From Batman to Indie Comics: Mike Hawthorne and his One Man Gang
Mike Hawthorne, widely known for his work on comics such as Batman, Deadpool, Spider-man, Daredevil, Wonder Woman and more, has decided to return to the series that began his career; the creator-owned series Hysteria.
Hawthorne created Hysteria in the late 90’s, self-publishing the story initially, then working with several independent publishers on Hysteria, before taking his talents to the “Big Two” and beyond. However, Hawthorne always dreamed of returning to Hysteria. Specifically the last, unfinished story arc, One Man Gang.
Hysteria:One Man Gang, originally published by Image, follows the story’s hero Bruce Lopez, the One Man Gang as he must choose between saving a young girl or starting a gang war on the fictional Caribbean island he calls home. The series was to be a four issue fight comic, following Bruce Lopez as he battles his way through three of the deadliest gangs on the Island while trying to get his young ward home safely. Hawthorne managed to publish 2 issues before the series abruptly ended.
On the subject of the unfinished series, Hawthorne elaborated, “I started strong, making it to issue two, before life kicked the seat out from under me. Indie comics are hard to sustain, and I had to cut the book short. So Hysteria: One Man Gang went unfinished…That was almost twenty years ago. I need to finish it.”
Instead of re-issuing the series, Hawthorne began recreating the series from scratch, with all new designs, story and art. He has also chosen to use Kickstarter as a platform for creating this new Hysteria story as a series of personalized “ashcan” comics.
“I also need to finish it the way I began, independently…I want it to be an “ashcan”, so it feels like the beginning of this crazy run at a career in comics again. Doing it independently allows me to personalize each comic in a way that I can only do by making and distributing it myself. Kickstarter is the best possible place to do that.” says Hawthorne on why he’s chosen this format, forgoing a traditional publisher.
The first issue of Hysteria: One Man Gang will feature all new comic art as well as conceptual art showing the history of the redesign as well as a peek into the comic making process. The campaign also includes digital options, stickers, trading cards, original and variant covers along with limited remarque and art options. The comic currently stands at 20 pages, however Hawthorne’s plan is to add more pages and customizations via stretch goal options.
“Basically the more folks back the campaign the longer and cooler the comic will be.”, says Hawthorne. The campaign is active right now for a limited time
Hysteria:One Man Gang is currently on Kickstarter and available for preorder.
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- I'm Al Mega the CEO of Comic Crusaders, CEO of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network, CEO of Geekery Magazine & Owner of Splintered Press (coming soon). I'm a fan of comics, cartoons and old school video games. Make sure to check out our podcasts/vidcasts and more!
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