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Posted September 26, 2014 by Luigi Cabrera in Comics
 
 

SHAFT Gets a Comic Book Series at Dynamite Entertainment

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Private Detective John Shaft has been in novels, movies, and in a TV series. Now he enters a new medium – Comic Books!

After seeing John Shaft tackle on all kinds of criminal and proving that you shouldn’t mess with him, we will now see another part of his story. The comic book would be more of an origin story that would go back to the detective’s roots. It would be a fresh take on how John Shaft early beginnings before he became the bad ass cop that we’ve seen in the movies.

Writer David F. Walker and artist Bilquis Evely have signed in with Dynamite Entertainment for the upcoming Shaft comic book. Shaft is originally a novel created by Ernest Tidyman about an African-American private detective. The novel inspired films that starred Richard Roundtree and Samuel L. Jackson.

“Working on Shaft, one of the most iconic characters in pop culture, is a dream come true,” says David F. Walker. “I’ve been a fan of the character since I was a kid, and especially love him in his original iteration, as created by author Ernest Tidyman. My take on Shaftis steeped in Tidyman’s work, and builds on the world created in the original novels. I’m exploring who he is as a man, as a private detective, and as a cold-blooded killer. This John Shaft is much grittier, more badass, with a complexity never seen in the films. The name may be familiar, and some aspects of the character may be recognizable, but at the end of the day, he will be something new and exciting – especially in the world of comics. This is Shaft the way Shaft was meant to be.”

David F. Walker is an award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and author of the Young Adult series The Adventures of Darius Logan. His publication BadAzz MoFo became internationally known as the indispensable resource guide to black films of the 1970s, and he is co-author of the book Reflections on Blaxploitation: Actors and Directors Speak. His work in comics includes the series Number 13 (Dark Horse Comics), The Army of Dr. Moreau (Monkeybrain Comics), and The Supernals Experiment (Canon Comics).

Bilquis Evely is a rising star on Dynamite’s roster of talented artists. Recently she worked alongside writer Chris Roberson on the critically acclaimed Doc Savage miniseries. Her other works include The Shadow / Green Hornet: Dark Nights crossover event with writer Michael Uslan, The Shadow Annual #1, and Miss Fury. Evely’s experience with Dynamite’s pulp heroes has made her the perfect fit for the mean streets of 1970’s New York City in Shaft.

Shaft #1 is set to be released in December with variants from comic book talents such as Francesco Francavilla, Michael Avon Oeming, Ulises Farinas, Matt Haley, Sanford Greene, and a landmark collaboration between Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz.


Luigi Cabrera

 
Enthusiast of things geeky, weird, and random. He finds peace in writing.