John Byrne’s New COLD WAR Series Gets Main Stream Buzz & Cover Reveal

News

Not only are DC Comics and Marvel Comics using main stream media to hype select books, so are publishers like IDW. That’s the case with the new John Byrne ongoing series Cold War: The Michael Swann Dossier. This ongoing espionage series of mini-series, to alternate with his Next Men follow-up title Next Men: Aftermath, gets featured by several news outlets thanks to an Associated Press article.


PHILADELPHIA (AP) — John Byrne, one of comics’ acclaimed writers and artists, is launching a new ongoing series called “Cold War,” that explores the nature of espionage during that era and is his first all-new comic series in more than a decade.

The new series from IDW Publishing begins with the four-part story “The Damocles Contract” and introduces secret agent Michael Swann, formerly of Britain’s MI6 and now doing freelance work for the government on jobs with which it doesn’t want to be associated.

Byrne, who wrote and illustrated critically lauded runs on Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four,” “X-Men” and “Alpha Flight,” along with DC Comics’ “Superman,” is writing and illustrating the new series with Ronda Pattison coloring the art for each 32-page issue.

“After years of working with John on licensed properties like `Star Trek,’ as well as seeing him complete `John Byrne’s Next Men,’ I’m happy as can be to have something all-new from JB,” Chris Ryall, Byrne’s editor and IDW’s chief creative officer, said Wednesday.

Of all the stories John’s told over the years, he hasn’t really done anything with this level of period detail, spy-story intrigue and sexiness, “so I’m happy to have him tell tales in a time period so rife with that kind of storytelling potential.”

In the first issue, Swann is asked to stop a British scientist from defecting to the Soviet Union and, in the process, helping them expand their nuclear weapons program.

“He operates on a freelance basis, and occasionally his former bosses call upon him to handle something that is perhaps a bit too messy for Her Majesty’s Government to be involved” with, Byrne told AP in an email. “So he knows that when he is called upon, things have reached some dire straits. His response to this is usually very straightforward and brutal.”

Byrne said that he’s been fascinated by what he called “period pieces,” and had been looking to the Cold War as a possible avenue.

“And I’d been thinking for quite a long time that it would be fun to play in those dark and dangerous days of the Cold War,” he said. “Skulk around some of those dark alleys visited by the likes of Ian Fleming and John Le Carre. With maybe a little John Steed around the edges.”


I’m excited about this new book as Byrne has been doing amazing stuff with in the Star Trek universe for IDW as well with his comic opus Next Men.

John is a long-time pop culture fan, comics historian, and blogger. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Comics Nexus. Prior to being EIC he has produced several column series including DEMYTHIFY, NEAR MINT MEMORIES and the ONE FAN'S TRIALS at the Nexus plus a stint at Bleeding Cool producing the COMICS REALISM column. As BabosScribe, John is active on his twitter account, his facebook page, his instagram feed and welcomes any and all feedback. Bring it on!