COLD WAR IS COOL IN PIGS
McCool, Cosby & Tamura Set to Activate KGB Cuban Sleeper Cell in September
Berkeley, CA – 15 June 2011 – When the second generation of a loyal KGB sleeper cell is given the signal, they must finish the mission that they have been raised their entire lives to complete: overthrow The United States of America, no matter what it takes. Writers Ben McCool (CHOKER, MEMOIR) and Nate Cosby (Jim Henson’s Storyteller) are the creative minds behind this new ongoing series from Image Comics, a character-driven modern espionage thriller entitled PIGS.
The two co-creators enlisted the stylish and gritty storytelling talents of newcomer artist Breno Tamura to deftly handle interiors and an all-star cast to create cover art. Jock (The Losers), Francesco Francavilla (Detective Comics) and Amanda Conner (THE PRO, Power Girl) have already turned out powerful images for the first three covers, and Ben Templesmith (CHOKER, FELL), Humberto Ramos (Crimson, Amazing Spiderman) and Becky Cloonan (Demo, American Virgin) have signed on to contribute cover art as well.
“PIGS is as much a study of these very unique characters as it is a fast-paced, action-packed story of espionage,” explained McCool. “Sure, the Pigs are terrorists, and their mission is set to leave a trail of devastation in their wake. But what if not every member of the group has the same agenda? Is it possible that there’s a sleeper within the sleeper cell…?”
“Our goal is to make the reader uncomfortable,” added Cosby. “The ‘heroes’ in PIGS are terrorists that’ve been trained their entire lives to annihilate your way of life and kill you if necessary. But at the same time, these characters have souls, unique personalities, senses of humor. The book is about the practical application of terrorism, and what it takes for a person to dedicate their life to destruction.”
The five young anti-heroes in PIGS are a band of communist operatives who intend to finish what the previous generation began after the Bay of Pigs invasion. While they may find themselves on the road to successfully completing their potentially catastrophic suicide mission, for the first time in their lives they have also come face-to-face with the reality of the country that they have been trained to hate. The characters of PIGS are human weapons who must decide how or if they can pull the trigger when their moment comes at last.
PIGS #1 (JUL110432), a 32-page full blown, full color espionage comic book for $2.99, is available to order in the July edition of Diamond Previews catalog, and will be at a comic store near you on September 14, 2011.
I love a good Cold War story. I read Tom Clancy and John Le’Carre novels growing up and studied Post-War Europe and Communism in college so I’m pretty intriuged by this book and really dig the idea of looking at things from agents point of view. Being raised in America and turning on them can’t be easy. We’ve had a taste of this kind of thing in books by Tom Clancy (Teeth Of The Tiger) and even Chuck Palahniuk (Pygmy) and just in countless video games this year we are having wars in America so its no surprise that a comic will be breaching this territory but I think it will be able to flesh out the story in a more interesting and detailed way. However, the “sleeper agent with sleeper cell” turns me off a little. Seems like a plot point over done a lot to me but it could turn out interestingly enough. Guess we will find out come September.
