Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: buck rogers, public domain

The First Public Domain Buck Rogers Comic, In 2025 From Array Comics

Buck Rogers 2045, the First Public Domain Buck Rogers Comic will be published in January 2025, from Array Comics... and so many more to come.

The character of Buck Rogers, a man from the present who travels to the far future, first appeared in the novel Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Phillip Nowlan, published in 1928 in the anthology magazine Amazing Stories, which saw the character under a different name, wnter the US public domain last year. However, the more familiar use of the character, the cartoon strip Buck Rogers in the 25th Century A.D. written by Nowlan and drawn by Dick Calkins, from which most iterations since have been drawn and which inspired many, was published on the 7th of January, 1929, and will be public domain in January 2025. The whole first year of strips. And that's the one that people will want.

And as if by magic, new publisher Array Comics announced the publication of a new comic book series. Buck Rogers 2425, for January 2025, intends to be one that "merges the spirit of classic sci-fi adventures with original narratives for today's readers."

"The story begins with Deering, a resilient teenager in a post-apocalyptic Earth of the year 2425. She encounters a mysterious youth who claims to have awakened from a 500-year sleep. Together, they must decide whether to trust each other as they navigate the remnants of human civilization and battle vicious alien invaders in a fight for survival. In this new vision of the 25th century, humanity teeters on the edge of extinction after a prolonged dark age. Deering's discovery of the enigmatic boy from the past may hold the key to salvation—or destruction. With action, intrigue, and suspense, readers will be immersed in a high-stakes post-apocalyptic struggle."

Arrat Comics may be the first to make their announcement, but they won't be the last. Come January, DC could put Buck Rogers in the Legion Of Superheroes if they wished. Or, more likely, Marvel put him in Guardians Of The Galaxy. Or even more likely, Erik Larsen has him appear in Savage Dragon.

But first, he will be out in Buck Rogers 2425 from Array Comics on the 8th of January 2025… creators currently unknown, but someone like Saga.

Buck Rogers was copied by many comic strip producers, including Flash Gordon at King Features Syndicate, and moved swiftly into movies, radio, and television, credited with bringing into popular media the concept of space exploration, as a familiar environment for swashbuckling adventure. Buck Rogers appeared in 69 issues of the 1930s comic Famous Funnies, then got his own comic in 1940, and many other publishers had stabs at the character over the decades. The most successful Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was published from 1979 to 1982, by Gold Key, then by Whitman Publishing, TSR, Inc. published a 10-issue series based on their Buck Rogers XXVC game in 1990. And in 2009, Dynamite Entertainment published a version of Buck Rogers for fourteen issues. Howard Chaykin revived the character in 2012 for Hermes Press for a mini-series.

But I think everyone since has benwaiting for the public domain day. Buck Rogers, a quarter of the way into the 21st Century. Now… what about Flash Gordon? His comic strip debuted on the same day.

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