Peacemaker is ready to expand with a new comic set in the TV show's universe, and James Gunn is totally onboard
James Gunn, whose take on Peacemaker has been increasingly influential in the comics, finally officially has his name on the cover of an upcoming DC book with Peacemaker Presents: The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature. The issue, which is set for release from DC on March 26, will feature a take on the characters that's more in line with the fan-favorite Max TV series than prior comics iterations.
While recent comics featuring Peacemaker gave him a personality closer to the one seen in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad than ever before, Gunn himself told fans that the comics were not set in his DC Universe -- the one that combines film, TV, and animation stories -- but only inspired by it. With The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature, it's a Black Label book -- already a label that's outside of DC's main comics canon -- and takes place in a universe virtually identical to the show, marking a still-unofficial crossover between Gunn's universe and the comics.
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The issue, previewed over at GamesRadar, features a number of variant covers, including one by Darick Robertson that pays homage to one of the most iconic Superman covers of all time. In Superman #14, co-creator Joe Shuster drew the character with an American eagle on his arm -- an image so iconic that it has been referenced, parodied, and homaged by dozens of comics artists over the years. When Superman died in 1992, the statue that adorned his tomb was even carved in the likeness of that image. That image has been seen in the DC Universe for years and even recently inspired a toy.
Here's how DC's solicitations describe the one-shot: In “Peaceful Vacation,” writer Rex Ogle and artists Matteo Lolli and John Kalisz take Eagly and Chris Smith (a.k.a, Peacemaker) to the great outdoors of Alaska for some well-deserved rest and relaxation from doling out peace in their own over-the-top style. But when their trip is interrupted by a group of masked hijackers (and an annoying flight attendant), it’s up to a certain eagle and his pet human to save the day.
Unfortunately, Peacemaker forgets to tell his pal Vigilante about his vacation plans and totally panics, and now Vigilante thinks that Peacemaker and Eagly have been kidnapped by the Controller, which means big trouble for the criminals of Evergreen, with knives, axes and gore galore! “A Time for Fables” is written by Tim Seeley and features art by Mitch Gerads.
Gunn has long been a supporter of comics, pushing DC readers to check out some of the titles that most inspire the films and TV shows he's adapting. In the past, he has expressed an interest in writing his own comics one day, and an independent film he wrote -- The Belko Experiment -- got its own short spinoff comic when it was released. Gunn himself will soon be featured on the cover of a Superman comic, as his Superman movie hits theaters this summer.
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With the attention on the production of superhero films like Superman, it is difficult to keep anything sensitive under wraps until the film releases.
Gunn's involvement with this comic could prove a positive development for DC fans going forward. At Marvel, the movies have influenced the comics, giving casual fans a chance to see familiar faces and concepts from the movies brought to life in the comics. Some comics purists have criticized that kind of change, but it's actually a practice almost as old as superhero comics themselves, with characters like Jimmy Olsen and Harley Quinn starting their lives in other media.
With Gunn's enthusiasm for the comics and the more unified vision for DC's movies and TV, it's very possible that vision could bleed into the comics.
Unlike Marvel, DC has a decades-long history of movie and TV adaptations and tie-ins. Could we see that spring back to life in the near future? Certainly a comic set in Gunn's DC Universe -- or at least an adapation of the Superman movie -- could be a lot of fun for fans who are excited for the next era of DC's live-action universe.
[Disclaimer: The Belko Experiment comic was written by this author.]
Source: DC
