October 21st, 2003 - Not surprisingly, a Save Solus
petition has
kicked off. If you enjoyed this title, and want it to continue, I
urge anyone and everyone to sign it. This book was cut short way
too early, and is truly a shame to have issues we were going to get
taken away from us. Considering my status as the #1 fan of the
book, I've already signed it, and will keep folks appraised of any
other attempts, and pertinent information on this one. Sign it
now!
October 17th, 2003 -
SOLUS ENDS WITH ISSUE #8.
After three
years of planted clues,
mounting tension, and escalating skirmishes, the saga of the Sigil
Bearers vs. the Negation Empire is hurtling towards its explosive
climax. As events build toward THE WAR, the following titles will reach
their series finales with the following issues:
CRUX #33 [December]
THE FIRST #37 [November – previously announced]
MERIDIAN #44 [January]
MYSTIC #43 [December]
THE PATH #23 [January]
RUSE #26 [November - #27 was solicited for December]
SCION #44 [January]
SIGIL #43 [December]
SOLUS #8 [November – the series had
been solicited through issue #10]
When THE WAR hits in 2004, our greatest warriors will finally collide
with an invading evil as alliances shatter, worlds burn, and destinies
are fulfilled. While some characters will reach their story’s end,
others will move forward in surprising ways. Prepare to cheer, cry, and
gasp as the stage is set for the next generation of adventure.
The strong response to EL CAZADOR has led to the launch of KISS KISS
BANG BANG. What’s next? Join us as the New CrossGen begins.
October 13th, 2003 - Ahhh, new
comics steadily coming from
CrossGen. PopCultureShock.com has posted the
four-page
preview of issue #7, George's last.
October 3rd, 2003 - Well...
I'm sure everyone has seen the
various CrossGen news floating around this week or two, but there is
definitely an important bit to add to this site, and that is of George
Perez's departure from Solus as of issue #7. We here at Blinding
Radiants are sad to see him go, but also look forward to Leonard Kirk's
interim run, and await an announcement of the new permanent
replacement, whomever it may be. Rest assured, George may have
been one of the draws for me on this book, but certainly was not the
be-all, end-all for why I followed it. This website will continue
as long as Solus does, barring anything happening to me.
Just ignore that lack of annotations. That's just me being lazy...
September 23rd, 2003 - Quiet
times, what with the delays in shipping,
and I really need my fix. Fortunately, issue six comes out
tomorrow. Unfortunately, I'm dead broke. Fortunately (Heh.)
Newsarama gives us
five
more preview pages to tide us over with 'til tomorrow. Yay!
August 21st, 2003 - New solicits
are
up! Small month for Solus stuff it seems, but we've had a lot f
Andra appearances the last few months, so that's fine with me.
Here's the dish:
Solus #9: Hunting for her identity, Andra finally meets Danik! And when
two
superpowers collide, the truth emerges! Featuring art by JSA’s Leonard
Kirk!
Solus TPB #1 - Genesis: A new collection showcasing the art of George
Pérez! Andra Radiant is
trying to put the pieces of her life back together—trouble is, they’re
located on different planets! From barbarian to sci-fi fighter, the
enigmatic Andra changes identities as she tours the wild worlds of the
CrossGen Universe! Reprinting SOLUS #1 - #6!
And I'll point out that Altwaal and his sword turn up on the cover of
First #37, the final issue of the series.
August 15th, 2003 - Well, I'm
back from ChicagoCon '03, and I got to
meet Beeber, and bunch of other CG folks. Got Solus #1
signed, and a sketch of Andra by The First artist Andy Smith!
Sorry for the lack of updates, but (As those who read the CG boards
know) my old scanner doesn't work with the new machine, so no images
for the forseeable future. To tide you over, check out the
previews of
First
#35 and
Solus
#6 at Pop Culture Shock! And coming next year, The War.
CrossGen's major crossover they've been building towards for almost
four years now, drawn by Solus' own George Perez!
July 19th, 2003 - A little
snippet from
Newsarama
(Link goes to the full story. Check out the Mordath toy!!
And glow in the dark Charon figure? Woo!) about the future of
CrossGen and a mention of our favourite Solus. Here's the
pertinent stuff.
Speaking to
Newsarama, CrossGen’s Bill
Rosemann reiterated several points that were raised during the CrossGen
panel at the San Diego Comic Con, specifically that it’s time to start
paying off the long time readers.
