AOP4 Variant

Chapterhouse announced earlier today that several of their books were hitting stores next Wednesday.

That's not huge news in and of itself; these are all books that were solicited quite some time ago. They're all late to various degrees but it's an impressive job of catching up. In a bit more than a week, we're getting...

• Captain Canuck, Season 3, Issue #2
• Northguard, Season 2, Issues # 1 and 2
• Fallen Suns, Season 1, Issues #2 and 3
• Fantomah, Season 1, Issue #4
• Agents of PACT, Season 1, Issue #4

It's that last one that drew my eye to the announcement. Chapterhouse displays covers to all the book above on Instagram. I may simply be forgetting it, but an alternative cover to Agents of PACT #4 was shown and I dig it quite a bit. I thought it was worth displaying here since at the moment at least, it isn't even included on Chapterhouse's own website, that I can see.

Quite sharp, but anything that features Kebec instantly grades high...

Three of those should be hitting my mailbox in the coming days. I've been waiting for Agents Of Pact #4 to be available before reading the first issue of season three of Captain Canuck. It can't get here fast enough.

Chapterhouse Invades 2018

I'd been keeping an ear to the ground for Chapterhouse Publishing's March solicitations and while we didn't quite get those, what we got was pretty cool. This spring, the Captain and his entourage attempt to fight off an invasion.

Invasion is Chapterhouse’s first major event, taking place in the pages of Captain Canuck Season Four throughout the summer of 2017 and bringing together heroes of the Chapterverse – Fantomah, Freelance, Pitiful Human-Lizard, Northguard, Agents of P.A.C.T., and Fallen Suns – against the threat of alien race, the Borealis. 

Having observed Earth from afar, the Borealis arrive to pass judgement on humankind – a failure, too dangerous to be allowed to live. However, despite our flaws, Captain Canuck and the heroes of the Chapterverse still believe humans are worth saving. This action-packed Chapterverse crossover event will also look back at the story of the Chapterverse so far, so new readers are not left out of the action. 

"I've been counting the days to Invasion since we released Captain Canuck on Free Comic Book Day in 2015,” says Chapterhouse founder Fadi Hakim. “Having the story come full circle for Free Comic Book Day 2018 is simply the best thing ever!” 

Chapterhouse’s Free Comic Book Invasion prologue features the debut of the Captain Canuck Season Four writing team – Jay Baruchel and Van Jensen (Green Lantern Corps, The Flash). Leonard Kirk (Batman, Supergirl, JSA, X-Factor) provides the artwork plus a cover by John Gallagher (Riverdale, Supergirl, The Flash). 

"This is big, blockbuster, summer entertainment,” Baruchel explains. “It's got monsters, superheroes, space ships, big explosions, and Donald Trump being subjugated by aliens - pretty much all you could ask for in a comic book. Exciting stuff that's going to take heads off."

The last few months have predictably felt like Chapterhouse had hit the reset button. Jay Baruchel was named Chief Creative Officer this past summer, for one thing, but while the publisher's agreement with Diamond Books at around the same time didn't generate the same amount of attention, it was still very impactful.  Chapterhouse products were to become more widely available throughout North America and Europe and many books were resolicited accordingly.

Invasion may have been in the planning stages for years, but its announcement feels symbolic of Chapterhouse having adapted to its new normal and preparing to take off again. This could be a big year for the publisher.

Chapterhouse Publishing July 2017 Solicitations

First Comics News revealed Chapterhouse's July offerings early this morning. Let's have a look!

AGENTS OF PACT TP, VOL 01, FLEURS DE CONFLIT
(W) Kalman Andrasofszky, Blake Northcott
(A) Federica Manfredi, Caroline Nolasco
(CA) Bella Rachlin 

Don’t miss this collected edition of Agents of P.A.C.T! With Captain Canuck missing and a new extraterrestrial menace wreaking havoc across Canada, Manon DesChamps, director of P.A.C.T., the paranormal investigation arm of CSIS, must form her own strike team of super-agents to step in and contain the disaster.

