The ‘Minor Threats’ universe expands again this summer with ‘Barfly’

Kyle Starks and Ryan Browne team up the tale of a humanoid mutant fly.

Kyle Starks and Ryan Browne are two creators who I would have sworn had worked together before doing a quick Google search to discover that no, I’m apparently wrong. I do think they have similar sensibilities, if you look at their previous work, from Browne’s collaborations with Charles Soule on Cursed Words and 8 Billion Genies to Starks’ Assassin Nation or Sexcastle, as both go out with wild ideas and even wilder executions … so maybe you can see why I thought that.

So I am pleased to see that will soon change, as they’ll team up on another Minor Threats spin-off at Dark Horse Comics, titled Barfly — which is about a humanoid mutant fly. Minor Threats is the 2022 miniseries by Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum and Scott Hepburn that has produced a previous spinoff and a sequel miniseries that begins in April, and that universe will keep expanding this summer.

“I’m so excited to be invited to add to the tapestry that is the wonderful, super-powered world of Minor Threats that Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt have brought to comics,” Starks said. “To get to do it with incredible, unequaled Ryan Browne is an unbelievable cherry on top of an already delicious great comic ice cream sundae. I truly think people are going to fall in love with the lovable loser Sh*teater – a sweet little fella who’s just trying to find his place in the world after years of being a nameless minion!”

Continue reading “The ‘Minor Threats’ universe expands again this summer with ‘Barfly’”

‘Minor Threats’ returns next year with a sequel miniseries

Writers Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum, along with artist Scott Hepburn, return to Redport to spotlight the reigning queen of crime.

Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum and Scott Hepburn will return to the world of Minor Threats next year with a sequel miniseries, Minor Threats: The Fastest Way Down. Joined by colorist Ian Herring and letterer Nate Piekos, the team will return to the world of Minor Threats with a story that focuses on Frankie Follis, AKA the costumed criminal Playtime, AKA the new Queenpin of crime.

“We’re thrilled to get the chance to return to Twilight City and continue Frankie’s story,” said Blum. “It’s important to us that every chapter has its own unique crime-fiction flavor. If volume one was our ‘survive the night’ thriller then volume two is our ‘Godfather part 2’ sprawling epic. It’s one thing to name yourself the Queenpin of super-crime, it’s another to defend it. Playtime will learn that with great power… comes rival Holiday-themed gangs, vengeful teen sidekicks, haunting superhero ghosts and unearthed secrets that will threaten everything she’s built.”

Continue reading “‘Minor Threats’ returns next year with a sequel miniseries”

‘Minor Threats’ gets a spinoff miniseries starring ‘The Alternates’

Tim Seeley, Christopher Mitten and Tess Fowler join Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum on the September-debuting series.

Minor Threats, the genre-bending superhero mystery by Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum and Scott Hepburn, will get a spinoff miniseries in September. Oswalt and Blum will be joined by co-writer Tim Seeley, with Christopher Mitten and Tess Fowler on art.

“I love the first Minor Threats series so much that I couldn’t help but imagine another team of lovable losers in their world–this time, a squad of forgotten superheroes who got rebooted, and now crave their old lives so bad it borders on addiction,” Seeley said. “Jordan and Patton not only liked the idea, they added their creativity to make something that fits their universe perfectly!”

While Minor Threats paid tribute to the Bronze Age of comics and the “grim and gritty” titles of the 1980s, From the World of Minor Threats: The Alternates has a different era in its heart.

“If the first Minor Threats series was a love letter to the c-list working class supervillains, then The Alternates is one for the early Vertigo comics of the 90s like Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing and Animal Man,” said Blum. “Forgotten goofy heroes pulled into a suddenly ‘mature’ existence that both humanizes and alienates them. Tim is such a master and historian of comics, we were so thrilled with the new sandbox he built for us all to play in — once again offering a fresh and unique point of view we hadn’t yet seen explored in superhero comics. This story of existence, addiction, recovery and monster smashing was beautifully rendered thanks to the art of Christopher Mitten and paintings by Tess Fowler. “

Continue reading “‘Minor Threats’ gets a spinoff miniseries starring ‘The Alternates’”

Oswalt + Blum + Hepburn make ‘Minor Threats’ at Dark Horse

The new superhero series arrives in August.

Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum, the showrunners behind the unjustly canceled Hulu series Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., will co-write a new series for Dark Horse — Minor Threats, “a genre-bending crime drama about superheroes and villains and the last gasp of the colorful innocent days of the silver and bronze era of comics before they are dragged into the grit-soaked modern times.”

They’re joined by artist Scott Hepburn, with colors by Ian Herring and letters by Nate Piekos, on this four-issue series.

“Every comic book fan dreams of creating their own universe,” said Oswalt. “This one is mine and Jordan’s. There is fun and danger and violence and sadness just like in real life, but with WAY brighter colors. I can’t wait to see you guys experience it.”

Continue reading “Oswalt + Blum + Hepburn make ‘Minor Threats’ at Dark Horse”

M.O.D.O.K. heads into his own comic in December

‘M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games’ by Jordan Blum, Patton Oswalt and Scott Hepburn brings the KIrby creation into his own comic.

M.O.D.O.K. is having quite an autumn, not only appearing in the big Avengers video game, but also preparing for the debut of his own show on Hulu.

The newfound fame of the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby creation is also translating into a comic series, as Marvel as announced that Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt, the showrunners of the upcoming animated Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., are writing M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games. Scott Hpeburn will provide the art.

“One of the things that tickled us about M.O.D.O.K. was his insistence on keeping up this intimidating/frightening front even when all visible evidence pointed to the opposite,” Oswalt said. “Even from the git-go, those early Kirby issues, he’s still frothing and gnashing about the majesty of himself even when he’s been knocked to the ground. The malevolent Weeble was love at first sight for us. So after exploring every aspect of that in the series — showing him in lonely moments when he’s got no one to impress but this desperate self-image he keeps trying to prop up — it was super-fun to bear down on M.O.D.O.K. trying to unravel a specific mystery about his origin.”

Continue reading “M.O.D.O.K. heads into his own comic in December”