Atari’s Centipede Burrowing into Comic Stores
Although they’ve been on life-support for the last few years, Atari were once one of the biggest and most relevant video game publisher sin the world. Yup, the publisher who gave us magnificent consoles such as the 2600 and unforgettable games such as the Alone in the Dark franchise are now a mere shadow of thier former self, with their US division even filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
They may not be doing so hot as far as videogames are concerned, but Atari are sure doing great in the realm of comic books. They recently partnered with Dynamite Entertainment to bring some of their classic characters to the printed page, with a comic based on their classic Centipede arcade game debuting in July. Singer and occasional writer Max Bemis will script the series, which is desscibed in the press release below as being a mix of “sci-fi, horror, and action”, whilst Eoin Marrow Deliver will handle artwork.
You may recall that Atari’s Centipede was also featured in Pixels, but I’m gonna go ahead and say that Adam Sandler won’t be in the comic. I swear I’m the only person who actually liked that goddamn movie.
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES CENTIPEDE, THE LATEST TITLE IN THE ATARI COMIC BOOK REVOLUTION
Writer Max Bemis and Artist Eoin Marrow Deliver A Harrowing Sci-Fi Tale of Monsters and Revenge
Mt. Laurel, NJ: Dynamite Entertainment continues its partnership with Atari®, one of the world’s most recognized producers of interactive entertainment, to create a new comics line based on beloved Atari® video game titles. The two entertainment juggernauts are pleased to announce that Centipede will join the recently released Swordquest as the latest title in the retrogaming series. Launching in July, Centipede #1 will bring a tale of survival and vengeance to comic book and gaming fans everywhere, courtesy of writer Max Bemis (Worst X-Man Ever, Foolkiller) and artist Eoin Marron (Sons of Anarchy: Redwood Original).
Sci-Fi, horror, and action collide in a comic for fans of Aliens, The Thing, and Predator. When a terrifying creature from beyond the stars attacks his planet, protagonist Dale’s journey begins, but he is not out to save his world; its already much too late for that. As the lone survivor, the only thing Dale wants is revenge.
Writer Max Bemis says, “I’m honored to be a part of bringing Centipede to life and to be allowed to do it in a somewhat less than conventional and dangerous way. Expect many mushrooms.”
Artist Eoin Marron says, “My favorite aspect of working on Centipede: Game Over is being able to take the core concept and expand on it in a way the original couldn’t at the time. That means developing a whole new world – one that’s similar to ours but not quite – and tearing it all down again from the very first issue. So, if you like your post-apocalyptic, last-man-on-Earth scenarios to be dripping with a tongue-in-cheek self-awareness and dry sense of humor, you’re going dig what we’re doing on this.”
“When Dynamite announced the launch of the Atari comic line, fans widely shared their excitement across social media, reminiscing over their fondest memories of hours spent in the Arcade and in front of their favorite Atari games,” says Nick Barrucci, Dynamite CEO and Publisher. “With the addition of Centipede to our Atari line, we’ll be able to bring that same excitement to the die-hard fans that worked hard to bring down the evilest of insects! And thanks to the massive success of Atari’s Flashback console, an entirely new generation will be able to enjoy both their catalogue of groundbreaking games, as well as the complementary comic series!”
The debut issue of Centipede features a wide selection of cover variants, providing fans and retailers with the freedom of choice! The cover artwork features the talents of Francesco Francavilla (Detective Comics, Zorro, Will Eisner’s The Spirit: Corpse-Makers), interior artist Eoin Marron, and Dan Schkade (Will Eisner’s The Spirit). A special classic game art cover will also be available. Limited variant editions in “Black & White,” “Homage,” and “Virgin Art” formats are also available as retailer incentives for comic shops that support the launch issue by achieving stocking thresholds. Fans will also be excited by the Classic Atari mini-comic incentive, a remastered reissue of the whimsical 32-page mini-comic (measuring 5″ x 7.75″) which was originally packaged with the Atari cartridge of its namesake.
Centipede #1 will be solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ May 2017 Previews catalog, the premier source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market, and slated for release in July. Comic book fans are encouraged to reserve copies with their local comic book retailers. Centipede will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, Dynamite Digital, iVerse, and Dark Horse Digital.
Pre-order #1: https://www.dynamite.com/htmlfiles/viewProduct.html?PRO=C725130260468
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