Z2 Comics Announces New Creator-Owned Line of Periodicals

Z2 Comics, a publisher known as a boutique publisher of graphic novels from names including Paul Pope, Harvey Pekar and Dean Haspiel, announced today that it's expanding into the world of old-fashioned floppy comics.

The line will debut this fall with an all-ages comic from Bravest Warriors artist Ian McGinty; a historical fiction book from Chris Hunt --- a protege of Paul Pope; and a farcical fantasy comic from Last Week Tonight writer Will Tracy with collaborators Gabe Koplowitz and artist Miguel Porto.

In a press release, Z2 Comics Publisher Josh Frankel calls the line "wildly eclectic."

Frankel adds:

There’s no house style to Z2 Comics, because our comics are spectacularly diverse. We have an all ages comic book chock full of demons and monsters about the eternal tension between a slacker son and his ambitious father who literally wants to take over the universe. There’s a world trotting caper full of sex, intrigue and adventure. And then there’s a hilarious fantasy story about an aspiring cartoonist who must avenge his father’s death.

And here's the company's descriptions of each book, along with their release months:

WELCOME TO SHOWSIDE by Ian McGinty

October 2015

Following his stint as artist on the BRAVEST WARRIORS comic book, Ian McGinty will publish his creator owned debut as a writer/artist with Z2 Comics. WELCOME TO SHOWSIDE features the adventures of Kit, a lovable kid with a monstrous secret: his dad is the Great Shadow King and he wants Kit to take over the family business of destroying the world.

CARVER by Chris Hunt

November 2015

After an absence of five years, globe trotting and notorious gentleman of fortune Francis Carver returns to Paris in 1923. He has come back to aid Catherine Ayers, the wife of a wealthy Parisian socialite and the only woman he has ever loved. Her daughter has been kidnapped by the leader of a crazed anarchist gang, a man named Stacker Lee. In order to bring the girl home, Francis will have to crawl through the underbelly of the city while confronting the demons of his past, before being faced with a final choice: succumb to the man he has become, or take that mask off and be the hero he always wanted to be.

ALLEN: SON OF HELLCOCK by Will Tracy, Gabe Koplowitz, Miguel Porto

December 2015

Allen is cowardly, directionless, and less physically menacing than a daffodil. He’s also the only son of the mightiest hero ever to plunge his sword hilt-deep into the dark heart of evil… the mighty HELLCOCK! Enjoy the ride as Allen is thrust sword-first into a not-so-classic fantasy quest that, frankly, he would rather just sit out. ALLEN: SON OF HELLCOCK is the comic book debut of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver writer Will Tracy, co-writer Gabe Koplowitz and artist Miguel Porto.

McGinty describes the lead of Welcome to Showside as someone "who wishes he didn’t have a care in the world," but instead has to occasionally fight demons. Hunt calls Carver a tribute to Hugo Pratt's Corto Maltese, and Tracy, Koplowitz and Porto say Allen: Son of Hellcock has a wide array of colorful figures, including "terrifying horse-donkeys."