DIXON, PULIDO, PEREZ, LADY DEATH & ARWYN MEET IN MAY EVENT

[MattBrady]

It was ten years ago that Lady Death first made her appearance on the comics scene, and what a trip it’s been. While part of the character’s 10th anniversary celebration will be in the form of Lady Death: The Wild Hunt, a new series from CrossGen, written by character creator Brian Pulido, and illustrated by Jim Cheung, a second party will be in the form of a two-issue crossover - Sojourn/Lady Death debuting in May.

Written by Chuck Dixon and Pulido, the miniseries will be illustrated by George Perez, marking his first return to CrossGen since JLA/Avengers.

The thrust of the story pulls on the main Soujourn storyline, that is, the series’ big bad, Mordath is still seeking any and every advantage to rid himself of Arwyn, the bow-wielding thorn in his side that he can’t shake. Using his magicks, Mordath reaches across time and space, and pulls a champion to battle for him.

That would be Lady Death.

CrossGen fans as well as those with their respective ears to the ground will remember that at last year’s San Diego Comic Con International, it was reported that Brian Pulido suggested to Bill Rosemann, (in front of guests to the GrossGen booth) that Lady Death should team-up with Arywn of Sojourn. While Rosemann was excited about it and promised to pursue it after the con, Pulido’s suggestion was the seed that started it all.

“Brian and I sat down in the CG booth and started brainstorming on how we could all have fun celebrating Lady Death’s 10th Anniversary,” Rosemann said. “We were throwing ideas around, when Brian asked about a team-up. I thought that fans would dig that, and suggested Arwyn, since both characters are set in similar time periods, both are strong women - both in personality and physically, and both have great visual looks that would compare and contrast in cool ways.

“When a reporter overheard us talking, and asked if he could write about it, we said, ‘Sure…maybe if it’s in print we’ll have to do it!’ Back at the studio, we backburned the project for a few months as we concentrated on launching El Cazador, Abadazad, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but once Jim Cheung signed on to pencil The Wild Hunt – and once George’s commitments to JLA/Avengers were fulfilled -- we knew the time was right to keep Lady Death's Anniversary rolling by seeing what would happen if she met our avenging archer!”

But watch your terminology though – it’s not a crossover, according to Rosemann.

“A crossover begins in one title, and then continues into another. This is a standalone miniseries that’s completely contained in its two issues. An important thing to us from the very beginning of planning this was that we didn’t want part one to appear in Sojourn and part two to appear in Lady Death. I mean, what if a Sojourn fan has no interest in reading a Lady Death comic book, or vice versa? No, we decided it would be most fair just to create a separate miniseries to contain the entire story. "This way, if you're not interested in reading it, your individual experience of reading Sojourn or Lady Death: The Wild Hunt will not be interrupted. Plus, we didn’t want to force the creative teams of those two books to shoehorn in this adventure…they’ve got their own cool stories going on and we didn’t want to mess with that. We know that readers and creators get frustrated when crossovers come clomping in and upset the natural flow of their stories, so a separate self-contained miniseries was definitely the way to go.

Rosemann also said that the recent de-emphasizing and literal downsizing of CrossGen’s “sigilverse” really wasn’t a facilitating factor in the project moving ahead, rather, the creator’s interest in telling the story, as well as the overall miniseries fitting more in line with the publisher’s newer line of books, which are more driven by creator’s passion, rather than placement in a universe concept.

If you need further convincing about the passion going into the project…

"This is a power-packed package!" exclaimed Pulido. "The chance to work with Chuck, George and these two great characters is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!"

And from Dixon: "What can I say, I love writing crossovers. And this one promises to be action packed in the extreme. Plus, it's my first time working with George. Two great characters who promise trouble when they meet and a guy who strains the special effects budget on every page. It's gonna be a blast!"

“Chuck and Brian are the madmen behind the wheel,” Rosemann said. “Chuck loves spinning crazy team-ups like Batman/Predator III, Superman/Aliens II, and Punisher/Batman, and Brian loves digging into ‘high concept’ stories like this. Both writers are known for over-the-top action scenes, so I can’t wait to see what they cook up for George to draw.”

And speaking of Mr. Perez…yes, this project is the one that Perez agreed to draw for CrossGen last year when he opted to accept work from other companies as well as the Tampa-based publisher.

