For years, Bat Boy and the other bizarre denizens of the Weekly World News universe have delighted millions in the long-running tabloid newspaper. Now, those same colorful characters are headed to full-color comic books for the first time with IDW Publishing’s Weekly World News, a new four-issue miniseries starting in January.
Written by IDW’s Publisher/Editor-in-Chief and WWN fanatic Chris Ryall, with art by Alan Robinson, Weekly World News revives the tabloid’s best and sees them band together to take on, among other things, the world-destroying threat of Chaos Cloud. Each issue will also feature original articles from the original Weekly World News, and a variant cover that pays insane “tribute” to a classic image.
“Some would say my interest in bringing the Weekly World News characters to comics borders on crazed obsession,” said Ryall, “and far be it from me to disagree with them. I’m just happy Bat Boy comic books never happened before, so we could break new ground here. It’s been especially gratifying because Alan is well up to the task of drawing every insane thing asked of him (“Draw an angry storm cloud with the face of a former French leader? No problem!”), and the Weekly World News people have been incredibly enthusiastic about bringing their iconic characters to comics.”
The series kicks off with a cover featuring Joe Corroney’s version of Bat Boy, inspired by Alex Ross’s painted Barack Obama pose, and a special retailer incentive Alan Robinson sketch cover of Bat Boy as Rodin’s “Thinker.” As another added bonus, Issue #1 will feature some of the classic Bat Boy strips by the great Peter Bagge.
“In short, Eisner Award judges, get ready to mark your ballots when you see this series,” added Ryall.
This first Weekly World News miniseries gives the world a new vocabulary word in its subtitle, “The Irredemption of Ed Anger.” The series unites the beloved Bat Boy with PhD Ape (simian psychologist to the stars), UFO Alien (presidential-predicting pundit from the stars), Manigator (half-man/half-gator good ol’ boy), Lemmie (the Lake Erie Monster) as they battle Chaos Cloud (unpredictable weather front with the face of François Mitterand). Caught in the middle of all of this is the far-right-wing columnist Ed Anger (“pave the Rain Forest!”), who thinks inhuman freaks have as much place in America as liberals, female voters and foreign beer. Along the way, the series pays tribute to other comics and numerous other pop-culture visuals and references (so many that Ryall will be offering annotations in the back of each issue, too).
“Everyone at Weekly World New is delighted to partner with IDW on this creative extension of some of American’s most loved characters,” said Neil McGinness, Weekly World News CEO.
The Weekly World News, which carried the tagline “The World’s Only Reliable News” and spent years living up to that description, launched in 1979 as a supermarket tabloid focused on sensational stories. The brand’s website www.weeklyworldnews.com is a leading entertainment news website.
Weekly World News #1 (of 4), a 32-page, $3.99 comic book, debuts in January 2010. Diamond order code NOV09 0841.
About IDW
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The Transformers and G.I. JOE, Paramount’s Star Trek; Fox’s Angel; the BBC’s Doctor Who; and television’s #1 prime time series CBS’ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints; Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studios; and is the print publisher for ComicMix.
IDW’s original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release. More information about the company can be found at IDWPublishing.com.
