The line of books launched to a huge world-wide
audience, the #0 issue landed in the top 10 of the Diamond Comics top
300 ordered books list (near the top) and several of the first volume
issues lived healthily inside of the top 100. The fans who were
reading the first chapter were insanely dedicated and blew up the
official Dynamite forums and the Comic Book Resources forums with
discussions about the title and the story going on within it. It
thrilled fans of classic characters from the golden age and it
excited readers who were used to reading books written for today's
market, and through heavy promotion Dynamite successfully launched a
popular and well received universe of superheroes. Finally, fans of
shared universe style storytelling had a brand new line of comics to
enjoy and follow from the beginning without 40-60 years worth of
continuity to brush up on. It was fresh and new and fans didn't have
to suffer through the same ol' same ol' that was going on within
Marvel and DC at the time. What a concept it was.
As the success kept on coming, Dynamite launched
spin-off titles to support the line and tried hard to keep fans
interested, but over time the sales and orders of the Project
Superheroes franchise began to level out and the spin-offs just
couldn't reach the success of their mother series. A lot of things
could have been the reason for this. Mainly, when Dynamite launched
Black Terror it released the first 4 issues and then said that the
book was going on hiatus until Project Superpowers chapter two was to
be released. This move left the Black Terror title in limbo for
months and confused fans and casual readers about the status of the
book, many thought it was just going to be a 4 issue miniseries when
this happened. When things were back on track Dynamite released a
couple more series of comics based on characters from the franchise,
mainly Death Defyin' Devil and Lady Masquerade. These books were both
very well done but didn't find the level of success that Dynamite had
hoped for and basically only sold to the Project Superpowers die
hard's. We were also treated to another 4 issue miniseries called
“Meet the Bad Guys” which was an odd group of books based around
a hand picked member of the group and their encounters with their
biggest villains. It was kind of a neat idea, but didn't really make
much sense and didn't really resonate with fans very well.
When the second volume of Project Superpowers was
complete and fans were as thirsty for a third chapter as they were
for the second, Dynamite quietly let the franchise fade away and fall
into a void. Die hard fans and casual readers were left with
absolutely nothing to satiate their thirst for these books and it
seemed like the party was over aside from a Christmas special that
was published some time after chapter 2 was done. Month after month
passed by with absolutely no word from Dynamite as to what was going
on with Project Superpowers. It was strange, but there was a shimmer
of hope in very early 2012 when Dynamite's President and CEO told
fans that an announcement would be made regarding the series shortly,
and by shortly that pretty much meant a year from then but I suppose
we will cover that in a few minutes. Again, month after month crept
by and people were still asking question on the official Dynamite
forums and over at Comic Book Resources, it was as if Dynamite had
forgotten about this franchise and just killed it for good. Until
now.
Just recently Dynamite announced that they were going to
publish a miniseries based on The Owl, a character within the Project
Superpowers universe, and that it was going to be a bridge series to
another series that would come in time. That series is heavily
rumored to be the third volume of Project Superpowers. Fans who have
been jaded by Dynamite's treatment of the franchise have returned and
are still begging for more, while fans who have remained loyal
continue to cry out in hopes that the rumored title to come is the
next chapter in the series. Either way, Dynamite is sitting on what
could be a goldmine if they treat the property correctly this time
around and if they approach things slowly they could re-launch what
could become the third biggest superhero universe in all of comics.
The critical praise for the first two volumes of Project Superpowers
was great and the fan response was tremendous, now they just need to
nurse the baby until it's ready to stand up and walk on it's own
(which may not take as long as you think with proper promotion). Time
will tell as to what Dynamite has up their sleeve for this franchise
but I'm hoping that it's going to be every bit as sweet as it
would’ve been had the publisher not dropped the ball all those
years ago. After all, these golden age heroes need a home too, right?
Sure they do! But seriously, I do urge everyone who is reading this
who hasn't done so yet to check out the first two volumes of Project
Superpowers as well as some of the mini's and spin-offs that were
released between 2008-2010, I think you'll fall in love with these
heroes as much as I have and I really believe that the market needs
these forgotten characters to keep the superhero genre fresh and on
it's toes.Sure, the pulp books seem to be the big thing right now (and rightfully so) but there is still room for skin-tight spandex and heroic figures who want to serve justice in a non-bloody and death induced way. But if you're chomping at the bit for some of these classic characters now and don't want to wait than you can check out Masks, a series by Dynamite that is mainly pulp but add's in The Black Terror and Green Lama for a bit of balance to the book. Oddly enough the Green Lama was once a pulp hero himself, but I guess that's another conversation for another time. Well, that's it for now but like I said, get out there and go get yourself some of the Project Superpowers books and enjoy a universe that once was.....and may will be again.
Twitter - @OfficialRVGA
© 2013 Bill Mulligan
© 2013 Bill Mulligan
