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Sundown:
Arizona
Arizona territory,
1880. Someone’s killing preachers, and New York City
reporter Will Dalton heads west to cover the story. Will and
his brother Clay, a small-town sheriff, dig for the truth
behind the murders, but soon find themselves on the front
lines of a horrific war for the very soul of America. Sundown
is a terrifying three-issue tale of the Old West…where
sometimes, dying just means you’re switching sides.
SUNDOWN: ARIZONA #1, published by
Arcana Studio, is listed in the May 2005 Previews (Order code
MAY052493) for shipping
in July. The Arcana mini-site for Sundown is located at www.arcanastudio.com/sundown.
This summer...Hell comes
riding.
In Issue #1:
Murdered
preachers—it’s the kind of story journalists’ careers
are made on, and New York reporter Will Dalton wants to claim
the terrifying tale for his own. In the premiere issue of Sundown,
Will and his brother Clay, a small-town Arizona sheriff, begin
digging for the truth behind these ghastly murders. But Will
soon learns that in Arizona, life is more fragile than stained
glass…and Clay discovers that there are things worse than
dying.
Check out a few (nonsequential)
prepublication pages from Issue #1:
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In Issue #2 (cover above):
Sundown:
Arizona continues as sheriff Clay Dalton and his brother
Will must confront the horror growing beneath the town of
Sobrante, Arizona. Clay, Will, and the men of Sobrante descend
into the silver mines below the town to root out the evil that
threatens their home and find that a horror from the Old World
now has its eyes on the West!
In Issue #3 (cover above):
In Sundown: Arizona's final issue,
the men of Sobrante, Arizona face a terrible choice as their
battle with the vampire horde reaches its epic conclusion!
Defeat will cost them their lives but will victory cost them
their souls? And young reporter Will Dalton finally uncovers
the truth behind the Arizona preacher killings -- but he may
not live long enough to tell the world!
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THE
GREAT SUNDOWN: ARIZONA FAQ
-So what's SUNDOWN: ARIZONA all about?
S:A is a three-issue comic series; the first issue hits
this July. It's the story of two brothers in 1880s Arizona who
find themselves on the front lines of a war for the soul of a
small town...and with it, America itself.
Will Dalton, a reporter for the New York Times, heads west to
investigate a string of preacher killings. He's assuming that
this will be the story that makes his career. He's also
assuming he can descend into the depths of the West...and
return unscathed.
Clay Dalton, Will's older brother, is sheriff of the small
Arizona mining town of Sobrante. Sobrante is a husk of a town;
its once-promising silver mine has played out, and it stands
dead center of the territory where preachers have died in
horrific ways. When Clay and Will begin investigating the
murders, they find themselves fighting enemies beyond belief.
But, then...just because don't believe in something doesn't
mean it's not coming for you.
-Wait, so it's a comic book? So it's, like, kiddie
material?
No, no, and no...for those of you who don't currently read
comics, assuming they're all brightly-colored superhero books
for kids is like assuming all movies are badly overinflated
Saturday Night Live skits. (It only seems that way.) There is,
quite literally, a comic that could appeal to every single
person who's ever read a book or seen a movie in their life;
most of the best comics don't have a guy in a cape anywhere
near 'em. The problem is that for so many years, a combination
of factors--not the least of which is hardline comic book fans
who are exact duplicates of the Simpsons' Comic Book Guy--has
tainted comics' image. But now, with movies like Sin City
hitting big, comics are (hopefully) turning something of a
corner in public perception. Do your part to bring comics back
to the mainstream--buy my freakin' book!
-Easy there, hondo. I ain't on board yet. So who are bad
guys here?
That'd be telling, but you can get an idea just by looking at
the title. And even if you do figure that out, well--let's
just say that sometimes the bad guys don't always play by the
rules they should.
-Who's behind SUNDOWN?
