Vox Day recently announced a new Alt-Hero spin-off series titled Shade from Bane creator Chuck Dixon.
The announcement came as Day also revealed that Arkhaven Comics was releasing the fifth and sixth issues of Chuck Dixon’s Avalon.
On his blog, Day revealed the release of Avalon #5 and #6 writing, “Normally we’d spread these out a bit, but since it’s been a while and because publishing the sixth issue means we can start putting the omnibus together, we decided to release issues #5 and #6 at the same time.”
He added, “And besides, if you’re on lockdown, what better way to spend the day than in Avalon City with The Legend Chuck Dixon?”
Here’s the official description for Avalon #5:
“The hunter has become the hunted. As the mysterious vigilante continues to stalk her prey, the crack international superhero team is on her trail and is determined to bring her down before she can accomplish her deadly mission.
But is there another way to find her? What is the connection between the vigilante and the unknown coma patient she was once observed visiting in the hospital? The Avalon police, too, are patiently trying to track her down before she adds to her body count.”
And here’s the official description for Avalon #6:
“Vengeance is the order of the day in Avalon. But when King Ace and his new team finally manage to track down the murderous vigilante and interrupt her latest hit, he learns that it is a lot easier to take on an unwilling villain than to take her in to face justice. And he also learns a much more difficult lesson about betrayal.
In the meantime, King Ace’s old friend and former not-sidekick has also fallen in with some new friends who do not hesitate to use their superpowers in some very illegal ways and towards some very questionable ends.”
At the end of his announcement concerning Avalon #5 and #6, Day teased Shade writing, “Meanwhile, our upcoming Shade comic, written by The Legend Chuck Dixon, is going to crush.”
Day spoke to Bounding Into Comics about the upcoming series describing it as “Arkhaven’s first individual superhero series.”
The series will be written by Chuck Dixon and illustrated by Cliff Cosmic. It will focus on Shade, who appeared in the first volume of Alt-Hero.
As described by Day, “Shade is a member of of the Global Justice Initiative and can be considered something akin to a European Batman, if Batman was not an incestuous Chinese catamite who is afraid of flying mammals and would rather slaughter all his friends than execute justice.”
He added, “Shade is an Austrian aristocrat of the ancien regime, who recoils in disgust at the lack of taste and culture in modern society and believes wholeheartedly in the concept of European Union.”
“He’s essentially a neo-Hapsburg elitist with superpowers thrown into a modern world of which he does not approve at all,” explains Day.
Day continues, “So, he takes out his fury on the criminal classes, the renegades, and those who threaten world order.”
Like Batman, Shade is also extremely wealthy. Day tells me, “He’s rich in a way that only old families can be wealthy, and is committed to global justice in the way that only those who have never had any contact with the actual poor can be.”
As for his role in the Global Justice Initiative, Shade “provide[s] a a sober counterweight to the fervent ideology of Captain Europa and the narcissistic chaos generated by Dynamique and Rainbow.”
Shade #1 is expected to debut sometime in May. There will not be a crowdfunding campaign.