“Early in 2003, George said that he wanted to do something special for CrossGen in 2004,” Rosemann said. “And as soon as Brian, Chuck, and I started talking about the story, we thought George would knock it out of the park. I mean, who better to draw two visually striking women warriors locked in battle? Who better to draw our two most popular characters colliding in all-out combat? This is Mr. JLA/Avengers, after all! Luckily, George liked the sound of the concept and we were off and running.

For Pulido, the creative team-up closes a circle of sorts, which was started nearly 30 years ago. “I first met George as a fan at a small con at a mall in South New Jersey in 1976,” Pulido said. “He drew Thanos for me and I still have it.”

As for any larger implications – that will be left up to the respective teams handling Arwyn and Lady Death after the two-issue meeting. As Rosemann explained, “This ain’t no What If? or Elseworlds, my friends - this is the real deal: the actual Arwyn from Sojourn and the same Lady Death that’s kicking booty in her own medieval mag. Will this impact their respective comic books after the smoke clears? That’s up to their individual creative teams to decide, but I wouldn’t put it past either to have some long-lasting effects from the meeting continue forward.”

[TTROY]

Ah George.........His love of battling women
Gotta love this
I still remeber george's site where he designs costumes for Female wrestlers......for videos productions.

but this looks like a good replacement for that other title he bowed out on...

Now get to work on Games!!!!!

[RDuarte]

“Early in 2003, George said that he wanted to do something special for CrossGen in 2004,” Rosemann said.

When I read that, I wondered why Perez left/was taken off THE WAR. I mean, isn't that the super special CG title we had been hearing about?

I mean, who better to draw two visually striking women warriors locked in battle? Who better to draw our two most popular characters colliding in all-out combat?

Then I read that. If there's anything George can draw, it's two women locked in battle. I'd pick this up for that alone!

[Midnighter]

FIRST POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (oops, a bit premature there, I'm a bit of a slow typer. Lol)

Great news. George Perez is of the best artists in the biz and it'll be great to see his versions of Lady Death and Arwyn.

What would be even better would be Crossgen sorting out their trade program!

[TTROY]

Unlike some posters on the internet who seem to be on a constant death watch for cross gen, I am happy to see them succeed--if they can get their finances ironed out
--- the Cross gen line no matter what you think about the business practices had something for everyone in one of thier titles.
People always claim that that they want more diversity in comics and when one company does a diverse line people ignored or gave the line a "pre-concieved notion" response to them.

Still for years those titles were consistantly good looking.

[IanZL]

And from Dixon: "What can I say, I love writing crossovers."

Looks like Chuck didn't get the memo.

[stlfan79]

Im glad to see Crossgen is sticking with their comitment not to do interseries crossovers; it shows they really care about their readers.

[Spenser for Hir]

If Perez is there, so am I. I have not read much of Lady Death, but I was thinking of getting the new series. This may make up my mind for me.

[CATMAN3]

COOL!

[Chris Hunter]

Originally posted by IanZL
Looks like Chuck didn't get the memo.

I was just thinking the same thing...

[Hdefined]

This doesn't seem to be the kind of project Perez would flock to . . . then again, he must be suffering withdrawel from his old Crimson Plague series, so maybe this will help get that out of his system

[Strike]

I'll be getting this. I'm a fan of both, and a crossover would be right up my alley.
With Perez on the art, and both Pulido and Dixon writing it, I've got high hopes for this one.

[OcCaM]

Originally posted by Hdefined
This doesn't seem to be the kind of project Perez would flock to . . . then again, he must be suffering withdrawel from his old Crimson Plague series, so maybe this will help get that out of his system

The type of series he wouldn't flock to?

Wow, didn't know you could mind read people and that you knew precisely what he wanted to draw. Hell, he's already admitted publicly that he doesn't want to do superheroes!

I'd welcome this or Crimson Plague or anything different from him at this point. Not that JLA/Avengers wasn't fun or anything...