Fan-favourites Kebec and Redcoat join the newly-powered Marla Ritchie in this explosive first arc. Can this fledgling team unite and prevent further destruction, or will their own competing motivations prove too much for the Agents of P.A.C.T.? 

In Shops: Jul 26, 2017
SRP: $16.99

Yeah...No way in hell this book is available in July.  The second issue has yet to find its way onto shelves. Typically, Chapterhouse Books come out on the last week of the month. Even if the second issue were to come out at the end of the April, it's hard to imagine the rest of the series being completed by the time this book is scheduled to appear. And I doubt Chapterhouse would release a compilation before the original material is fully available. So see you in the fall, volume 1.

CAPTAIN CANUCK #3
(W) Kalman Andrasofszky
(A) Leonard Kirk
(CA) John Gallagher 

The Chapterverse continues! Look out Equilibrium, Captain Canuck is back, and this time he’s fighting for P.A.C.T! But is even his power enough to stand against the rampaging alien threat that has destroyed Toronto? 

In Shops: Jul 26, 2017
SRP: $3.99

Destroyed?

Gallagher's images just blow my mind every time I see one.

And again, while Fantomah is said to be a Chapterverse title, I don't know how it actually ties in, but it does seem enjoyable. I might TPB that one, and it would make a good halloween release. Just sayin'.

FANTOMAH #3
(W) Ray Fawkes
(A) Soo Lee
(CA) Djibril Morrisette 

The Chapterverse continues!

Bodies are piling up. Rumours of The Weeping Woman are spreading. The city’s criminal element is running scared, jumping at its own shadow, and turning on itself. 

But it’s Paz Gallegos who has the most to fear. The closer she draws to the truth of her sisters’ disappearance, the farther she drifts from her own humanity and into the waiting arms of Fantomah. 

In Shops: Jul 26, 2017
SRP: $3.99

April 2017: "Freelance and Agents of PACT each come to an explosive conclusion!"

Chapterhouse released their April solicitations and, not particularly surprisingly, they remain Captain-free as Agents of P.A.C.T. shines a spotlight on some of his supporting cast.

AGENTS OF P.A.C.T. #4
Kebec makes the ultimate sacrifice to give her allies a shot at taking down their alien enemy once and for all, leaving Marla Ritchie to face the extraterrestrial monster alone. Does she have what it takes to stand alongside legends like Redcoat, Kebec, and Fleur De Lys?

Written by Kalman Andrasofszky & Blake Northcott
Illustrated by Federica Manfredi | Cover by Bella Rachlin 

$3.99 | 32 pages | Full Color
Diamond Order# FEB171453

FREELANCE #4
This is it! Witness the final showdown between Lance and Apollyon as they battle for control of not only the world, but Lance's very humanity! Learn the terrible secrets of Lance's origin! Trust us, you do not want to miss the final issue of our first season!

Pulse-pounding action, wit, intrigue and globe-trotting romance - One of Canada's original heroes is reborn for the Chapterhouse era by writers Andrew Wheeler (Another Castle) and Jim Zub (Thunderbolts), and artist Vaneda Vireak (51Hundred)!

Written by Jim Zub and Andrew Wheeler
Illustrated by Vaneda Vireak | Cover by Alex Perkins

$3.99 | 32 pages | Full Color
Diamond Order# FEB171456

I kind of dig Steeltown Hammer. He's a good addition to the cast that is not a re-imagined version of a character from the original series. He's nowhere near as principled as the good Captain by any stretch but loyal and he's obedient and therefore the perfect right hand man to Michael Evans (pun intended, if you know Michael Evans at all). Mike Evans has a tendency to strain the bonds of loyalty though so we'll see how long that lasts.

We should now be starting to see signs of the next batch of Chapterverse books that had been promised this past summer, probably also in the form of 4-issue mini-series. I'm particularly eager to see a book about The Northern Light character from the 70s though at this point I don't know for certain if he's part of the upcoming bunch of releases. Last I saw him, he was meant to appear in a much-delayed anthology book called One Tribe.

