When Alan Tudyk andNathan Fillion crowd-funded their hit web seriesCon Man last April, the sci-fi fan-favorite actors struck a chord: a 735%-funded campaign at $3.2M that quickly became the largest crowd-funded web series in history. Now, the record-breaking duo are lending this magic to a comic book series.Spectrum, based on the show-within-a-show featured in Con Man, debuts on Free Comic Book Day next May at comic book stores nationwide.
Con Man, which starred Fillion (Firefly, Castle) and Tudyk (Firefly, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as actors from a canceled cult sci-fi show, was a comedic look at the wild world of fandom and conventions. Spectrum will tell the story that launched their careers. In the comic, a vicious attack from an alien invading force devastates the globe, but the prophetic dreams of Captain James Raaker warn that the suffering has just started. Humanity’s last hope is escape in an untested spaceship built by a madman.
“In the world of Con Man, Spectrum has given my character Wray Nerely a huge fan following,” Tudyk said. “A comic book is the best way to tell the story that ignited that fandom. It’s the serious sci-fi story, inside the comedic story, told inside a comic book that is sold inside comic book stores. Every good Con Man needs a comic.”
The four-issue series from Automatic Publishingwill be written by Tudyk and novelist/producer PJ Haarsma (The Softwire Series) with artwork bySarah Stone (Transformers) and overseen by Shel Dorf Award-winning editor Shannon Eric Denton. The Free Comic Book Day offering is not a sampler or a preview, but the actual first issue of the series.
The first season of Con Man is now available on Vimeo, and centers on Wray Nerely (Tudyk), who has struggled to find his big break following the untimely cancellation of Spectrum, while his friend Jack Moore (Fillion) has become a major celebrity. Jack enjoys the life of an A-lister while Wray tours the sci-fi circuit as a guest of conventions, comic book stores, and pop culture events. The show explores the crazy (and real) behind-the-scenes antics in the world of fandom.