More specifically, Rosemann stressed that a storm was coming to the
CrossGen Universe, and that events in the mainline CG books are
building to a crescendo, as the coming of Solus was a large step –
almost a trigger event - in the fulfilling of many storyline promises
made nearly three years ago when the publisher began.
“The forces from the Negation universe have already broken through,”
Rosemann said. “That’s who Sam is fighting in Sigil.
The question of ‘who are the First?’ has pretty much been answered as
things continue to coalesce. There were a lot of questions raised three
years ago, and next year, it’s time to start delivering answers.”
Rosemann stressed that the mainline CrossGen books will continue to be
accessible and readable for new readers, but readers who joined with
the first issues, and have held on will be rewarded for their
perseverance and patience. “We spent a lot of time listening to what
readers said they wanted to see, and spent a good part of this year
figuring out how to deliver,” Rosemann said. “There’s a storm coming.”
July 13th, 2003 - Just got done
making the move to a brand new machine,
and remembered this website is still up! Our good friends at PCS
have put up another
preview,
this time to First #34. the issue with Andra making an
appearance. Ok, more than an appearance. Enjoy!
June 26th, 2003 - Pop Culture
Shock has posted a
preview
of Solus #5, Paul Ryan's fill-in issue. Check it out!
June 17th, 2003 - I just noticed
that there was a nice little write-up about Solus in the back of the
CrossGen titles last week, and likely for the entire month.
Here's the text:
CrossCurrents
By Gina M. Villa
You've waited. You've wondered. And now, it's payoff
time. It's also true confession time. We've always said
that
all of our books stand alone, that you need not read all of them to
read and enjoy one. And while that promise remains unbroken,
we've also added something special to the mix: one book that
illuminates
all others. A book called SOLUS.
If you're a longtime George Perez fan, you certainly can read only this
book to enjoy his art. And if you love Barbara Kesel's ability to
weave dense mysteries, you can also read it to enjoy the adventures of
a
star-spanning story of a woman searching for herself, but you'll be
missing out. There's so much more.
In all honesty, SOLUS is the linchpin title to our entire
universe. If you're a loyal reader, a fan that's followed our
saga
since it began, then you need to read this book. You'll want to
read it. You owe it to
yourself to read it. So, yes, all of our books stand on
their own two feet...but SOLUS is the rock that anchors the ground they
stand on.
As you can imagine, we've been asked: "Why did you put George Perez --
an artist who will attract readers who have never picked up a CrossGen
title -- on a book so enmeshed in your overarching uber-story?"
Simply put, you guys are the best, most faithful fans in the world --
bar none -- and you deserve the best we can give you. Sure, we
like to think we do that every issue, every month, but as we planned
for
this big "Year of Reveals" in the CrossGen Universe, we wanted to do
something extra special for those of you who have followed and
supported us from the beginning. We decided that the best way to
do that was to have one of the best artists in the world draw the book
that will be the primary vehicle used to bring together the many
threads we've been weaving up to this point. We're grateful to
you, we owe you that, and you deserve it. Thus, you have SOLUS,
pencilled by the legendary George Perez (And beautifully enhanced by
Rick Magyar and Larry Molinar).
Take my word for it: something big is on the way. The mysteries
you've been pondering are about to be divulged. The secrets are
about to be revealed. And SOLUS is where it's gonna happen!
May 2nd, 2003 - CrossGen posted
the new solicits and covers, and Solus #5 is naturally included.
I've posted the cover to the
Images section.
Andra fights The First! With one
of the seven weapons of Atwaal in her possession, Andra Radiant’s hunt
for the other six takes her to Elysia, home of The First! Waiting for
her: a legion of angry gods who aren’t eager to hand over their toys!
Be
there as some of CrossGen’s most powerful characters collide!
And Pop Culture Shock has the preview for issue #3 up. Check that
out by clicking
here.
My only complaint is that the first pages are a bit hard to read.
April 17th, 2003 - Word is
floating in that Edge/Vector and Forge have been cancelled after issues
13 of each. This is being mentioned here because it's kind of a
bummer for one, and second, because issue 14 of Edge/Vector is when
Solus was set to start up. Ah well. And be sure to check
out
the five-page
preview
of Solus #2, on sale next week!
