Black Flag (comic book)
| Black Flag | |
|---|---|
| Group publication information | |
| Publisher | Maximum Press |
| First appearance | Short Story: Extreme #0 (August 1993) Full appearance: Black Flag Preview Edition: #1 (June 1994) |
| Created by | Dan Fraga |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | Dagger City |
| Member(s) | Sniper Geisha Raiden Rascal Guerilla Spot Bubble |
| Black Flag | |
| Cover to Black Flag vol. 1, #1 (1995). Art by Dan Fraga. | |
| Series publication information | |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | (vol. 1) Limited series |
| Publication date | (vol. 1) Jan. – July. 1995 () [[in comics|]] – present |
| Number of issues | (vol. 1) 4 (plus #0 and short Black Seed Story) |
| Creator(s) | Dan Fraga |
Black Flag is a fictional superhero team and comic book series originally written and illustrated by Dan Fraga[1]. It was published by Maximum Press and one preview edition by Image Comics. The cover of the preview edition was illustrated by Dan Fraga and inked by Todd Mcfarlane . The comic features an organized para-military styled team of characters composed of a former military Landstorm pilot, a master of mysticism, a billionaire heiress, an eight foot talking purple gorilla, a dimension hopping shapeshifting alien revolutionary, and a boy who can make fantasy a reality with the snap of his fingers.
Publication history[edit]
The series takes place in Dan Fraga's comic book universe.
The setup of the series is that a para-military group called Black Flag is formed and funded by April Imoto, aka Geisha, who inherited her father's billion dollar empire after he was executed. One of the members of Black Flag is Raiden, a master of mysticism. Using his powers, he sees a young boy in trouble, fighting to escape Hades, and a purple gorilla who was the subject of numerous experiments to make him a genius fighting machine. Raiden senses and imbalance in the universe due to these events and Black Flag rescues both of these characters and begin their adventure together as a team.
After a successful run ending with issue #0, which was published after issue #4, creator and illustrator Dan Fraga ended the series with a promise to one day return to the book. In 1996, a teaser was released in an anthology book called Asylum from Maximum Press of a series, to be called Black Seed, which would follow the exploits of the same team. This book was never released and Dan Fraga later left the comic book industry to work in the film, television and music video industries as a storyboard artist and animation director.
It was announced towards the end of 2019 that Dan Fraga would be returning to work on comic books in order to bring Black Flag back into publication by way of a crowdfunded campaign under his own publishing imprint, Incredible Comics.[2]Dan Fraga announced that the crowdfunding campaign would begin on April 25th of 2020.
Fictional team history[edit]
Black Flag: Backfire[edit]
Sniper sneaks into the Yakuza's "School of the Mountain" but is quickly discovered and has to do battle with a squad of ninjas. He calls in Guerilla for support, who teleports on-scene to assist. The are confronted by the boss, whose name is Dojo. The story ends on a cliffhanger as the about to do battle with Dojo. This four page story serves as a teaser of things to come for Black Flag. The story is yet to be resolved.
Black Flag: The Mini Series[edit]
The story begins with Spot and his friend Bubble being chased through Hades by Hellfyre, the ruler of Hades, after the two kids stole the Tavares Tapestry. Spot and Bubble try to flee across the "Styx Bridge," which Hellfyre cannot cross when they see Philmore Philster on the other side of the bridge. At first they think they are saved, but Philmore blasts the bridge to smitherings while trying to shoot at Hellfyre and Spot falls towards a lake of fire. Spot suddenly awakens in his tree house, back on earth convinced it was all a dream.
Black Seed Preview[edit]
Black Flag Faces off against Techno Wolf.
Characters[edit]
Black Flag Characters:
- Dalton "Sniper" Snipes: Little is known about Sniper. He was betrayed by a close friend in the Jarltair Wars and realized he was actually betrayed by his country. He was left for Dead, after Elijah Beringer shot him with Carbon Liquid Plasma, which ate through his Landstorm unit and then turned solid when it got to his flesh. Shrine found Sniper and trained him, brought him back from the brink of death and gave him a new direction in life. Shrine taught him of the Essence and how to find it.
- April "Geisha" Imoto: DOB: 07-05-1969, Height 5’11”, Weight 117 Lbs, Eyes Green, Hair, Various colors. Daughter of the late Yoshi Imoto. She inherited her father’s billion dollar estate and company, Imoto Toys. Her suit is called the “Cyber 1” and it allows her to fly. Her mentor is Raiden. She funded the purchase of BF Headquarters and funded the team. She is well versed in many forms of martial arts, and passed qualification E7 of strategic military procedures. She utilizes holo-disguises which were developed by her father’s company.
- Ben "Guerilla" Davis: Height 8’07” Weight 880 Pounds, Eyes: Yellow, Hair:Purple. The product of a series of shocking genetic experiments. Whatever he sees or hears, he remembers. He can enter into a "Berserker Frenzy", which causes a physical metamorphosis
- Raiden: Master of Mysticism. He channels inter-dimensional pathways, harnessing the power of the gem pool of Granakata to witness events in the past, present and future. He is most likely not of this earth, and spends a great deal of time in his library in Black Flag headquarters. He was Yoshi Imoto’s advisor and became Geisha's mentor and teacher after her father’s execution.
- Rascal aka Lea-Hcim Zemog: Height 6’2” Weight 98 Lbs Wanted on his homeworld for the theft of a TIMEDISC that he now wears on his chest. Can travel through dimensional gateways with the TIMEDISC. He is a revolutionary. He can open an infinite number of doorways to different worlds and dimensions. From the planet Morphika, arrived on earth 04/20/1993. Rascal’s uniform is a metamorphic skin that allows him to shift into any form.
- Spot: 12 year old boy - unbeknownst to him, with the snap of his finger he can unlock the doorways that separate imagination from reality.
- Bubble: Spot's friend
- Shrine: Mystic and a Warrior, The only white man to survive the Shaolin Temple (though he lost an eye), He is one with “The Essence” and is Sniper’s master.
Influences[edit]
Black Flag carries in influences from a wide variety of genres. The series contains ninjas, inter-dimensional travel, futuristic tech, metaphysical masters of mysticism, quests for magic coins, a kid with supernatural powers, romance, revenge, scantily clad women, and a talking genius gorilla trained to be a killing machine. Dan Fraga seems to be influenced by a vast swath of pop culture.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Wizard Magazine" (27). November 1993: 75.
- ↑ https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/01/21/dan-fraga-black-flag/
External links[edit]
References[edit]
This article "Black Flag (comic book)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Black Flag (comic book). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
