Sci-Fi Comic from Tudyk and PJ Haarsma Launches Nationwide During Industry's Largest Event

LOS ANGELES, May 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- This Saturday, comic book fans of all ages will be treated to a windfall of free fun during the industry's annual Free Comic Book Day event, where publishers and retailers team up to distribute millions of books. Making its world premiere during this springtime tradition will be a new sci-fi series from Firefly alums Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion called Spectrum, with a full first issue for free distributed by Automatic Publishing. Stores have pre-ordered over 100,000 copies nationwide, making it one of the biggest launches for a new comic book series in recent history.

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Spectrum is a tie-in to the hit web series Con Man, a comedic look at the wild world of fandom and conventions starring Tudyk (Firefly, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Fillion (Firefly, Castle) that netted a record-breaking $3.2M of crowd-funding last year. It tells the story of Con Man's show-within-the-show, a sci-fi action epic in which Earth is devastated by an alien attack, leaving an ace pilot and a dashing captain to rescue a band of survivors in a highly advanced spacecraft called, "Spectrum." Humanity's last hope is escape in an untested ship built by a madman.

"I've been in comics. I've been on comics. I used a stack of Archies to balance an uneven table once. But writing a comic book has been the best comic book experience of all," Tudyk said.

The Free Comic Book Day release kicks off a four-issue series written by novelist/producer PJ Haarsma (The Softwire Series) and Tudyk himself, with artwork by Sarah Stone (Transformers) and Jason Johnson (WildC.A.T.s) and overseen by Con Man Productions Comics and Animation Director Shannon Eric Denton. Each issue will be available in print at comic shops nationwide and digitally on the comiXology and Madefire platforms.

Lucky fans in the Los Angeles area will have the chance to meet Tudyk, Haarsma, and Denton at signing events throughout the day on Free Comic Book Day: 11:00am at The Comic Bug, 1:30pm at Collectors Paradise, 3:00pm at Blastoff Comics, 4:30pm at Earth 2 Comics, and 6:00pm at House of Secrets. A follow-up signing will be at Illusive Comics In Santa Clara on May 11 from 11:00am to 2:00pm.

"I love world-building, and comic books have been the genesis of so many amazing worlds in both science fiction and fantasy," Haarsma said. "During the process of creating Spectrum, I've been blown away by the talent and speed of so many great artists in this medium. I feel lucky to be a part of it."

The first season of Con Man (available on Vimeo, Amazon, iTunes, and DVD/BluRay) 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.

ABOUT PJ HAARSMA

PJ Haarsma, the executive producer of Con Man, is also an award-winning Canadian-born science fiction author best known for creating the Rings of Orbis universe, which encompasses The Softwire series of books and now the Spectrum comics. His production company Redbear Films creates content for film, television, and video games as well as ads and multimedia productions with over 300 awards to date for prestige clients such as Burger King, Sony, NFL, and Hewlett Packard. He resides in California with his wife and two children. Haarsma is currently writing Spectrum novels slated for release in 2017. For more information on Con Man, please visit conmantheseries.com or the Con Man Facebook and Twitter pages. To download and watch Con Man, visit vimeo.com/ondemand/conman.

ABOUT CON MAN PRODUCTIONS

Los Angeles-based Redbear Films (handling Con Man Productions) focuses on story projects that inherently harness the imaginative energy of authors, artists and fans. The company consists of producer PJ Haarsma, producer Alan Tudyk, Creative Director Drew Lewis, and Comics and Animation Director Shannon Eric Denton.

(Press release processed by PRUnderground.com)

Media Contact: Jesse Post, Con Man Productions, 8575446281, Email Contact

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SOURCE Con Man Productions