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Rob Hanes Adventures Now Available as a Full Color Web Comic

May 1, 2006

For immediate release

Note: The rhadventures.com website is no longer active. This press release has been preserved for archival purposes—this all-color issue was published as Rob Hanes Adventures: Special Edition #1 in 20ll and may be purchased from the WCG Comics webstore.

WCG announced that Rob Hanes Adventures, its long-running action-adventure series about a globetrotting soldier of fortune, is now available as a serialized web comic at rhadventures.com. As an added bonus, the series is being presented for the first time in full color. With the web comic, the publisher hopes to reach new readers who have not had a chance to see the title previously or whose local stores may not carry the comic book. The web comic also will provide current fans of the series with a more regular stream of available fresh content between issues.

The first story being presented is “The EC Express.” Two stories already have been posted at the site in full.

“I’ve always been proud of the strong support Rob Hanes Adventures receives from fans and retailers, but it has been a challenge to compete, grow sales, and get into stores as a small publisher with limited resources,” said series creator and writer-artist Randy Reynaldo. “Though I recognize the web is competitive in its own way, obviously readers now have a gateway for easily finding and accessing the series directly and whenever they want to, which I hope will encourage them to seek out the print version as well.”

Reynaldo assured readers that the print comic book series will continue. (Issue 9 is now available and issue 10 is due out shortly.) The web comic is intended to complement the print series, and serve as an additional gateway for a new and potentially larger audience of readers.

Though the series has been praised over the years for being a standout black-and-white title, presenting the feature on the web obviously gives the opportunity to present the series in a vibrant new way, without the restraints of distribution and the cost associated with printing, particularly in color.

The colorist for the new series is Barry Gregory, editor and president of 01comics.

“Barry is a longtime friend, fellow publisher, and fan of the series, and his work has surpassed all my expectations,” said Reynaldo. “Though the adventures scheduled to be serialized are from my vast catalog of back stories, even if you’ve seen these stories before, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised like me at how fresh and new the stories look—Barry's beautiful color work has brought the stories to a new level, which in itself makes them worth a look.”

The backlog of stories from over the years—encompassing more than 400 pages of material—creates an extensive catalog of adventures to pull from.

Since its debut, Rob Hanes Adventures has been praised as a standout black and white title that has drawn comparisons to classic adventure strips and the work of cartoonists like Alex Toth, which all served as inspiration for the series.

Rob Hanes Adventures is a comic-book series about an international troubleshooter and modern-day soldier of fortune who works for Justice International, a worldwide private investigations and security agency. The title character travels the world on assignment, finding action and intrigue at every turn. Each story is self-contained, and features exotic locales, high-flying action, beautiful women, and a healthy dose of humor.

In recent years, the focus of the series has shifted from straight action-adventure to more of an action-variety series—issue 10, for example, is a sports-themed story that features Rob going undercover on a minor league baseball team. Reynaldo is a past Xeric Foundation grant winner and a past nominee for the Russ Manning Award for Most Promising Newcomer, which is awarded annually with the Will Eisner Awards.

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