Britain’s 2000 AD to ship 1st US-sized mini-series – ‘Brass Sun’ – to US comic shops

The British are invading the U.S. comics market as publisher 2000 AD unveils “Brass Sun,” a six-issue miniseries that is being published in the size and format of traditional titles printed by American counterparts.

It’s a first for the long-time Oxford-based publisher of “Judge Dredd” and “2000 AD,” a weekly magazine-sized anthology, has launched more than just a one-shot in the format long favoured by publishers like Marvel, DC and Archie, among others.

The story by Ian Edginton and I.N.J. Culbard focuses on a girl named Wren who tries to find out why the clockwork galaxy’s sun is dying and the planets gradually freezing over.

“I wanted a young female protagonist because, as a dad with daughters, I wanted something that would appeal to them,” Edginton said. “I wanted a character who was smart but stubborn, angry and intuitive, scared and courageous.”

It’s written by Edginton, whose previous work includes “Hinterkind” for Vertigo and drawn by Culbard, who adapted H.P. Lovecraft’s “At The Mountains and Madness,” among other titles.

The story is set in the Orrery, a clockwork solar system that sees planets orbit on vast metal arms around a sun made from cogs.

“I’m tremendously proud of ‘Brass Sun’ and the way it’s steadily grown in scale and scope. It’s thanks in no small part to artist Ian Culbard’s striking art work,” Edginton said.

“I only have to write it, he has to make it look real! It’s not only a great sprawling adventure but a very personal story for Wren and her compatriots. They’re all outsiders who find faith, friendship and common purpose in each other’s company.”

The pair worked together before on “A Study In Scarlet,” a graphic novel featuring Sherlock Holmes, and an adaptation of “A Princess of Mars” from the John Carter series of stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

It’s the first time that 2000 AD has launched such a series in the US format in its 37-year history, and comes after its previous effort, “Dredd: Underbelly,” a comic-only sequel to the 2013 film “Dredd,” sold out in January.

___

Moore reported from Philadelphia. Follow him at http://www.twitter.com/mattmooreap

___

Online:

2000 AD: http://bit.ly/N3L1lU