AfterShock Comics have announced their latest creator-owned project, “The Lollipop Kids,” written by Adam Glass (“Rough Riders,” the forthcoming “Teen Titans” relaunch) with art by Diego Yapur (“The Night Projectionist”). The fantasy series, which Glass developed with his 14-year old son Aidan, explores that idea that when Europeans settled in North America, they also brought monsters, which they locked in a prison beneath what is now Central Park. A boy named Nick and a group of other kids uncover the legacy of the secret society that imprisoned these creatures, and now must ensure that they don’t escape. Here’s the solicitation for the first issue, due out in October, with commentary from the Glasses:
Cover C (Main Cover) by Juan Doe
LOLLIPOP KIDS #1 / 3.99 / 32 pages / color / ON SALE 10.02.18Writers: Adam and Aidan Glass
Artist: Diego Yapur
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
When immigrants came to the new world they didn’t only bring their hopes and dreams, they also brought their MONSTERS.
Years ago, early setters locked these monsters away in a secret prison deep in the woods of New Amsterdam so that they never would return to the Old World again. Those woods have since become Central park and now, the monsters have escaped! Nick, a 14-year-old Harlem resident, finds out that he is a “legacy” to a secret society, that for the last four hundred years has kept these monsters in check. Now Nick and a ragtag group of kids just like him have to put the monsters back before they get out of the park and destroy the city.
Brought to life by Adam Glass and Aidan Glass (ROUGH RIDERS, THE NORMALS, TEEN TITANS) with art by Diego Yapur, LOLLIPOP KIDS is an epic re-imagining of the things that go bump in the night….
Cover A: Robert HackADAM GLASS ON WHAT THE STORY’S ABOUT AND WHY HE’S EXCITED FOR READERS TO CHECK IT OUT:
“Lollipop Kids plays with the idea that the Immigrants who have poured into this country for over 400 years didn’t just come here in search of the American Dream, they came here to get rid of their monsters so that their home countries would never again have to suffer. Which means America is the secret prison to all the monsters throughout history, everything from Dragons, the Big Bad Wolf, Medusa, Vlad the Impaler, Frankenstein, etc… and they have all been locked up for hundreds of years in the Greensward Forest better known today as CENTRAL PARK. But who protects it? The Lollipop Kids do. And they have a long history that has been handed down from generation to generation, so if you are a LEGACY you too may be called to serve and protect the world from the things that go BUMP IN THE NIGHT. And when there is a sudden jailbreak in modern times, and monsters are going to escape the park and attack the city, Nick Motley, 14, from Harlem, gets the call and is pulled into a world that he and most New Yorkers have no idea exists just beyond the trees and bushes of the park. It’s Harry Potter for inner-city kids and my love letter to Central Park.”
ADAM GLASS ON WORKING WITH HIS SON AIDAN TO DEVELOP THE STORY AND HOW THAT COLLABORATION CAME TO BE:“I’m writing it, but my son and I came up with the story and broke the series out. Aidan, now 14, and I have always had a very creative relationship. In fact, our whole family has. Storytelling, music, and comedy have always been a big part of our dinnertime discussions and activities. The joke is my kids knew how to pitch before they could walk because daddy was always trying his TV, movie and comic book pitches out on his family. But one of the things Aidan, my wife, Mia and I used to do with our kids is makeup bedtime stories and “Lollipop Kids” is one of those stories. And throughout the years it’s evolved.”
ADAM GLASS ON (3) REASONS WHY COMIC BOOK READERS SHOULD ADD THIS TITLE TO THEIR PULL LIST:“First, because it’s a wish-fulfillment story, so the book is very accessible as we all dream our lives are more than they currently seem to be.
Second, Diego Yapur’s art is out of this world. This book will make him a lot of new fans.
Third, it’s a labor of love between a father and son making our dreams come true as we write this story together and share it with the world.”
ADAM GLASS ON BEING AN AFTERSHOCK COMICS ALUMNI (HAVING CREATED MULTIPLE TITLES TOGETHER) AND WHAT HE FINDS IS HIS FAVORITE THING ABOUT WORKING WITH A CREATOR-OWNED PUBLISHER:“AfterShock Comics is like home, a place that allows me to spread my creative wings and soar. I’ve had and continue to have the pleasure of playing with some of the comic’s greatest intellectual properties which I’m very thankful for, but creating something that might live on beyond me and make a real impact on a reader’s mind, well that’s priceless and why I love building new worlds and working with AfterShock.”
Cover B by David Lopez
AIDAN GLASS ON WHAT IT’S LIKE TO OFFICIALLY BE WORKING ON A COMIC BOOK WITH HIS DAD:“It’s pretty cool working with someone I really look up to. And we think alike so we always seem to be on the same page creatively. I know how lucky I am to get this chance and I’m very thankful for it. I mean come on, how many 14-year-old kids get to see a book come to life-based off an idea they have? I have known Mike, Lee, and Joe of AfterShock for most of my life so I really appreciate them taking a chance on me, and I won’t let them down.”
AIDAN GLASS ON IF HE COULD CREATE A NEW SUPERHERO, WHAT WOULD THEIR NAME AND SUPER POWER BE:“Well, I already have created a couple of characters with my dad in the past. First, ICEBERG (re: I just saw Titanic) who was on my dad’s run of DC’s New 52 Suicide Squad. Then more recently I helped my dad create “ROUNDHOUSE” for his most recent run on DC’s Teen Titans. But I love the Flash and the speed force and would like to create something like that but with a very different take.”
