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Thunderbird Flies High This Summer
Franklin, MA, March 29, 2005 – This July, independent publisher
Atlantis Studios is set to launch Thunderbird, an original ongoing
series by artist Bill Galvan and writer Nathan Shumate.
Described by Atlantis Studios as “a high tech superhero for the new
millennium,” the Thunderbird series follows Eric Siegel, a whiz-kid
engineer at defense contractor SkyTech, who is drawn into intrigue
when he develops a flying combat suit, codenamed “Project
Thunderbird”. When the suit’s manufacturer has a change of heart about
delivering the final product to its secretive clients, a mercenary
team breaks into the SkyTech complex, intent on retrieving the plans.
All that stands between the terrorists and their goal is Eric - and
the Thunderbird suit!
Creator Bill Galvan explains the appeal of a title like Thunderbird.
“Thunderbird is the only superhero in his world. There are no other
superheroes, and superhero comics don't exist. He has no model to base
his actions on. He doesn't know what a secret identity is, it's
something he has to make up as he goes. All the things we take for
granted, he has to find out on his own. I think that gives older fans
something to remember when they pick it up, like when they read the
first Spider Man. And it gives younger readers a really fresh start
with the character.”
“There’s a purity to the concept that allows us to explore ideas
familiar in superhero comics without having to reference decades of
continuity and pop culture,” agrees writer Nathan Shumate. “It isn’t a
retread, and it isn’t a ‘twist’ or a departure. It’s rediscovering the
concept of a superhero from the ground up: If a good person were given
this kind of technological power and an accompanying ethical mandate,
what would he do?”
Atlantis Editor James Watson explains his reason for picking up the
title, “Thunderbird is a breath of nostalgia to golden age comics both
in art and substance. It’s the kind of comic we used to read as kids –
and the kind we still want to read.” Announced as an ongoing title,
Thunderbird is a prominent addition to the publishing line-up at
Atlantis Studios, whose mission is to publish high quality action
adventure, science fiction, and fantasy comics and illustration for
the mainstream audience.
Bill Galvan, series artist and creator of the Thunderbird character,
is a professional graphic artist with years of art and design
experience; series writer Nathan Shumate is a popular online movie
reviewer, whose credits also include screenwriting and short fiction.
Galvan and Shumate have previously collaborated on The Scrapyard
Detectives, an ongoing non-profit title featuring a team of adolescent
sleuths, aimed at younger readers.
.For more information on Thunderbird, including exclusive promotional
artwork, preproduction sketches, and previews of issue #1, visit
http://www.thunderbirdcomics.com.
For more information on Atlantis Studios, visit
http://www.atlantisstudios.net |
