New Comics Line Redefining 'superhero'

NEW YORK - July 12, 2017 - PRLog -- A new group of comic book creators are taking hero comics in a new direction.

"I wanted to update superheroes the way Stan Lee did with artists like Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby in the 1960s," said writer, and creator of The Reality, Keith Planit. "Iron Man and Spider-Man were heroes who represented their period perfectly. I want to represent today. As a result, none of them are actually super...or heroes."

What "representing today" came to mean was a lot of different things: "Our characters run the gamut. But, to be clear, that isn't our focus. We're not introducing characters with disabilities or that are people of color to appeal to a particular audience. This is simply the world. To not portray it that way is small-minded and myopic." Planit continued, "I don't believe in diversity for the sake of it."

"We've a Hindu character in Deathwitch who travels to Hell. But her concept of Hell differs from the Catholic version. We play some of it for laughs in issue one -- the book is a comedy/adventure -- but the journey challenges the very nature of our main character who decides her Hinduism can still exist despite the journey," the writer detailed.

Over in Team Indystructible, a varied team of oddballs comes together to save The Reality "Intraverse."  "What I do here, and this might at first anger people," Planit explained, "is lean into a few stereotypes on this one. But, within the issue, each stereotype is being challenged. And, as the series goes on, they'll be challenged more and more. We'll learn no one in this book is what they seem."

Said Keith: "Phantom Kid is another stereotype: White kid from Midwest comes to city to be a hero. Aside from his whole hometown knowing his secret, it turns out he's terrible at being a superhero. This series takes a lot of common comics tropes like those and twists them way around."

The "tongue-in-cheekly named" Weredevil is almost Jekyll and Hyde: "It's really Hyde and Hyde," explained Keith, "Jo Bayani benefitted from the Enlarged Homestead Act of the '50s. He looks 26 but isn't. And, during that time, he and Hezkimal the demon found one another. The book is a 1950s monster movie. And the relationship between demon and man differ greatly from similar characters comics fans have seen before. Never mind the end-of-issue #1 shocker -- or the season-end shocker I have planned."

Go to http://www.TheRealityComics.com for detailed information and previews.
To Support: http://www.Patreon.com/therealitycomics - with support, we'll get to issue #2!

The Reality comics are available on Comixology this summer:
Deathwitch: The Faerie Tale of Trinity Cross (art by James Avila) - July 26
Weredevil & The Professor from the Dark Lagoon (art by Mikolaj Ostapiuk) - July 26
Team InDYStructible (art by Jarret Katz) - August 2
The Phantom Kid (art by Joe Koziarski) - August 2