[OMAR]

[Q]“A crossover begins in one title, and then continues into another. This is a standalone miniseries that’s completely contained in its two issues. An important thing to us from the very beginning of planning this was that we didn’t want part one to appear in Sojourn and part two to appear in Lady Death. I mean, what if a Sojourn fan has no interest in reading a Lady Death comic book, or vice versa? No, we decided it would be most fair just to create a separate miniseries to contain the entire story. This way, if you’re not interested in reading it, your individual experience of reading Sojourn or Lady Death: The Wild Hunt will not be impacted. Plus, we didn’t want to force the creative teams of those two books to shoehorn in this adventure…they’ve got their own cool stories going on and we didn’t want to mess with that. We know that readers and creators get frustrated when crossovers come clomping in and upset the natural flow of their stories, so a separate self-contained miniseries was definitely the way to go. [/Q]

contrasts with:

[Q]“This ain’t no What If? or Elseworlds, my friends - this is the real deal: the actual Arwyn from Sojourn and the same Lady Death that’s kicking booty in her own medieval mag. Will this impact their respective comic books after the smoke clears? That’s up to their individual creative teams to decide, but I wouldn’t put it past either to have some long-lasting effects from the meeting continue forward.”[/Q]

Not that I have any pity for Crossgen buyers at this point, after recently finding out that the freelancers are still unpaid. It's just funny to note how consistantly Rosemann speaks out of both sides of his mouth.

[idkidd]

Not that I have any pity for Crossgen buyers at this point, after recently finding out that the freelancers are still unpaid. It's just funny to note how consistantly Rosemann speaks out of both sides of his mouth.

If everyone immediately gave up on buying anything Crossgen, than the freelancers DEFINETLY would never get paid (not to mention the various people still working there would be out of a job). I continue to buy Crossgen product because I enjoy it and I very much hope the company will emerge from this dark time healthy and able to pay the people they owe.

[Studio D Comics]

Hmmm... I like Arwynn, I like Lady Death... but together? I dunno.

But I'm buying this. 2 issues, great creative team, will probably be a good price. If so then I'm signing on.


later
don

[TTROY]

so OMAR the way to help[ the unpaid creators is to make Cross gen financial trouble worse by not buying anything......


logic is a concept that you are not quite clear on yet huh?

If you truely want to help these people...buy what you like. Financial troubles be damned....

By buying Cross GEN products you like, you only help the people you are trying to defend (creators) By not buying because of your politics you only help to make matters worse.

[nebuchadnezzer]

Originally posted by OMAR
[Q]“A crossover begins in one title, and then continues into another. This is a standalone miniseries that’s completely contained in its two issues. An important thing to us from the very beginning of planning this was that we didn’t want part one to appear in Sojourn and part two to appear in Lady Death. I mean, what if a Sojourn fan has no interest in reading a Lady Death comic book, or vice versa? No, we decided it would be most fair just to create a separate miniseries to contain the entire story. This way, if you’re not interested in reading it, your individual experience of reading Sojourn or Lady Death: The Wild Hunt will not be impacted. Plus, we didn’t want to force the creative teams of those two books to shoehorn in this adventure…they’ve got their own cool stories going on and we didn’t want to mess with that. We know that readers and creators get frustrated when crossovers come clomping in and upset the natural flow of their stories, so a separate self-contained miniseries was definitely the way to go. [/Q]

contrasts with:

[Q]“This ain’t no What If? or Elseworlds, my friends - this is the real deal: the actual Arwyn from Sojourn and the same Lady Death that’s kicking booty in her own medieval mag. Will this impact their respective comic books after the smoke clears? That’s up to their individual creative teams to decide, but I wouldn’t put it past either to have some long-lasting effects from the meeting continue forward.”[/Q]

Not that I have any pity for Crossgen buyers at this point, after recently finding out that the freelancers are still unpaid. It's just funny to note how consistantly Rosemann speaks out of both sides of his mouth.

-whoa...OMAR's getting a bit slow in his old age with the overly dramatic and unsubstantiated complaints. maybe he's just under the weather

[Logan X]

I agree with everyone who's saying this is a little weird, but...

IT'S GEORGE PEREZ! GET OVER IT!

[zombiekid]

am i the only one who doesn't really like george perez's work? i can't be the only one, can i? can i? don't get me wrong, i accept that he's a proper pro and there's nothing he can't draw, but i just think he has no style to his work and that it all looks dated. i personally hate the way he draws quicksilver and dropped jla/avengers coz i found it really dull. i jsut don't get why people rave about him so much is all. but live and let live i guess.

[TTROY]

yep you are one of the few...deal with it.

And his work really doesn't look dated... it has evolved over 25 years ....

Now Image creators and the T & A artists..... that looks 90's dated.

[littlewolvie]

Nice to see George Pérez hasn't completely left Crossgen. I'm looking forward to this one.