Chapterverse Moves Forward In Chapterhouse March 2017 Solicitations

Let's see what we can look forward to in the spring!

AGENTS OF PACT #3
JAN171565 

(W) Kalman Andrasofszky, Blake Northcott (A) Federica Manfredi (CA) Bella Rachlin

The Chapterverse continues! Hot on the trail of the extra-dimensional invader, the Agents are led right into the belly of the beast: Equilibrium HQ! And Michael Evans is anything but happy to see them. 

Caught between two deadly threats, all seems lost until the secret fifth member of PACT reveals herself! 

In Shops: Mar 29, 2017
SRP: $3.99

Err...Would that secret member happen to be on this cover? Because from the beginning I wondered if Bluefox was going to appear in this book, being a prominent female member of the cast and all.

FREELANCE #3
JAN171566 

(W) Jim Zub, Andrew Wheeler (A) Vaneda Vireak (CA) Alexander Perkins 

The Chapterverse continues! Terror on the racetrack! 

In the penultimate issue of the series, Apollyon has activated the Breach Key in Istanbul, and only Lance and his team stand in the way of total destruction. But when one member gets kidnapped, Lance must outrace the clock if he hopes to save the world – and his friend. 

In Shops: Mar 29, 2017
SRP: $3.99

Still no real evidence of Chapterverse participation as such besides, obviously, the mention in the solicitation text. I don't expect a Captain Canuck appearance or anything, but a mention of Equilibrium, PACT, something.

Chapterhouse February 2017 Solicitations

As usual, First Comics News lives up to its name and is the first site to make the Chapterhouse solicitations available. If someone else does it any faster, by all means draw my attention to it, but I have yet to find another site that does.

Now then...What's going on...

ALL NEW CLASSIC CAPTAIN CANUCK VOL 01 TIME CHASE
DEC161505
(W) Ed Brisson (A/CA) George Freeman 

The Classic series continues will all new adventures of Captain Canuck! Lost in time, Captain Canuck must face aliens, cavemen, Mr Gold, and the new threat of Criterion as he tries to return home.

Ed Brisson (The Violent) teams up with Canuck veteran George Freeman (JLA, Star Wars) to bring you what Graphic Policy calls “A great collection that’s worth the price of admission!” 

Collects All New Classic Captain Canuck #0-4. 

In Shops: Feb 22, 2017
SRP: $19.99

Nice. The third issue of ANCCC was released last week, I believe. Chapterhouse must be fairly confident that they'll get the fourth issue out soon if they are planning to release the trade paperback.

That will be it for Classic Canuck, at least for the time being, sadly. But the supporting cast of the current version will continue to be featured in...

AGENTS OF PACT #2
DEC161502
(W) Kalman Andrasofszky, Blake Northcott (A) Federica Manfredi (CA) Bella Rachlin 

The Chapterverse continues! Barely functioning as a team yet, and the Agents are already outnumbered and outgunned by an army of souped-up Equilibrium agents headed by the Steeltown Hammer! 

Who can even the score? Spoilers: it’s Kebec. 

In Shops: Feb 22, 2017
SRP: $3.99

When I first saw that cover, I believed it was fan art. I may have even referred to it as such on social media, which makes me feel like a dumbass now. Ah well. How the hell was I supposed to know? Unless it started that way and Chapterhouse chose to use it.

In any event, for those of you perhaps newer to this little universe, that would be Fleur De Lys on the left, of Northguard fame. A character by the same name (Manon Deschamps, that is) appears in the Northguard but is significantly older. So there are two possibilities:

1) The cover is not at all indicative of the interior content and simply a pinup. That could well be, artist Bella Rachlin used the pinup hashtag in her Instagram post displaying that same image.

2) Someone else is wearing the suit. The Northguard guard character is significantly different than the original character, the same could be true of Fleur De Lys. And Chapterhouse leaves precious little material unused. So this is something to look forward to.

And finally, we have Freelance...

FREELANCE #2
DEC161503
(W) Jim Zub, Andrew Wheeler (A) Vaneda Vireak (CA) Alexander Perkins 

The Chapterverse continues! 