April 2nd, 2003 - Still waiting
for Solus #1 to find its way to me, but I've just added the cover to
issue #4 to the
gallery, and the
solicitation
to the issue in the
Issues section.
Enjoy!
March 25th, 2003 - Well, this is
it! Solus is out tomorrow, folks! It will still be a few
days before I have my copy, but I'm hoping it will be here soon.
In preperation, here's a small update, just adding an
image to the gallery. Sorry about
the lack of updates lately. You can always catch news I miss over
at the George Perez website, from our links pages, though. So,
enjoy the very nice picture of Andra, and be sure to get to your local
comic shop tomorrow!
March 7th, 2003 - Sorry for the
lack of updates lately, and believe me, I've got a number laying
around,
but I've been quite busy (And a little lazy, admittedly), so haven't
been able to pay quite as much attention as I wish I could right now to
the site. I should get some things up over the weekend, though.
In the meantime, a little something to tide you folks over.
The
five-page
full preview, pencils, inks, colours, words and letters, of the
finished
comic. Enjoy!
February 27th, 2003 - Just a
little bit that popped up on the CG message boards. Someone asked
how much one would need to know, what other books they would need to
read in order to understand and/or appreciate Solus. Beeber
posted
a response earlier today:
If
you NEED to read other books to read this one, I'm not doing my job. If
you WANT to read other books to understand every little reference in
this book, I'm accomplishing my mission as evil schemer. If you like
THIS book, I'm happy.
How's that?
February 25th, 2003 - Finally
getting around to those updates.
First off, Solus has found the compendia it's going to be published in,
Vector (Formerly Edge), and I've posted the cover, featuring Andra
herself, into the
Images gallery.
Vector
#14 will reprint issue #1 of Solus, and comes out in May.
Second, thanks to
ICv2 for the top
300 comics for March, with Solus debuting at #78, a very respectable
number, with a total of 26,102 preorders. Not bad, for CrossGen.
And finally, an old item I'm finally getting around to, from the new
"Can't Get Enough" pages in the back of all February's CrossGen comics,
was a brief mention of Solus in Gina M, Villa's "CrossCurrents" column.
In other news, veteran inker, and
all-around-good-guy, Rick Magyar will be leaving Crux to embelish
George
Perez's pencils on SOLUS, much to George's delight. The two
worked together previously on CHRONICLES #2 and from that experience,
George knows that Rick can handle anything he throws at him - and then
some. Of course, George always takes that as a challenge, so that
bodes well for the pages you're going to see. Rounding out the
Solus art team is Larry Molinar, a very talented young colorist who
worked on WildCATS for Wildstorm. Head writer Barbara Kesel
handles the writing chores.
February 22nd, 2003 - Wow, it's
been awhile, hasn't it? Surprisingly quiet month, and I've been
busy. A quick update to tide everyone over until I get off my
butt
and copy something from one of the comics laying around, so here's the
solicitation for Solus #3.
SOLUS #3
Written by Barbara Kesel, art by George Pérez & Rick Magyar,
colors by Larry Molinar
Long ago there was a girl who wouldn't let anyone tell her what to do.
Now that she has power beyond her wildest imagination, she doesn't know
what to do, but when she sees a man with something she considers hers,
it'll take more than a tribe of barbarians to keep her from taking it
back!
32 pages full color, on sale May 21 … $2.95
February 1st, 2003 - Snagged this
short bit from
Comics
Continuum today, amidst some news of JLA/Avengers, which came up
during a discussion with Perez at the Comics & Pop Culture
Convention in Pasadena, CA.
Perez is back to work at CrossGen
Comics, teaming with Barbara Kesel on the new title Solus.
"I'm almost done with issue 2 now and the first issue premieres on
March 26," Perez said. "Solus is a little bit less work just because of
the very nature of the project and the fact that I'm not inking. I have
a fine, fine inker in Rich Magyar for that.
"So I try to produce the book a little quicker. On many days, I'll do
two pages in one day as opposed to just one. Instead of a 6-7 hour day,
I'll have 12-14 hour day in order to get back and finish JLA/Avengers."
January 24th, 2003 - New Barbara
Kesel interview at
Comicon
Pulse with a bunch of nice info on Solus, tons of colour images,
and
more questions raised. Of course.
January 22nd, 2003 - Woo!
New solicits are up, and we have the
cover
and info for issue 2.
