After the stunning success of Hero Trade #1 on both the review scene and secondary market, along with my apparent affinity and love for indie projects, I thought some of you might find it interesting to know that Bad Idea’s new projects are now available for pre-order on comic retailer sites.
As of now, the titles seem slated to begin releasing in March 2021. We’ll have a look at them below.
A few things first…
A self described experimental comic book publisher who originally planned to release their first title in May of this year, but were delayed because of…2020. Fair enough explanation, right?
Operating by way of the mantra, “don’t do anything unless it’s special.”, they promise to shake up the industry with how their stories will not only be created and enjoyed, but also how they will be priced and distributed.
Clicking the heading above should take you to their website for a more detailed description of what they have going. However, here are a few things that caught my attention.
"Some – usually our first issues (are) totally mind-blowing one-shots – will be oversized with page counts far in excess of the standard 22 pages."
"But, no matter what, each BAD IDEA comic will have a standard $3.99 cover price. And our goal is to make sure that each time a new one shows up in your local comic shop..."
"BAD IDEA's titles will feature no variants, will not be offered digitally, and will not be collected into trade paperbacks, hardcovers, or other bookshelf formats."
"But here’s the rub: BAD IDEA’s new releases won’t be available everywhere. To get things going, BAD IDEA will be self-distributing its titles to a carefully selected roster of just 20 participating comic book retailers with more admitted on a rolling basis for a total of roughly 50 within the first year."
All that said, here are the books.
(Pictures link to pre-order opportunities.)
Eniac #1
"At the height of World War II, the world's most ingenious minds began a race to create a super-weapon capable of ending the war with the push of a button. One of those projects gave us the atom bomb.... and another produced the world's first supercomputer: ENIAC -- an immeasurably complex mathematical model built to target the Axis war machine. Everybody knows that. It's real life American History. Or so we were told. On August 6th, 1945, the United States dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki... Only President Truman wasn't the one who gave the order. It was ENIAC. And now, 75 years later, its real plan is only just beginning... "
The Lot #1
"In 1970, legendary filmmaker Oliver Larsen began production on his latest horror masterpiece on the lot of Los Angeles’ famed Cloverleaf Studios. Obsessed with bringing authenticity to the genre, the director insisted on casting real-life occultists to perform a genuine Satanic ritual live on camera – until something went horribly wrong. In the bloody aftermath, the production was shut down, the footage was confiscated, and the soundstage was forever shuttered. Until today. On the heels of a promotion that’s just made her the youngest studio chief in decades, Aviva Copeland is planning to overhaul Cloverleaf’s fading image for the 21st century – starting with the prime piece of California real estate that’s gone unused for 50 years: the very same lost soundstage where Larsen filmed his doomed masterpiece. But, as Aviva will soon discover, this corner of the lot may have been closed for a half-century, but it’s far from empty…and the evil that lives within its haunted walls will soon seize its chance to kill again. New York Times best-selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, A-Force) and artist Renato Guedes (DCeased: Hope at World’s End) present a terrifying vision of horror and Hollywood in the boldly bloody Bad Idea manner!"
Slay Bells
"You’ve heard of black comedies? Well, this is the first one that's not just black, but red and green and covered in reams of extremely flammable tinsel that’s already been banned in Canada! Every Christmas Eve, little Bobby Hamilton and his father rise at dawn for an early morning hunting trip. It was their favorite tradition – until they accidentally killed a certain red-nosed reindeer. They should have known better. They shouldn’t have tried to cover it up. Because Santa Claus knows that they’ve been naughty – and, now like so many fragile Christmas ornaments violently shaken free, the yuletide peace of a quaint Midwestern farming hamlet will forever be shattered as Old Saint Nick comes to town to reap the sweetest gift of all: vengeance. This July, Emmy Award winner Zeb Wells (Hellions, Robot Chicken), mischief-making artistic all-star David Lafuente (Ultimate Spider-Man), and colorist Ulises Arreola (Action Comics) are ready to ruin Christmas a solid six months in advance with the only thing we really wanted this year, anyway: another king-sized Bad Idea one-shot that will soon go down in infamy!"
Tankers #1
"The CEO of global energy conglomerate Greenleaf Oil has just discovered a terrifying secret: the planet only has a decade or less of petroleum left before it's gone forever. But he has a plan to make sure his great-great grandchildren can continue to generate maximum shareholder value – and secure his own legacy in the process. Rather than develop a game-changing renewable energy source through the power of corporate innovation, Greenleaf has perfected the next best thing – time travel (duh) – so that a team of six field-rat contractors armed to the teeth in individually customized mech suits can go back to the Cretaceous Period, tweak the trajectory of the meteor that killed the dinosaurs, and give mankind another 500 millennia worth of oil reserves. What could go wrong? Only all of human history, of course – because when Greenleaf's team of Tankers come home, they'll discover that not only did the dinosaurs never die out, they’ve kept evolving for another 60 million years...and they’re more pissed off than ever. Bone-shredding destruction! Wanton corporate malfeasance! Reckless use of industrial machinery! And lots and lots of ammunition. Like a Saturday morning cartoon that’s run irresponsibly overbudget, New York Times bestselling writer Robert Venditti (Justice League), blockbuster artist Juan Jose Ryp (Wolverine), and Eisner Award-winning colorist Jordie Bellaire (Pretty Deadly) are here to take all of our insecurities about mankind's most self-destructive impulses and turn them up until the knob snaps off with THREE DOUBLE-SIZED ISSUES shipping BIMONTHLY (that means every other month, don't look it up)."
Whalesville #1
"You never thought you’d see a Bad Idea like this! From the limitless imaginations of New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT), veteran artist Adam Pollina (X-Force), and Eisner Award-winning colorist Matt Hollingsworth (Hawkeye) comes a very special whale tale for all ages (and species) in the tradition of Hayao Miyazaki and Pixar! When young Wawae – the seaborn son of a whaling captain – is thrown overboard and swallowed whole by a whale, he knows his father will relentlessly pursue revenge against the creature that stole away his boy. What he didn’t expect, however, is what he’s about to find inside: the town of “Whalesville” – a colorful, cobbled-together village inhabited by an astounding collection of talking sea creatures, including a crab named Caleb, an angler fish called Angela, and a seadragon that prefers to go by Lilly. But, to Wawae’s new friends, Whalesville isn’t just their home, it’s the whole world – and they don't understand the danger that now pursues them from above the waves or that they are even inside a whale at all. To rescue his new best buddies, Wawae will have to convince them of the truth…and save Whalesville before his own father sends them sinking into the inky depths forever."
Collect what you like, share what you can, and never stop reading.
Until next time,
