THE AFTERMATH OF JAMES HUDNALL

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Humanoids is getting ready to invade the US markets by storm this month when they release the first batch of their comics under a joint publishing venture with DC Comics following their alliance.

Meanwhile, in the publisher’s home country, France, business is as usual.

According to Humanoids Editor Paul Benjamin, Aftermath, written by James Hudnall with art by Mark Vigouroux, was released in May in France, where it’s titled Trigs.

“As for the US version of Aftermath, we have not yet confirmed a release date with DC, so I don’t know when it will come out here,” Benjamin told Newsarama. “James has been in the business for years. He has written many, many books, including ESPers, Strikeforce: Moritori, Alpha Flight, Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography, Harsh Realm, Superman, Batman. He is currently printing new books on his own. His latest is 2 To the Chest. He lives in Las Vegas.

”Mark Vigouroux has illustrated several books for Humanoids. His work with co-artist Mark Riou has appeared in the US in Metal Hurlant #1 and in the trade paperback collecting his first four European albums, MISS: Better Living Through Crime. His first American solo art was in Metal Hurlant #7 and #9. Mark Vigouroux lives in Japan.”

Aftermath was one of the few projects revealed in an earlier interview with Benjamin. John Cassaday’s I Am Legion has been released in France and the US edition is coming out this fall. Chuck Austen’s Flywires will be coming out in France later this year. Kurt Busiek has Redhand in the works with the publisher as well. As for Aftermath, nothing much is known… until now.

Hudnall provided Newsarama with the following synopsis:

20 years from now, the Earth is attacked by aliens who devastate our major cities. Whole governments are wiped out. The aliens drop bombs on us that terra-form large parts of the earth and turn them into jungles that are toxic to humans. Our military is losing the war. There is only one last card they can play. They bring out a band of teenagers who have been raised from birth as super-soldiers. These kids are genetically-engineered with a “trigger gene” that allows them to do incredible things. But they were not meant to fight in any wars until they reached adulthood. Times require drastic measures.

These “Trigs” defeat the aliens, against all expectations. Many of them are killed in the process. The thankful world begins to rebuild.

Ten years later, the surviving Trigs are now all in their 20s. The world has mostly forgotten them the way veterans of previous wars are often forgotten. They’ve all gone off to lead separate lives. One of them, Ares, has decided to write a book about the wars. And about the history of the Trigs. Few people know that they were born from illegal genetics programs run in the early 21st century.

Ares goes to see his former squad mate, Osirus. He asks him to help him with some of the details. Osirus isn’t sure he can help because he’s involved with the new American government and he can’t talk about security issues. So they embrace and Ares leaves. Not knowing the whole time his conversation was recorded. And Osirus explodes minutes after he leaves the scene.

The AMFED (American Federation) government thinks Ares killed him. Because Ares has the power to make things explode by touching them.

So Ares goes on the lam, trying to find out who killed his friend and framed him. Something tells him it has to do with his past.

Aftermath is set in a post-nanotech future. It’s a changing world, where buildings are grown and people escape reality by filtering it to meet their tastes. It’s a post apocalyptic take set during a period of reconstruction. The maps have changed. The rules are different and somehow, Ares has to win against all the odds. Unfortunately, his former teammates don’t trust him.

“The Trigs are super-soldiers, so named because their abilities come from an enhanced gene that triggers “Hyper-Dynamism,” the hidden powers in human beings. They were genetically created in labs through cloning and stem cell research, all illegal at the time,” Hudnall further explained.

“Ares is one of the members of the Trig team who took out the alien mother ship. He has the ability to cause the molecules in objects he touches to come apart in such a way that causes an explosion. Ares is single when this story takes place, but he used to be involved with Kali. Ares is writing a book about the history of the war and the Trigs.

”[Kali]’s another member of the special team that struck the mothership. She’s a masterful killer, with superhuman instincts on how best to execute a tactical mission. She has gone underground since the war ended and, at the beginning of this story none of her other teammates knows what happened to her.

And then there’s Osirus, leader of the strike team. “He now works for the AMFED government. AMFED (American Federation) is what’s left of the United States after the war. It’s not the same country, but it maintains some of its principles while being different in other ways. But AMFED feels anything that was a military secret from the old government is their secret also. So they don’t want to secrets of the Trigs to every come out. As an agent of AMFED, Osirus tries to talk Ares out of writing a book.

”One of the most intelligent members of the strike team, Vulcan has since started his own technology company and is reverse engineering the alien tech so he can patent the ideas and sell them to the recovering world. He lives in a “Sky Top,” a space station attached to the earth by a space elevator.

”Formerly the lover of Osirus and a member of the strike team, Medb now lives in Connecticut and is married to a regular human. She wants to have kids and lead a normal life, but that’s not going to happen. Medb and Ares did not get along that well in the past.”

Coming tomorrow: Kurt Busiek on Redhand.

[Daxamite]

Having been a fan of (Hardcase) Hudnall for quite a while, I'm looking forward to this. The story kind of reminds me of his Strikeforce:Morituri work (which btw is probably one of the best comic series to ever see print) but with some major twists.

[rezin8]

Humanoids are set to arrive in the US this month? What are the comic titles..? Will they have the DC logo?

[dlairman]

Originally posted by Daxamite
Having been a fan of (Hardcase) Hudnall for quite a while, I'm looking forward to this. The story kind of reminds me of his Strikeforce:Morituri work (which btw is probably one of the best comic series to ever see print) but with some major twists.

There is a reason that it reminds you of SF:M - IIRC the plot was where he wanted to take the series. So this is the rest of the SF:M story, with the serial numbers filed off, and filtered by the passage of nearly 2 decades.

Iand I for one am VERY happy to hear this news.

For a preview of the series, go to http://www.jameshudnall.com/ and check out the first chapter and a preview of the second.

[Gordon McAlpin]

... without mentioning The Psycho?!

Who else remembers that book? Damn, that was a great mini-series. I'm going to go read it again now.

Hey, DC (or Hudnall, whoever owns the rights), let's get that puppy back in print!!!

[gren99]

Originally posted by Flickhead
... without mentioning The Psycho?!

Who else remembers that book? Damn, that was a great mini-series. I'm going to go read it again now.

Hey, DC (or Hudnall, whoever owns the rights), let's get that puppy back in print!!!

jeez, i hadn't thought of that book in eons. that was some of dan brereton's first major work, was it not?

i remember thinking it was spectacular mini when it came out. oneof those pre-vertigo-but-like-a-vertigo series DC put out (like delano's 'world without end' and tom veitch's 'the nazz' and 'clash').

[PhillipVargas]

Humanoids is a great publisher. Top notch work all around. I'm really looking forward to picking up - I am Legion.

[wubbster]

I love Humanoids stuff. Glad to see they're getting more exposure in the U.S.

[mrhelm]

James Hudnall+Humanoids=I must buy.

Seriously, the Morituri-esque aspects of this make it look truly awesome. I'm looking forward to picking this up.

Not to mention learning about Busiek's book tomorrow....

[nenad]

Originally posted by rezin8
Humanoids are set to arrive in the US this month? What are the comic titles..? Will they have the DC logo?

Next week Technopriests vol 1 by Jodorowsky, Janjetov and Beltran.

For detailed description and links to previews, reviews, artists websites and more look at the following:

July releases:
http://www.humanoids-publishing.com/...=307&forum=8&0

August releases:
http://www.humanoids-publishing.com/...=287&forum=8&7

September releases:
http://www.humanoids-publishing.com/...=314&forum=8&0