Sci-Fi Western ‘Marshal’ Now Available Via Digital Download
Two weeks ago we reported that Lionsgate and After Dark Films were set to adapt Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter into a made-for-television movie. Though Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter is most well known as a series of novels, the franchise has also been adapted into a Marvel comic. Interestingly, the first pages of the Anita Blake:Vampire Hunter comic actually debuted months before its own first issue via a special preview release that was tucked away in the back of another comic – a science fiction/western themed story titled Marshal.
Marshal was initially planned as a four part story to be delivered via a partnership between US Publisher Dabel Brothers and Marvel. The first printed issue, which included the first ever published pages from Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter, was an instant sell out. Under normal circumstances such a popular response would bode well for the remaining three issues, but not so for Marshal. A number of publishing hiccups plagued the comic’s creators, Marvel then aquired Dabel Brother’s licenses, and amongst the turmoil Marshal #2 never found its way to comic store shelves.
If you were one of the many fans who scored a print copy of Marshal #1 and have been wanting more, prepare to be happy.
Andrew LoVuolo, one of the writers behind the Marshal concept, has through his independent design studio and comic publishing arm ‘Graphics Illusions Studios‘ championed the continuation of Marshal and as a result Issues #1 and #2 are now available for digital download via Eagle One Media. If digital downloads prove successful, the creators intend to press forward with their original plans to release the four-part series in print form and as a graphic novel.
The setting for Marshal is very similar in theme to Joss Whedon’s Firefly, or perhaps you could refer to it as a kind of Deadwood in space. Transport even occurs via “Horses”, although these are more of the metal hovering kind (with ignition keys in the form of boot “spurs”, which is quite unique and kind of cool). It may also be reasonably accurate to refer to Marshal as Firefly meets V for Vendetta meets Terminator.
