PRESS RELEASE –
This winter, freedom fights from the shadows…
Valiant is proud to announce DIVINITY III: SHADOWMAN & THE BATTLE OF NEW STALINGRAD #1 – an essential standalone tale from the Stalinverse from rising star Scott Bryan Wilson (Batman Annual) and Valiant-exclusive superstar Robert Gill (BOOK OF DEATH)!
The year is 2017…and, in the Communist-occupied streets of New York City, oppression and violence lurk in every shadow. But when the global Soviet Union targets the Statue of Liberty for destruction, there will be Hell to pay…and Jack Boniface has come to collect. As Shadowman, Jack will resurrect the sacred power of his people…and raise an army of the dead to meet the Russians where they stand. But even Shadowman’s revenant freedom force will find something to fear when the brutal Komandar Bloodshot and unstoppable Aric, Son of the Revolution arrive to crush liberty’s last sparks of life…and put down the dead forever!
“This is the story of New York City actively resisting the Soviets… In the opening pages of the issue, the Soviets make a huge symbolic gesture that Shadowman and the rest of the population of New York don’t take too kindly to, which is what kicks the story off,” writer Scott Bryan Wilson told Multiversity Comics. “It’s here where we explore some of Shadowman’s backstory in the Stalinverse, including what got him out of New Orleans and what got him in New York.”
To save the devastated and oppressed island of New York, Jack Boniface might just have to annihilate it first – by leading an army of Deadside-spawned monstrosities onto the streets to fight the Soviets’ super-powered shock troops wherever they stand. But freedom fighters like the one they call Shadowman seldom get the happy ending they deserve…
On February 8th, darkness falls over America’s last bastion of freedom! Out of the shadows, a new kind of hero will rise as Scott Bryan Wilson and Robert Gill summon the Deadside in DIVINITY III: SHADOWMAN & THE BATTLE OF NEW STALINGRAD #1 – featuring covers from Clayton Crain (4001 A.D.), Marco Rudy (Uncanny X-Men), Diego Bernard (NINJAK), Trevor Hairsine (DIVINITY II) and Kano (Daredevil)!
But first: It all begins on December 21st as the Iron Curtain rises over a once-free world in DIVINITY III: STALINVERSE #1 (of 4) – the FIRST ISSUE of the winter’s major comics event from the visionary creative team of New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (4001 A.D.), blockbuster artist Trevor Hairsine (X-Men: Deadly Genesis), Harvey Award-nominated inker Ryan Winn (X-O MANOWAR) and master colorist David Baron (BLOODSHOT REBORN, Planetary)!
At the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were racing to the stars. But, while America was aiming for the moon, Russia had its eyes on the cosmos. In secret, they launched a three-man mission into the far reaches of space. In the depths, they discovered something Unknown. Something that…changed them. Imbued with god-like powers, the long-lost cosmonauts returned home…only to discover that their old ideology, communism, lost the war to western capitalism in the decades since their journey first began. But now they have the power to change it all…
Earth has a new god. The world you know is gone. Welcome to the Stalinverse, comrade.
Then: The Stalinverse’s subversive spread continues with the first of four essential one-shots torn directly from the pages of DIVINITY III: STALINVERSE #1 (of 4) on December 28th as New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (BLOODSHOT REBORN, Death of X) and superstar artist Clayton Crain (4001 A.D.) re-assign the KGB’s deadliest covert operative from Mother Russia to the mountains of Colorado in DIVINITY III: KOMANDAR BLOODSHOT #1!
Next, on January 18th, join the cause of Soviet righteousness as Valiant’s leading legend – the unstoppable X-O Manowar – becomes the supreme fighting force of the CCCP in DIVINITY III: ARIC, SON OF THE REVOLUTION #1 from acclaimed writer Joe Harris (Snowfall, The X-Files: Season 10) and Valiant-exclusive superstar David Lafuente (Ultimate Spider-Man)!
Look for more top-secret DIVINITY III one-shots detailing the redacted history of the Soviet Union’s most notorious patriots, agitators, and outcasts as the Stalinverse rewrites the Valiant Universe all winter long!
DIVINITY III: SHADOWMAN & THE BATTLE OF NEW STALINGRAD #1
Written by SCOTT BRYAN WILSON
Art by ROBERT GILL
Cover A by CLAYTON CRAIN
Cover B by MARCO RUDY
Cover C by DIEGO BERNARD
Character Design Variant by TREVOR HAIRSINE
Variant Cover by KANO
$3.99 | 32 pgs | T+ | ONE-SHOT | On Sale FEBRUARY 8 (FOC – 1/16/17)