The artist and co-creator of SUNDOWN is Ryan Bodenheim, winner
of the 2001 Wizard "Draw Wolverine" contest. Ryan
has also drawn a couple issues of Black Panther, and has an
astonishingly emotive, detailed style that's going to nab him
some more big-time gigs very, very soon. His portfolio's
online at http://www.geocities.com/rbode777.
Colorist on SUNDOWN is Arcana's own Stefani Rennee, nominated
for a 2005 Harvey Award for his work on the Arcana series Ant.
And then there's me. You know everything you need to know
about me from reading this site, buddy. Anything else, I start
charging.
-How'd the series come about?
Way back in the dark days of 2004, I pitched an idea for a
short story to a new anthology series called Western Tales of
Terror. WToT editor Josh Fialkov dug it, and it saw print as
"The Deserter" in the series' first issue. Josh
asked if I had anything else in mind; I set to thinking about
it, and came up with the idea that eventually blossomed into
SUNDOWN. So, sorry, Josh--I kept this one for myself.
But I needed an artist. After trolling the usual artists'
hangouts online, I came across Ryan Bodenheim's name. I
dropped him a line, pitched him the basic idea of the book,
and in a fit of insanity he came on board. A few months later,
we hooked up with Sean at Arcana, and later Ray at Golden
Goat, and the rest...well, the rest you'll see for yourself in
Issue #1.
-Okay, so it's a comic book. When do they meet Spider-Man?
In Issue #4.
-Why the West?
Why not? Is there any era of American history cooler than the
Old West? You don't see little kids playing hippies and pigs,
do ya?
Seriously, it's a happy confluence that SUNDOWN is hitting
just as interest in the West is hitting one of its periodic
high-water marks. I think you can tell a lot about a time by
whether they revere the westerns of John Wayne or Clint
Eastwood. The '80s were the time of the Duke; we are now most
definitely in the world of The Man With No Name.
But there's a deeper reason why SUNDOWN takes place in Old
Arizona, and specifically 1880. The 1880s were the tail end of
the era we think of as "The West." The day of the
cowboy was ending. The U.S. government had just about run all
the Indians west of the Mississippi onto reservations or into
the ground. An era was ending, and whatever came next would
belong to the men with the foresight-and the guts-to grab it
by the throat.
(It was also right around the time that a certain well-known
book about a certain Eastern European monarch was first
published...but that couldn't have anything to do with this,
could it?)
-I'm sold! How do I get me a copy?
For those of you not familiar with the
comics industry--which is pretty much all of you--it's
comparable to any other entertainment medium in that you've
got to do a little digging for anything beyond the big
blockbuster properties (Spider-Man, Superman, etc.). I'm
publishing SUNDOWN through a smaller publisher named Arcana
Studio. But even though y'all know and love me, most comic
shops don't, and will stock only one or two copies--if that
many--of the book.
So if you want to get your hands on a copy,
you need to pre-order it this month. Here's how you do it:
--If you don't know where your nearest comic
shop is, go to http://csls.diamondcomics.com/default.asp
and enter your zip code. That'll give you a list of the
closest ones.
--Call 'em up and tell the gentleman--yes,
it's almost always a gentleman--who answers the phone that you
want to order a copy of SUNDOWN #1 (or, better yet, the entire
three-issue series) by Arcana Studio. Give them the
"Previews Order Code," which is the code they use to
order: MAY052493.
--Most comic shop owners AREN'T like the
Simpsons guy; those kinds have been mostly driven out of the
industry. They shouldn't charge you for the order; they'll
likely just take your number and call you when the book's in
(or you can check my website)--the first issue is scheduled to
hit in July, with 2 and 3 following the next months.
--Go to the store in July, buy the book
(three measly bucks an issue), and enjoy.
UPDATE:
-Ryan Bodenheim has been replaced on art
duties by Jason Ossman for issues 2 and 3 of SUNDOWN: ARIZONA.
Check out Jason's work by clicking
here, and you'll see that he's a worthy addition to the
SUNDOWN crew!
Thanks, as always, for your support!
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