Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: amp, comicspro, martin kove, ryan reynolds

AMP Launch at ComicsPRO With Love Struck, NeverWars And Martin Kove

AMP Launch at ComicsPRO with NeverWars, selling Love Struck to Ryan Reynolds, and partying with The Prodigal son and Cobra Kai's Martin Kove

AMP Comics recently gained Bleeding Cool's attention for taking on the Latino comic book imprint Chispa from Scout Comics led by David Bowles and Hector Rodriguez III, and calls itself a new creator-centric independent comic label set to launch in April. And AMP Comics CEO Don Handfield of Dark Age, The Source, Unikorn took to the ComicsPRO event to announce themselves and upcoming plans.  Don Handfield's first book, The Rift, was adapted for television by Steven Spielberg for the Amazing Stories reboot on Apple+. Handfield is also a successful film producer, including The Founder, Kill the Messenger and creator of the TV show Knightfall. He is a partner in the comic financier Thunder and a former board member of Scout Comics. That latter credit may also be why he talks about "prioritizing quality, transparency, and creator satisfaction through timely royalty statements and payments." Handfield states, "We designed AMP to avoid the industry pitfalls we've all encountered. The mission of this incredibly talented team is to create a space where creators can thrive, and their stories can be released into the marketplace with the respect they deserve."

Launching in July, MC Foley's LoveStruck has already been picked up for development as a television series by Ryan Reynolds' production company Maximum Effort. At ComicsPRO, Handfield said that it's the story of "a love-jaded woman who ends up running over Cupid while making a flash mob marriage proposal."

"He's in a coma and his ghost appears to explain to her that you have to help me make people fall in love or I'm gonna die, you're gonna go to jail… so it's kind of a love procedural with this jaded woman who doesn't believe love even exist, has to make people fall in love." And they were giving out previews at the show.

AMP will also publish the Thunder Comics imprint, leading off with Prodigal Son, a cowboy saga co-written by Cobra Kai star Martin Kove, with the innovative three alternate endings, each with its own variant cover, so readers can choose their own ending to the series ("Good, Bad or Ugly") or collect all three. Prodigal has been picked up for TV Development by Jeff Frost, the former head of Sony Television, through his Bristol Circle Banner. Talking of Kove, Handfield stated "It's a passion project of his, he'll come out and talk about it. A little-known fact: Lieutenant Blueberry, do a few guys remember the Mobius strip? Marty was kind of the model inspiration for it; he had all the old books, and he was really a huge fan of that."

"We have an artist who is actually a Turkish man just living in Japan who we thought had that kind of Mobius vibe and could bring us cool stuff."

"We have three endings for number four: the good, the bad and the ugly endings, so readers can choose which ending they want. They have different covers, they have different endings… He's also gonna be at our party on Saturday if you wanna come meet him and smoke cigar with him or whatever he's a really good guy and he's really passionate about comics, he really loves this story… "

"For me, comics are not a way to hack Hollywood, but they are actually the purest form of entertainment and creativity. We have a book with Marty Cove. If I had developed this with my business, it would've ended up being a science-fiction film. I would've been fired, and Brad Pitt would've been replacing Marty. I love comics; I can't say enough good about them. We stand for strong characters and transparency, and we are open to this with creators on royalties and payments and just great books."

AMP has also announced an 11-issue series NeverWars, from their Thunder Comics imprint in which "the magical realms of Wonderland, Oz, and Neverland have been thrust into a devastating war that spans worlds and generations. The twisted magic of the Jabberwock transforms good into evil, turning beloved childhood figures into shadows of their former selves. In NeverWars, the heroes we grew up with must grapple with the horrors of conflict, the loss of innocence, and the fight to hold onto hope."

"Told through three uniquely illustrated and completely distinct first issues, NeverWarsi invites readers to experience this epic saga from multiple perspectives."

"Readers can choose between three different character stories through which they enter the NeverWorld: Dorothy Gale, now a WWI nurse on the frontlines of the Great War, as she faces the horrors of battle and a return to Oz. Georgie Bird is a young English recruit whose stuffed rabbit leads him into Wonderland, where he discovers his grandmother, Alice, has been transformed by the Jabberwock's evil spell into the Red Queen."

"Or soar alongside Petr Pfanne, a German Flying Circus spotter who crash-lands in Neverland, only to find himself unable to fly in a world torn apart by the war."

They stated that they have secured a first look deal with The Op., to create board games based on AMP's books. AMP is now the official publisher of the Script2Comic Contest, with the 2024 winner's work set to be financed and published in partnership with Kodansha.

They also held one of the two closing-out parties last night in their LA offices with Marty Kove. I do hope it went well…

Joining Handfield is Joshua Starnes, a founding partner of Red 5 Comics as President. Meanwhile, David Byrne, former Scout Comics Co-Publisher, will oversee the release and development strategy as Publisher. Joshua Malkin will serve as editor-in-chief, and Eshan Kamarsu will serve as creative executive. The AMP family of imprints and titles will be available to retailers through Lunar Distribution's Massive Indies initiative, as well as Diamond Comic Distributors and Universal Distribution.

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