MattBrady
11-14-2002, 10:16 AM
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINACOVER.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINACOVER_t.jpg" width="175" height="259" alt="Hammer HIts China #1" border="0" align="right"></a>Getting back in the swing of things with our previews of upcoming Image projects, Newsarama tracked down Mark ‘Obie’ Wheatley for some comments about his and Mike Oeming’s Hammer of the Gods which, begins a new Image miniseries in February with Hammer Hits China miniseries.
The duo’s first outing, the five issue, Hammer of the Gods: Mortal Enemy introduced and established the Norseman Modi, the strongest man who ever lived, but cursed that if he should ever touch a weapon, he would lose his soul. Infuriated by the apparent disregard the Norse gods had for humanity, Modi set about tracking them down to hold them accountable for their inaction. Part spiritual exploration of the suffering of man in general, and part action-adventure romp set in the hinterlands, Mortal Enemy was self-published by Insight Studios Group, under their own ISG imprint.
As Wheatley explained to Newsarama earlier this year, moving Hammer to Image was one made after considering cold, hard facts – books with “ISG” in the upper left corner of the cover just don’t sell as well as those with “Image” in the same spot.
One of the firstfruits of the move was September’s trade paperback collection of Mortal Enemy in color. Hammer Hits China #1 is slated for a February release.
Okay – without further hubbub, here’s Mark…
“Gods, Gods, Gods - the world has more Gods than you can shake a broadsword at! And all these Gods have their own territory. Odin, top God in Asgard, has wandered into China and has been trapped by Chinese Gods. The Gods of Asgard are too busy to help. Only the Viking, Modi can find Odin and set him free. But Modi can't touch a weapon, or he will lose his soul. Oh, the conflict! You see, Modi has been honored by the Gods and has fought by the side of Thorr. But now Modi is only a mortal, faced with the dreary life of an earth-bound warrior. In the time that has passed since the ending of Mortal Enemy, Modi has become a berserker - it is almost as if he has a death wish, a need to die in battle. And he just might get his wish as the Gods send him on a quest to cross the world, find Odin and set him free.
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/FMonTHRONEcanvas.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/FMonTHRONEcanvas_t.jpg" width="175" height="250" alt="Wheatley's Frankenstein Mobster" border="0" align="left"></a>”This all grew out of Mike Oeming's and my interest in Hong Kong action movies and the stories of Chinese folk lore. When I saw the early development material for Mike's Bastard Samurai series I got the crazy idea we might be able to work out some kind of crossover between the series. But that was based on my mistaken first impression that the series was set in an historical period. Since Bastard has a modern setting I decided we should just take Modi to China. It seemed like an easy enough plan, since Mortal Enemy had already established that Modi was widely traveled. We were a little concerned about the lack of historical evidence of trade between the Vikings and China, but even that detail fell into place. I happened on a TV documentary that revealed the discovery of mummified blond giants high in the mountains of China. So with a little ingenuity and a lot of fun we dived into the work.
”Hammer Hits China will be a bi-monthly, color comic mini-series from Image The second and third issues will feature back-up stories that preview two new series from us. In issue two we will be introduced to my Frankenstein Mobster and in issue three you'll get another spooky series start with Mike's and Chris Golden's Nevermore.”
Click on the thumbnails for larger versions…
<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINA01.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINA01_t.jpg" width="140" height="214" alt="Hammer Hits China #1, page 1" border="0" hspace="2"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINA02_03.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINA02_03_t.jpg" alt="Hammer Hits China #1, paghes 2-3" width="200" height="157" border="0" hspace="2"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINACOVER02.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINACOVER02_t.jpg" width="140" height="214" alt="Hammer HIts China #2" border="0" hspace="2"></a></center>
<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/WrongPage1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/WrongPage1_t.jpg" width="140" height="214" border="0" alt="Frankenstein Mobster "Do the Wrong Thing" page 1"></a></center>
The duo’s first outing, the five issue, Hammer of the Gods: Mortal Enemy introduced and established the Norseman Modi, the strongest man who ever lived, but cursed that if he should ever touch a weapon, he would lose his soul. Infuriated by the apparent disregard the Norse gods had for humanity, Modi set about tracking them down to hold them accountable for their inaction. Part spiritual exploration of the suffering of man in general, and part action-adventure romp set in the hinterlands, Mortal Enemy was self-published by Insight Studios Group, under their own ISG imprint.
As Wheatley explained to Newsarama earlier this year, moving Hammer to Image was one made after considering cold, hard facts – books with “ISG” in the upper left corner of the cover just don’t sell as well as those with “Image” in the same spot.
One of the firstfruits of the move was September’s trade paperback collection of Mortal Enemy in color. Hammer Hits China #1 is slated for a February release.
Okay – without further hubbub, here’s Mark…
“Gods, Gods, Gods - the world has more Gods than you can shake a broadsword at! And all these Gods have their own territory. Odin, top God in Asgard, has wandered into China and has been trapped by Chinese Gods. The Gods of Asgard are too busy to help. Only the Viking, Modi can find Odin and set him free. But Modi can't touch a weapon, or he will lose his soul. Oh, the conflict! You see, Modi has been honored by the Gods and has fought by the side of Thorr. But now Modi is only a mortal, faced with the dreary life of an earth-bound warrior. In the time that has passed since the ending of Mortal Enemy, Modi has become a berserker - it is almost as if he has a death wish, a need to die in battle. And he just might get his wish as the Gods send him on a quest to cross the world, find Odin and set him free.
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/FMonTHRONEcanvas.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/FMonTHRONEcanvas_t.jpg" width="175" height="250" alt="Wheatley's Frankenstein Mobster" border="0" align="left"></a>”This all grew out of Mike Oeming's and my interest in Hong Kong action movies and the stories of Chinese folk lore. When I saw the early development material for Mike's Bastard Samurai series I got the crazy idea we might be able to work out some kind of crossover between the series. But that was based on my mistaken first impression that the series was set in an historical period. Since Bastard has a modern setting I decided we should just take Modi to China. It seemed like an easy enough plan, since Mortal Enemy had already established that Modi was widely traveled. We were a little concerned about the lack of historical evidence of trade between the Vikings and China, but even that detail fell into place. I happened on a TV documentary that revealed the discovery of mummified blond giants high in the mountains of China. So with a little ingenuity and a lot of fun we dived into the work.
”Hammer Hits China will be a bi-monthly, color comic mini-series from Image The second and third issues will feature back-up stories that preview two new series from us. In issue two we will be introduced to my Frankenstein Mobster and in issue three you'll get another spooky series start with Mike's and Chris Golden's Nevermore.”
Click on the thumbnails for larger versions…
<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINA01.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINA01_t.jpg" width="140" height="214" alt="Hammer Hits China #1, page 1" border="0" hspace="2"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINA02_03.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINA02_03_t.jpg" alt="Hammer Hits China #1, paghes 2-3" width="200" height="157" border="0" hspace="2"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINACOVER02.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/HOGCHINACOVER02_t.jpg" width="140" height="214" alt="Hammer HIts China #2" border="0" hspace="2"></a></center>
<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/WrongPage1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/WrongPage1_t.jpg" width="140" height="214" border="0" alt="Frankenstein Mobster "Do the Wrong Thing" page 1"></a></center>