C2E2 2012: Archaia Presents Panel
Archaia Editor-in-Chief Stephen Christy addressed the C2E2 audience at the first Archaia panel of the weekend. Archaia has become well known for their hardcover format and this year fans will see no shortage of them. With new books and a sequel to an award winning title Archaia has a lot going on for the rest of 2012 and beyond.
Strange Attractors
The creative team of Charles Soule, Greg Scott, Art Lyon, and Robert Saywitz. The book is scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2012. It is set in NYC and it centers on an old Mathematician who has invented and engine that allows the city to run. He sees that there is danger on the horizon and must train his successor in order to keep the city going. Include will be very interesting maps of NYC that will be designed by artist Robert Saywitz and make the book very unique. The reader will be able to take out the map and immerse themselves into this world. Writer Charles Soule described the book as “Good Will Hunting meets Harry Potter.”
Hawken
Jeremy Barlow will be writing the prequel book to the upcoming game by the same name. He will be collaborating with artists Greg Tochini, Francisco Ruiz Velasco, Michael Gaydos, Moritat, Nathan Fox, Alex Sanchez, Christopher Moeller, and a few more surprises. The game will be released on 12/12/12 and is a first person shooter where the player is in a Mech suit so the view is from the cockpit. The game is free to play and is set in a post apocalyptic world where three corporations own world. What is startling about the game is that it was created by only six people. From the images you would think that a large team was involved in its creation.
Rust: Secrets of the Cell
Created by Royden Lepp it is set in an alternate 1940’s universe where a war is being wage using robots. Jet Jones crashes into Roman Taylor’s family barn after being chased by a decommissioned war robot. The second book, Rust: Secrets of the Cell, will be released with a new villain later this summer and takes off where volume 1 ended.
Spaced 1999: Aftershock and Awe
This book is based on a canceled 1974 sci-fi series “Spaced 1999” and will have a creative team of Andrew Gaska, Gray Morrow, David Hueso, and Miki. This book will be a sequel to the TV series and Gaska plans to integrate concepts from the TV series into the book. Some of those concepts will be expanded and reworked. Gaska was able to look at the original script of the pilot episode to make the book more of an accurate interpretation of what the pilot TV episode was supposed to be.
Time of the Dapper Men
The creative team of Janet Lee and Jim McCann are back with a sequel to their stellar book “Return of the Dapper Men.” McCann said the Return was always intended to be a standalone story, he and artist Lee did envision a trilogy when putting it together. In the second installment focuses on Aiden stepping into adolescence and the struggles it entails. According to Janet Lee there will be more to explore in the sequel as well as some new characters that expand the scope of the book much more.
Mouse Guard 
David Petersen announced the second volume of “Legends of the Guard” that will have art by Eric Canete, Christian Slade, Eric Cante, Stan Sakai, Bill Willingham, and others. Petersen describes that part of his love of the ‘Legends” books is that he gets to see other artists interpretation of the Mouse Guard world. It also offers the opportunity to enrich the Mouse Guard universe by telling stories he doesn’t have time to tell. Petersen also announced a new miniseries called “The Black Axe” that will be finished this year. The hardcover collection will have plenty of bonus material and pin-up art by Charles Paul Wilson, Shawn Rubin, Duncan Fegredo, Alex Sheikman, Shane Vidaurri, and Mike Mignola.
Cow Boy
The series that writer Nate Cosby described as “Deadwood for kids” has been collected and released in a stunning hardcover. The book was originally released online first tells the story of Boyd Linney, a ten-year-old bounty hunter that is rounding up his outlaw family. You can read an interview with the creators Nate Cosby and Chris Eliopoulos here.
This panel gave fans a lot to digest and look forward to. The Archaia booth was packed with people picking up all the hardcover’s they had to offer. Don’t forget to be on the lookout for Archaia’s Free Comic Book Day offering this year. It is a hardcover containing Cow Boy, Mouse Guard, and Return of the Dapper Men.
