BOOM! Studios Takes a Shot at Avengers

If imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery, then BOOM! Studios and Rich Johnston must love Marvel. The publisher and Johnston will team up for a series of one-shots that parody some of Marvel's most famous characters, including Captain America, Iron Man and Thor.

"Rich Johnston takes us on a raucous ride through politics, fanaticism and the healing power of Hollywood and no one is spared," says Ross Richie, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BOOM! Studios. "Expect his typical irreverent personality, along with a big dollop of black humor and some scathing satire. This one's not for the feint of heart!"

Each one-shot will be released on one of the four Wednesdays leading up to The Avengers big screen release on May 4th. April 11th, sees The Avengefuls drawn by Joshua Covey, followed the next week on April 18th with The Iron Muslim drawn by Bryan Turner.

The week after, April 25th, sees the release of Captain America Idol, penciled by Chris Haley, with the final title, Scienthorlogy, shipping on May 2nd drawn by the great Bronze Age Batman artist Michael Netzer. Each issue comes with a special Hembeck retailer order incentive.

"It's very flattering when someone calls you up and asks you to write for them. It's even better when they actually let you write. And when you go past your deadline, not to start screaming," Rich Johnston said. "Many people ask me how to break into comics. Now I can tell them, write a gossip column about comics for twenty years and then they'll let you write four of them. I don't know what BOOM! is thinking. My only conclusion is that they think by employing me, I'll drop that story about Ross Richie being found unconscious in the backroom of a Tijuana strip joint with three budgerigars that had to be removed surgically. Come to think of it, it might actually work."

"I don't want to have anything to do with this," said Matt Gagnon, BOOM!'s Editor-in-Chief.

Full press release and covers below.

BLEEDING COOL'S RICH JOHNSTON PARODIES THE AVENGERS THIS APRIL WITH FOUR ONE-SHOTS FROM BOOM!

January 31, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA - A fundamentalist Islamic terrorist codenamed The Iron Muslim, the world’s leading for-profit deity ScienTHORlogy, and Captain American Idol, a reality TV star thawed out from the 1940s: Avengefuls Assemble! This April BLEEDING COOL's Rich Johnston parodies The Avengers in four one-shots that anticipate the biggest movie release this summer! No, we're not talking about Step Up 4…

Each one-shot will be released on one of the four Wednesdays leading up to THE AVENGERS' big screen release on May 4th: first up, on April 11th, is THE AVENGEFULS drawn by Joshua Covey, followed the next week on April 18th with THE IRON MUSLIM drawn by Bryan Turner. The week after, April 25th, sees the release of CAPTAIN AMERICAN IDOL, penciled by Chris Haley, with the final title, SCIENTHORLOGY, shipping on May 2nd drawn by the great Bronze Age Batman artist Michael Netzer!

Each issue comes with a special Hembeck (yep, that Hembeck!) retailer order incentive.

"Rich Johnston takes us on a raucous ride through politics, fanaticism and the healing power of Hollywood and no one is spared," says Ross Richie, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BOOM! Studios. "Expect his typical irreverent personality, along with a big dollop of black humor and some scathing satire. This one's not for the feint of heart!"

"It's very flattering when someone calls you up and asks you to write for them. It's even better when they actually let you write. And when you go past your deadline, not to start screaming," Rich Johnston said. "Many people ask me how to break into comics. Now I can tell them, write a gossip column about comics for twenty years and then they'll let you write four of them. I don't know what BOOM! is thinking. My only conclusion is that they think by employing me, I'll drop that story about Ross Richie being found unconscious in the backroom of a Tijuana strip joint with three budgerigars that had to be removed surgically. Come to think of it, it might actually work."

"I don't want to have anything to do with this," said Matt Gagnon, BOOM!'s Editor-in-Chief.

THE AVENGEFULS #1: Can The Hoff assemble this rag-tag group together into a team ready to face Earth’s greatest threats? Well, he better, because that’s why we’re making this comic! Written by Rich Johnston (yeah, him again) and drawn by Joshua Covey with a cover by Mark Stafford. The Avengefuls ships on April 11th with a Diamond order code of FEB12 0845.

IRON MUSLIM #1: Trapped in a warzone, Al Stark has an epiphany: “Americans are a superstitious and cowardly lot. I shall become a Muslim!" Al, newly inspired, takes his jihad to New York City, and a showdown with a Freedom Fighter who resembles a certain Caped Crusader… THE IRON MUSLIM is written by Rich Johnston (search us!) and drawn by Bryan Turner with a cover by Mark Stafford, shipping on April 18th with a Diamond order code of FEB12 0849.

CAPTAIN AMERICAN IDOL #1: During World War II, Captain American was America’s #1 entertainer, thrilling audiences stateside and on the front lines — until a Komikaze attack on his show seemingly took him away forever. But now, a TV talent show looking for fresh blood instead finds the Captain’s frozen body. Written by Rich Johnston (no, really!), drawn by Chris Haley with a cover by Mark Stafford, CAPTAIN AMERICAN IDOL ships on April 25th with a Diamond order code of FEB12 0847.

SCIENTHORLOGY #1: Norse (& comic book) legend says Thor is the son of Odin. But what if he was really the spawn of alien overlords who harness volcanoes for ammunition for their intergalactic war and inspire a sci-fi writer to create a church? What if that church was created to deal with the fallout of that war and recruits movie stars to aid their cause? Written by Rich Johnston (yeah, we couldn't find anyone else) and drawn by the great Bronze Age talent Michael Netzer (Batman, Marvel Team-Up), featuring a cover by Mark Stafford, SCIENTHORLOGY ships on May 2nd with a Diamond order code of FEB12 0851.

About BOOM! Studios
Eisner, Harvey, and Best Publisher Award-winning BOOM! Studios (www.boom-studios.com) generates a constellation of bestselling comic books and graphic novels with the industry’s top talent, including Mark Waid's series IRREDEEMABLE, new HELLRAISER comics written by Clive Barker, PLANET OF THE APES, 28 DAYS LATER, and Philip K. Dick’s DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?. BOOM!’s all-ages imprint KABOOM! publishes Charles Schulz' PEANUTS, Roger Langridge’s SNARKED, and Scholastic’s WORDGIRL. BOOM!'s lit comix-focused imprint, BOOM! Town, recently won the Eisner Award for its first book, Shannon Wheeler's I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE FUNNIER.