Posted in: Comics | Tagged: black mask, calexit

What If Universal City Went To War With California? Calexit Returns

Matt Pizzolo has announced his return to his comic Calexit from Black Mask, a sci-fi series about a California that chooses to secede from the USA,

Matt Pizzolo has announced his return to his comic book series Calexit from Black Mask, a sci-fi series about a California that chooses to secede from the United States in a somewhat satirical fashion. It happens just after he has gotten the TV/movie rights back, after previously selling the property in a five-studio bidding war, attaching A-list talent, never getting announced and now with the writer's strike (which he is participating in), finds himself with the rights back again.

So naturally, Calexit will return in August with a new comic book series drawn by C. Granda in which the state of California goes up against a major studio, Universal, just as Florida is going up against Disney. Seriously, Matt Pizzolo has some kind of crystal ball for this thing, right? Of course, in his version, it gets a lot more violent.

Calexit: The Battle For Universal City notes that theme parks have already become political battlegrounds, but what if they became actual battlegrounds? What if the culture wars became real wars? As mass demonstrations consume Hollywood on the West Coast, and Florida takes on Disnye on the East Coast, the comic book Calexit continued to consider the question, what if California refused to be ruled?

"This is a special moment in the history of comics. Passionate creators from all storytelling spheres are being drawn to the freedom of thought offered by the indie comic market like never before, and they're racing to tell their authentic, provocative, most personal, and just plain coolest stories in comic books and graphic novels," said Matt Pizzolo, co-founder of Black Mask Studios and the writer of Calexit: The Battle For Universal City. "It's not by accident that iconic talents from Chuck D to Keanu Reeves are choosing comics as the medium to tell the stories they're most excited about, or that new audiences are supporting indie comics in stores, on Kickstarter, and across the web to an unprecedented scale. As politics and finance have created headwinds for independent expression in other media, indie comics are engaging with bigger and more passionate audiences than ever before."

In Calexit: The Battle For Universal City, it's total war on the streets of Los Angeles as rebel leader Zora rallies her Mulholland Resistance to seize freedom or die trying. The battle rages all the way to the iconic Hollywood theme park in Universal City where Zora's Resistance fighters make a last stand against Homeland Security's Occupying Forces. Warzone courier Jamil has been hired to spirit Zora away from the firefight to a Resistance stronghold, but Zora won't be dragged to safety without a fight.

"Pizzolo and Granda have crafted a high-octane war story in Calexit: The Battle For Universal City that focuses on character and wild action but also rhymes with our historical moment of culture battles being waged through intellectual property, from DeSantis v. Disneyworld to J.K. Rowling to the WGA strike," said Brian Giberson, head of publishing development for Black Mask. "Black Mask Studios has always focused on stories that are adventurous and also have a real message driving them. Starting with Occupy Comics, we published stories about inequity and the struggle for financial justice. Since then, we published stories about gentrification (The Dregs), LGBTQIA+ self-discovery and found family (Alice In Leatherland) and empowered Black superheroes fighting racist plutocrats (BLACK). The fact that the comic market continues to support and provide a platform for such authentic voices is a striking reminder that comics play a crucial and important role in our cultural dialogue."

Calexit: The Battle For Universal City is the latest mini-series in the Calexit comic book universe created by Pizzolo and Amancay Nahuelpan, which launched in 2017  and spawned spinoffs Calexit: All Systems San Diego and Calexit: Our Last Night In America, both illustrated by Granda. In 2019, Calexit character Emmie-X was the poster image for one of Indivisible California's Voter Outreach Campaigns that helped flip several House seats in the midterm elections. Blurring the line between fiction and political commentary, every issue of Calexitfeatures non-fiction backmatter devoted to real-world applications of the topical ideas in the story world.

The first issue of Calexit: The Battle For Universal City is set for release from Black Mask Studios in August 2023.

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