SOLUS #2
release date: April 23, 2003
Something has been hidden on the world of Quin for centuries, waiting
for the day when Solusandra would return to claim it. But Andra cannot
remember what to do with what she’s given, and may not have time to
remember with the Hound on her trail…
January 20th, 2003 - Another
tidbit from
George-Perez.com
about expectations of Solus.
From
Wizard
Universe
WIZARD MARKET REPORT
Comic news from the front line
Friday, January 10
By Karl Cramer
(excerpt)
Anticipated Items:
Solus #1. Atomic Comic in Phoeniz, AZ says that even people
who aren't into Crossgen books are showing a lot of interest in this
series because of Crossgen has been showing a lot of preview art and
George Perez seems to be at the top his game.
January 18th, 2003 - Oh, what the
hey. Head on over
here
to see a very nice B&W preview of the first batch of pages from
Solus #1, which just makes me want this even more. Must find a
copy of this preview. I particularly like page
13,
ironically enough. It works nicely with the main page layout I
devised. Now, if we can just get colour, and words...
Tidbit from the CG Forums, posted by Booster:
Just found this in
a feature on Solus in Comics International 154. I quote...
Describing the main cast members, Kesel continued "Andra Radiant, as
she comes to be known, is a tremendously powerful and astoundingly
impatient woman with a strange affinity for each of the CGU worlds and
absolutely no memory why. Lindy is a Sigil-Bearer who crosses Andra's
path in issue 1 and is completely destroyed by the experience. Zeuss is
the self-styled creator of an amazing artifical intelligence that has
taken over Lindy's world. And then there's Danik, who may be familiar
to
the readers of Crux."
Discussing the project, the writer explained the most challenging
aspect was "balancing the needs for story against the big scale of the
universe we're cruising through. Too much scale and you yawn because
it's just space; too much "people stuff" and you're bored waiting for
something to happen. We needed to make it feel like Goldilock's
porridge
: just right."
According to Kesel, the mood she, Perez and inker Rick Magyar are
trying to convey in Solus is one of energy and excitement. "We want you
to be intrigued, but without a clue as to what we'll do next." The
style
of story, she added, will be one worthy of the artist. "Big, loud and
exhaustingly fun."
"If we do our job well," she continued, "You'll never notice that
you're cruising through a historical travelogue of the CGU. You'll just
turn the pages as fast as you can, read and yell 'Cool!' when it's
done."
January 11th, 2003 - ACTOR has released a
press release of interest to Solus fans, and hopefully others.
ACTOR
(A Commitment To Our Roots), the non-profit organization dedicated to
helping older comic creators in need, is pleased to announce a new
benefit product. Laser Mach’s new "Solus" Laser Cell based on the new
CrossGen comic of the same name will raise money for the fund, with $5
from each piece sold benefiting ACTOR.
CrossGen’s
Solus, which debuts in March, features the adventures of Andra Radiant,
a multi-talented Renaissance woman whose origins may tie into the very
origins of life itself. Laser Mach’s Solus Laser Cell features a
transparency of artist George Pérez’ stunning cover to Solus #1,
along with a matted card autographed by the entire Solus creative team:
Writer Barbara Kesel, penciler Pérez, inker Rick Magyar, and
colorist Larry Molinar. The Solus Laser Cell is a limited edition of
100
pieces, shipping the first week in March with a suggested retail price
of $40.
"I'm always
tickled to find new ways to raise more money for ACTOR and I'm so happy
that Laser Mach and CrossGen got together for this nifty product," said
George Pérez, who is also the Co-chairman of ACTOR’s
Disbursement
Committee. "I'm sure that I speak for the entire Solus team in saying
how proud we are to be signing these cool-looking cells."
"It is a
great honor for us to work with CrossGen, George Pérez and the
rest of the creative staff on Solus to help benefit the creators who
have been entertaining us for years," said Matt Ligot of Laser Mach.
"We
are sure this Laser Cell will be well received by the comic community,
and look forward to working with ACTOR on more projects in the future."
You can purchase the laser cells (Signed and unsigned) online from
Westfield Comics or from
your
own local comics store, using the March previews.
January 10th, 2003 - A minor images update.
I *finally* got the latest Previews in, and scanned in the full
page preview, and the laser cell solicit, adding them to the Images
part
of the site. Pretty. Yes, I bought Previews just for those
two things.
