Posted in: Comics | Tagged: about comics, nat gertler, The Factor

Nat Gertler Brings The Factor Superhero Comic Back Into Print

Published Mon, 29 Aug 2022 14:57:11 -0500

Once upon a time, I drew a story of two for Nat Gertler and his superhero comic book anthology, The Factor, which ran from 1996 to 1999, a series of stories set in a world where The Factor was its superhero, but the stories were told about other people who his presence affected. He was a "factor" in their lives. Gertler is now collecting the stories in a new trade paperback, from his own publisher, About Comics, and a new story from Janine Johnston. Here's a look at all the people us Johnstons (no relation) are joined by, with stories written by Nat.

There are plenty of superhero comics that are about the heroes. The Factor is a series about everyone else, and the impact that the existence of the hero has on their lives. The cops, the crooks, the man on the street, the bak teller the hero saves, the kid playing with a homemade doll of the hero – these are the people whose tales make up The Factor. Now the series is collected in a full-sized trade paperback for the first time.
The series began in the anthology Negative Burn before launching into its own four issues, each with several short tales. The entire series is written by Nat Gertler, who got his first Eisner Award nomination because of this work. Each story had an artist who was selected just for the tale, whether it was someone who was already a big name (such as E-Man and Huntress co-creator Joe Staton and minicomic king Matt Feazell), someone on their way up (Adam Rex before he was a respected children's book creator, Carla Speed McNeil before her Finder comics won a Los Angeles Times Book Award, Alex Grecian before he was a respected mystery novelist.) Janine Johnston, the artist of one The Factor story (and no relation to Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston, who drew two of the stories) provides a brand new cover for this collection.

"Exposure", art by Adam Rex & Paul Whitehead
"Arms and the Man", art by Janine Johnston
"Protection", art by Alex Grecian
"To Serve and Protect", art by Jim Schumaker & Bradley Walton
"Da-Daba-Dumma-Dum-Da-Data", art by Joe Staton
"Escalation", art by Alex Grecian
"Telephone for the '90s", art by Nat Gertler
"Commute", art by Mike Vosburg
"Da Oudda-Towners", art by Matt Feazell
"Disagreement", art by John Drury
"In Need", art by Tom Luth
"Clothes Making", art by Carla Speed McNeil
"Essay", art by Rich Johnston 63
"The Green Diamond Protocol", art by Carlos Saldaña
"Dull Summer Day", art by Paul Whitehead
"The Limits of the Lawyer", art by Ted Slampyak
"Direction", art by Mark Lewis
"Action", art by Jim Schumaker & Bradley Walton
"I am the Factor", art by Justine Shaw
"I am Too the Factor", art by Rich Johnston
"I am the Factoy", art by Rusty Haller
"News Carrier", art by Jim Wheelock
"At Joe's Lunch Stop", art by Jason Whitley
"Friday Morning, 11:47 AM", art by Justine Shaw

There's a hero. He saves the day. But what effect does he have on everyone else's life?
This is the book where you never see the hero. It isn't about him. These are the tales of the man on the street, the cop on the beat, the dreamers and schemers and even the kid playing with a doll of the hero. One person can change the world for so many…
This is a complete collection of the series that got Nat Gertler the first of his Eisner Award nominations. Over 20 short stories in all adding up to one full graphic novel, with a range of artists including Huntress co-creator Joe Staton, children's book creator Adam Rex, mini-comics king Matt Feazell, crime novelist Alex Grecian, and Eisner- and LA Times Book Prize-winning graphic novelist Carla Speed McNeil.