IDW Announces ‘A-Team’ Prequels

IDW and 20th Century-Fox released the following information today: 

San Diego, CA (February 22, 2010) – In anticipation of the summer movie event The A-Team, starting in March, IDW Publishing, in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising (Fox Licensing), will launch two A-Team comic book series, entitled A-Team: Shotgun Wedding and A-Team: War Stories. The original stories penned and inked by some of the industry’s biggest names, will give fans an in-depth look at the upcoming action-adventure from Twentieth Century Fox – The A-Team – which will hit theatres June 11, 2010.

“Like many, I was a huge fan of the original A-Team television series in the 80’s,” said A-Team comic editor and co-writer Tom Waltz.  “I’m happy to report, after reading the new movie script, the updated A-Team movie has all the wit, swagger and kick-ass action of the original series, but tells a story much bigger than was possible on the show.  For our comics, we’ve worked directly with the filmmakers to build a solidly action-packed foundation for a new generation of A-Team fans.”

“This comic project is the ideal collaboration between the studio, the production, the filmmakers and the publisher maximizing everyone’s talents for the best product. IDW has demonstrated their ability to bring on some of the best writers and artists in the comic book industry and work closely and effectively with all the constituents. The A-Team has a huge following and these comics, much like the upcoming film, contemporize this enormously popular action-adventure franchise and deliver fresh, compelling stories and art to the fans,” said Virginia King, Vice President U.S. Sales for Fox Licensing & Merchandising.  

Taking inspiration from the eagerly anticipated feature film – The A-Team – the comic book series provides the back story for the characters in the film and documents several of the team’s first missions. War Stories features four stand-alone, bi-weekly issues that each focus on a different member of the team, offering details of their Desert Storm adventures as Army Rangers before each joins The A-Team. Each series will also be collected into individual graphic novels, available in stores in May.

Co-written by comics great Chuck Dixon (G.I. Joe) and Erik Burnham (Nanovor: Game Day), the series kicks off with Hannibal and B.A. in March, followed by Face and Murdock in April.  Each team member’s story will feature a different artist in order to best bring out every character’s individual personality.  Hugo Petrus (Marvel Illustrated) will provide interior art for Hannibal, and Casey Maloney (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra) tackles B.A. in March.  In April, Alberto Muriel (Legion: Prophets) revives Face, followed by Guiu Vilanova (After the Fire), who delivers Murdock. Fan-favorite artist Michael Gaydos (Alias) will provide covers for every issue.

“I was a devoted A-Team fan from the first episode and love all of these characters. Pure action and excitement,” said Chuck Dixon.  “I jumped at the chance to join Erik and work on this property and it’s been better than expected. The dialogue and characterizations came so naturally to me, it was scary.”

Also starting in March, A-Team: Shotgun Wedding, a bi-weekly four issue series, gives fans a taste of the team’s missions after they’ve officially formed The A-Team.  This original adventure, co-plotted by  the movie’s director, Joe Carnahan, and Waltz (who also handles the scripting) follows the team from frigid Alaska to sunny San Diego and onto a wedding cruise that becomes utter chaos. Artist Stephen Mooney (Angel: After the Fall) adds heat to every explosion,  while John K. Snyder III offers eye-catching covers.