon Knights. Now, I guess I need to keep an eye out for Strange Adventures at the convention tomorrow . . .
Also, hope this confirms that Vertigo is not as close to the brink as some of us were fearing . . .
“…this book’s existence is a welcome shot in the arm for Vertigo, the fate of which many grownup-comic fans have been fretting about for the better part of this year. ”
Am I reading this right? What is the rumored “fate” of Vertigo Comics? Grant it, I’m not too plugged into the comic industry, 95% of my comic info comes from the weekly comic-list and the subsequent comments below the books I personally pull on this website, but, there is no way there is any chance something bad is in store for Vertigo as an imprint. Vertigo is the one small corner of the comic book world that needs no shot in the arm whatsoever. No tweaks, no advice, no nothing… The only thing Vertigo needs to do is put out more books. If DC shuts down Vertigo I will literally burn every comic book I own and never read another one again. Can someone please clarify what this means exactly. I’m freaking out a little bit.
I’ve heard rumors that DC wants to “revamp” the imprint, but have no idea how much truth is hidden within. I think that part of the speculation is based on long its been since Vertigo launched a new ongoing title.
Then again, I’m not really that plugged in behind the scenes myself . . .
Earlier this year, there was a lot of change and movement behind the scenes over at DC, including the absorption of Wildstorm into the main DCU during the recent reboot. Those changes, the reboot itself, and a lack of news coming from the Vertigo side of things had some people speculating that its days might be numbered, but it’s basically never been much more than speculation.
Ryan Kelly and Paul Cornell? I’ll have to check this out.
This is going to be sweet! I’m down for a political thriller involving aliens but I’m sure Cornell will bring his insanity to the mix too.
This is one of those times where I’m totally hooked by the premise, now just comes the anxious waiting to see if they can execute something to live up to their idea.