Today BOOM! Studios gave fans a peak behind the curtain of their upcoming comic book line based on the world of WWE. The action will begin in November when WWE: Then. Now. Forever. hits the stands.
The panelists, which included BOOM! Studios president of publishing & marketing Filip Sablik, managing editor Bryce Carlson, editor Eric Harburn, artist Dan Mora, and writer Eric Powell, all discussed their various entries into the pro wrestling world, with everyone professing their lifelong love of the sport. Harburn drew a parallel between the worlds of comics and pro wrestling, citing the serialized storytelling and larger than life characters.
Attendees were shown various pieces of artwork featuring the likes of The Undertaker, John Cena, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and more. The most popular piece shown was a portrait by Mora of superstar Sasha Banks.
Sasha Banks portrait by Dan Mora
Carlson explained the nature of the book, which will differ greatly from past wrestling-based comics.
"Instead of putting wrestlers into other worlds like superheroes, the comics will be based on the actual world of wrestling. There will be in ring action, backstage stuff."
Carlson likened the comic to the WWE 24 show on the WWE Network, which gives fans behind-the-scenes glimpses of their favorite wrestlers' lives both in and out of the ring, with Sabik adding:
“What's the comic version of the WWE that we’d want to see?”
The series will kick-off in November with the 40 page standalone issue entitled WWE: Then. Now. Forever. This issue will feature three connecting covers featuring all three former members of The Shield: Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and current WWE Champion Dean Ambrose. The comic will be written by Dennis Hopeless and tell a story about the three superstars from before they split up. Hopeless was unable to attend, but he did send in a video where he cut a WWE-style promo explaining his vision for the series. The title and released date of the ongoing series, which will also be written by Hopeless, has yet to be announced.
Stone Cold Steve Austin cover art by Eric Powell
It was clear that BOOM! has big plans for this series beyond the initial arc revolving around The Shield. Given the long history of professional wrestling, there's a very deep well for their creative team to draw from. Various dream matches like Undertaker vs. Sting and Goldberg vs. Stone Cold were mentioned, as well as editor Eric Harburn's desire to produce a comic based around The Montreal Screwjob. The panelists repeatedly stressed their desire to present the most realistic comic book take on professional wrestling that readers have ever seen. As managing editor Bryce Carlson put it:
”It's not easy to do a wrestling comic and do it well...we could do cosmic wrestlers and have them do matches in space, but we're not going to do that...we really do believe this will be the best WWE comic there has ever been, and that's the bottom line.”
Joe Ruggirello writes for IGN Comics. Follow him on Twitter @Joeru23 and IGN.
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