It has been quite a while since we’ve had a Justice, Inc. series, but Dynamite is bringing The Avenger back in July.
Justice Inc.: The Avengers – Faces of Justice is written by Kyle Higgins with art by Alexandre Shibao.
When the FBI discovers evidence that incriminates Richard Benson in a brutal murder, the Avenger finds himself arrested and subjected to an intense investigation by the Bureau’s best agents! Now the Justice, Inc. team must spring into action to save their leader, and discover if there’s a sinister plot at play; or could the Avenger actually be guilty of such a heinous crime?
If you aren’t familiar with The Avenger, he is a pulp hero from 1939. In the opening tale, Richard Benson’s wife and daughter are killed, and the shock is so overwhelming that his face becomes paralyzed and his hair and skin turn white. But because his skin is not dead, he can mold it and shape it like clay, thus he is able to change his features to look like anyone. Thus he becomes The Avenger to avenge those who have suffered at the hands of criminals.
It sounds super trippy, but consider The Avenger is a Street & Smith character that came out at the height of the pulp magazine era – the same company that gave us The Shadow, Doc Savage, and more.
In a press release, writer Kyle Higgins said, “The Avenger is one of those great, classic pulp characters who has both an incredibly rich history as well as a long list of modern superheroes who owe their creative inspiration to him. I love pulp, noir, and superheroes, so when Dynamite asked if I’d have any interest in telling a new Avenger story, it was a pretty easy sell for me. I’ve known Joe Gentile for as long as I’ve been reading comics. In fact, it was his publishing company, Moonstone Books, that first introduced me to how comics are made, and ultimately set me on the path to becoming a writer. Joe and I have wanted to do something together for years, so when Dynamite called and asked if I’d have any interest in telling a story with The Avenger, the first person I thought of was Joe. Justice Inc. and The Avenger are some of his all-time favorite characters, and I could think of no one better to build a bad-ass pulp story with.”
The last time we saw The Avenger was in a five-part mini-series released by Dynamite Entertainment in 2014. It’s been just long enough for many of us to forget the character, and may just be the right time for him to resurface.
With Doc Savage, The Shadow, Green Hornet and other pulp characters running around at Dynamite Entertainment, I wonder if this is the start of a new wave of pulp comics from the publisher?
