The Shield - Dark Circle

[Crimebuster]

Archie Comics has finally solicited the third of their three new superhero titles in the forthcoming Dark Circle line.

 

The first issue of The Shield will arrive in April, following The Black Hood in February and The Fox in March.

 

There are five covers.

 

David Williams

 

 

 

Robert Hack

 

 

 

Andrew Robinson

 

 

 

Wilfredo Torres

 

 

 

Rafael Albuquerque

 

 

 

 

Full solicit:

 

THE SHIELD #1

NEW ONGOING SERIES FROM DARK CIRCLE!

“Daughter of the Revolution, Part 1” Since the dawn of the republic, whenever her country faces its blackest days, she returns: a spirit of the revolution sent to fight for what is right. But when she reappears for the first time in a generation with no memories—not even of her own identity—and encounters an evil force expecting her arrival, all the Shield can do is… run!

-script: Adam Christopher and Chuck Wendig

Art: David Williams, Gary Martin, Rachel Deering, Kelly Fitzpatrick

Cover: David Williams

Variant Cover: Wilfredo Torres

Variant Cover: Andrew Robinson

Variant Cover: Rafael Albuquerque

Dark Circle Movie Throwback Variant Cover: Robert Hack

On Sale Date: 4/15

32-page, full color comic

$3.99 U.S.

[Crimebuster]

You'll note that the original solicit had this coming out April 15.

 

Archie later pushed the release date back to May 15.

 

Well, guess what? Yes, we have our first official delay in the new Dark Circle line, which is pretty impressive considering they've only put out one actual comic so far.

 

The Shield #1 has been delayed from May 15 to June 17. Here's what Dark Circle editor Alex Segura has to say about this:

 

"Of the three launch titles, 'The Shield' was going to be the most challenging. I'd handed Adam [Christopher], Chuck [Wendig] and David [Williams] the unenviable task of reimagining the most iconic hero in the Dark Circle library. I was blown away and happy to find out they'd knocked it out of the park -- from page one of this new series, you know this character was, is and will always be THE Shield. Adam and Chuck have managed to craft a story that flips superhero conventions and creates something new, energized and awesome. They have nailed this character in a way that I never expected and I'm completely floored by.

 

"As you can imagine, reviving an icon takes time -- and once we realized we needed a bit more, we wanted to be transparent on the front end, as opposed to surprising readers and retailers with late books. We wanted to ensure that we not only made a splash with issue #1, but regularly for the run of this series -- which is going to be something special. So, we've pushed the launch of 'The Shield' #1 to June. The returnability we gave retailers with 'The Black Hood' #1 and 'The Fox' #1 remains, as do the subsequent incentives.

 

"Most importantly, we'll have a kickass, jaw dropping and wholly new Shield debut in June. Mark your calendars. While it's trite to say the issue will be worth the wait, it's completely true -- and we'll be in a solid position to deliver the rest of this series on time and of the highest quality. I'd like to thank the fans and retailers for understanding. We're excited to show more from the series soon."

 

 

This delay probably doesn't really affect potential new fans all that much.

 

For Archie fans like me, though, it's enough to make me want to put my head through a glass plate. I don't know why they have so much trouble hitting deadlines, particularly on titles that haven't even come out yet. You have an infinite amount of time to prepare this stuff before announcing it. How can you get that wrong? Sabrina #1 came out in September, for god's sake, and #2 still hasn't come out! So much for the momentum they had will all the good reviews and buzz.

 

I hope we're not going down the same road with Dark Circle, but it's hard to be optimistic after what's been happening with Sabrina and Afterlife with Archie.