ABERRANT #1
Writer(s): Rylend Grant
Artist Name(s): Zsombor Huszka (Artist), Iwan Joko Triyono (Colorist), HdE (Letterer)
Cover Artist(s): Zsombor Huszka, Iwan Joko Triyono (Colorist)
32 pgs./ M / FC
$3.99
Coming to you this June from Action Lab: Danger Zone, ABERRANT is a truly filmic tale, the obvious brainchild of a creator who has for years been penning smart, testosterone-driven action movies for some of Hollywood’s biggest directors; folks like Ridley Scott, Justin Lin, F. Gary Gray, John Woo, and Luc Besson.
ABERRANT was perhaps the last major comic series created inside Los Angeles pop culture bastion Meltdown Comics. The geekdom landmark sadly just announced it would be closing its doors after 25 trendsetting years.
David, a U.S. Army Special Operations Commander, distraught after losing his entire unit to a superhuman attack, wages an absolutely brutal one-man war on the eccentric billionaire and former superhero, Lance Cordrey, whom he believes is ultimately responsible. That is until Nelson Little, the head of a clandestine paramilitary outfit called Article 13, provides David with evidence that Cordrey may be a patsy, and David’s men were killed as part of a vast and twisted government/military conspiracy.
Creator Rylend Grant describes ABERRANT as a modern political/conspiracy thriller in the vein of MICHAEL CLAYTON or ENEMY OF THE STATE that explores how the United States’ military and geopolitical agenda would necessarily change if superpowered individuals (the “Aberrant”) walked among us. He gleefully refers to his book as the karmic cousin of groundbreaking 70’s mindbenders like THE CONVERSATION and MARATHON MAN.
“ABERRANT is a military-slanted THREE DAYS OF A CONDOR,” says Grant with a wry smile, referring to the 1975 Sidney Lumet-helmed paranoid spy thriller. “You know… if there was a snarling superpowered badass waiting around every corner, hell bent on stomping a mudhole in Robert Redford.”
Predictably, ABERRANT hasn’t gone unnoticed by Hollywood’s movers and shakers. The animation rights to the series were picked up by Ryan Colucci’s Spoke Lane Entertainment, producer of the award-winning animated films ORIENT CITY and BATTLE FOR TERRA. The plan is for a hand-drawn ABERRANT series.
“I couldn’t be more excited about the animated feature,” says Grant. “This is an incredible group of producers/animators. The first time I saw ORIENT CITY (a gritty samurai/western mash up), it completely blew my mind. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor, GO FIND IT… and then strap yourself in get ready for ABERRANT.”
Readers will be delighted to find each issue of ABERRANT jam-packed with hit songs from artists like Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, The Temptations, Bobby McFerrin, Wilson Phillips, and R. Kelly, a true rarity in the world of comics. “I wanted the book to feel like a really great action movie,” said Grant. “Well, really great action movies always have REALLY great soundtracks. It wasn’t easy to pull off. Clearing music for use in print publications is costly and time consuming, but it was well worth it in the end. The music is incorporated in a really clever way here. We’ve definitely produced something that people haven’t seen before.”
No word yet on whether or not Kenny Loggins will be contributing an original song.
Preorder ABERRANT #1 with the Diamond item code APR181190. Preorder the special “William Dee Williams – Aberrant Works EVERY time” variant edition (by Issues 2-10 artist Davi Leon Dias) with Diamond item code APR181191. And look for both in comic book stores on June 27th, 2018 (Note: Release date may be subject to change.)
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