January 9th, 2003 - Just a little update
today. Beeber stopped by chat again the other day, and while
there
wasn't much (That I saw) mentioned in regards to Solus, she did reveal
that the creature on the
cover is
called a Hound, and she teased a bit about the creator of the creature,
but no real details were given beyond the name of the beast.
January 3rd, 2003 - Happy New Year!
I've got a little snippet from Beeber herself. She
popped by the CrossGen Chatroom earlier this evening (The second) and
amidst a flurry of questions, she shared the following, and special
thanks to James Grasselli who was there and typed up the transcript.
The entire interview with Beeber and Tony Panaccio can be found
here.
3) Are there any plans for additions to the CGU lineup in
2003
A) "Besides SOLUS (and boy, oh boy, the faingirl in me is excited to
see that book!), we have no immediate plans for any more CGU books in
the first part of 2003"
4) What is the status of Solus?
A) Solus is going great. I can't tell you much about the story, but
George is getting the best inking and coloring in his career. No
disrepesect to any of the Chronicles teams, but Rick's enthusiasm
shows,
and Larry's a completely fearless colorist.
11) Is there going to be a payoff soon to the Rho/Trenin issue in a
recent Meridian storyline?
A) Rho/Trenin. Yeah, whatever happened to all those First Ingra sent
out to watch Sigil-Bearers who now have no one to report to? And just
where is Animora?
And there's more to it than that, which you'll (surprisingly, I hope)
be interested to hear will come up in the SOLUS series.
December 29th, 2002 - Well, looks like the
Solus release date previously mentioned was wrong. Now, it's
coming out on March 26th, 2003. Ah well. All good things
come to those who wait, right? The countdown timer has been
properly updated.
And from
Comics Continuum:
Current Crux inker Magyar will be moving on to Solus, CrossGen's
new
monthly title, inking the pencils of comics legend George Pérez.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed the work that Chuck [Dixon], Steve,
Frank
[D'Armata] and I have done for nearly two years and consider it the
finest collaboration I've been involved in," said Magyar. "But now, I
find myself very pleased with the work I'm doing with Barbara [Kesel],
George, and Larry [Molinar] on Solus. I anticipate excellent individual
efforts from all of us on a book that is sure to sweep the reader off
on
a cosmic roller coaster ride."
December 28, 2002 - Hope every one had a good
holiday, and is looking forward to the New Year. Number of things
to comment on today, first off, it is indeed ANDRA Radiant, and not
Audra, like the Previews text says below, as confirmed by Barbara
Kessel
herself on the CG forums..
Second, I saw that the George Perez site has mentioned our little
website here, which is most cool, and a big thanks definitely goes out
to them!
Thirdly, from said website, check out this lovely
two-page
spread from Previews, currently up over there. Looks like I need
to buy Previes this time around, make some scans of my own.
There's more stuff in the issue, which you can get from the GP site,
and
I'll add the info here as soon as I have that Previews sitting in front
of me.
*Deep breath.* And finally, some new info on upcoming issues from
Wizard, which most folks will have seen by now, but I finally got the
issue.
Solus
Andra Radiant, the hero of Heliotrope, is finally revealed to
the millions of curious watchers who have followed her adventures for
years in March's Solus #1, by Barbara Kessel and George Perez. In
issue #2, Andra visits Ayden of Quin, who gives her a gift endowed with
familiar orange energy, while in issue #3, Brath Mac Garen, from the
pages of Brath, finds himself
confronted by a powerful stranger, and the encounter leaves him
permanently changed.
December 24, 2002 - Merry
Christmas!
Previews
has
the solicitation info for Solus #1, and now I bring it to you!
Solus#1
Written by Barbara Kesel, art by George Perez & Rick
Magyar, and colors by Larry Molinar
Audra (Is that a typo?) Radiant is putting
the pieces of her life back together. The problem is that they’re all
scattered on different worlds! Watch as Audra goes from pulp hero to
barbarian warrior, changing identities as she tours the worlds of the
CrossGen Universe in search of herself. The answers she finds will
change her life – and change the universe forever! Written by Barbara
Kesel, art by George Perez & Rick Magyar, and colors by Larry
Molinar.
48pg, FC..........$2.95
Solus has got a release date!
Issue 1 will hit the stands on March 19th, 2003! I'll have
solicitation info up here as soon as I get it.