On the trail of the murderous Apollyon, Lance and his team are led on a journey that takes them from beyond the Nanisivik Rift to the rooftops of Istanbul. 

Debuting in this issue: the mysterious Sidika! But is she friend, foe, or something else entirely? 

Pulse-pounding action, wit, intrigue, and globe-trotting romance as one of Canada’s original heroes is reborn for the Chapterhouse era! 

In Shops: Feb 22, 2017
SRP: $3.99

I admit that I'm not quite into this book. I know that its connection with the other Chapterverse titles will be revealed over time, and hopefully grow, but so far it doesn't grab me. I also personally detest this art style (preview page below copied from, of course, First Comics News).

Not saying it's bad work, just not what I personally enjoy and not what I was expecting.  Nonetheless, I'll get the book and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

My concern now is that when the Chapterverse was announced, it was promoted as being a whole universe for $8 a month. That's OK, but it would suggest that we're not getting any version of Captain Canuck until May at the earliest. That's a long way to go without your flagship character, but we can look forward to his triumphant return. Hell, we've waited much longer between Canuck books in the past, haven't we?

What We Learned From Chapterhouse's January 2017 Solicitations

Yes, I swiped that title from Newsarama (or is it Comic Book Resources? Both? Can't recall).

In early September, Chapterhouse Comics announced that they were going to create a "Chapterverse" in 2017, meaning that many of their titles would be more closely connected. Several projects were announced, among them the two below. There are more titles coming out in January, specifically Die, Kitty, Die and The Fourth Planet, but the two listed here are specifically part of this universe and, therefore, featured here.

AGENTS OF PACT #1
Story: Kalman Andrasofszky, Blake Northcott
Art: Federica Manfredi
Cover: Sanya Anwar

The Chapterverse launches with this brand new series! The X-Files meets Velvet meets Birds of Prey. 

In Canada. There’s an extra-dimensional breach in the Canadian North. Enter P.A.C.T., the paranormal investigation arm of CSIS. 

With Captain Canuck AWOL, P.A.C.T director Manon DesChamps (formerly Fleur De Lys) must forge her own team of super-agents, pulled from Equilibrium, the Aurora Dawn, and other less savoury sources. She affectionately calls them her Fleurs de Conflit but to the world at large, they are: The Agents of P.A.C.T.!

Nice. When this book was announced, Kebec and Redcoat were named as team members but it was implied that there would be more. I guess we have a look at one of them there. Unless she appeared in Captain Canuck #9 and/or Northguard #2 (released simultaneously last month but which I have yet to read), she's a new creation. For the most part, the Captain Canuck books to this point had focused on re-imagining the characters from the 70s and 80s series so it'll be interesting to see how they do with their own creations.

FREELANCE #1
Story: Jim Zub, Andrew Wheeler
Art: Vaneda Vireak
Cover: Alexander Perkins 

The Chapterverse launches, with this brand new series! 

Lance Valiant, John Cabot, and Tasha Kolchak are fearless explorers who delve into hidden secrets of our world and protect us from threats beyond imagination, but the greatest secret of all may be Lance’s own mysterious past! 

Pulse-pounding action, wit, intrigue, and globe-trotting romance – one of Canada’s original heroes is reborn for the Chapterhouse era!

Well this sounds fun, even if a connection with the good Captain's entourage is not immediately obvious.

But then...Does it have to be? The Captain is said to be AWOL in the Agents of PACT solicitation text. Perhaps this group's formation is a response to that as Captain Canuck is unavailable to respond to these threats. Or Freelance can take place in the Chapterverse without a specific tie to Captain Canuck. Hell, not every DC hero has been in the Justice League (it only feels that way).

The only disappointing aspect of these solicitations is...No Captain Canuck (or Northguard) books forthcoming. The last Canuck book solicited was issue #11 and, at least for the moment, it is expected to be available in late November. Maybe Chapterhouse is making sure that the previously-solicited books are released in due time before soliciting new material. We were told both books are continuing, so no concerns along those lines, but we just have to wait a little longer.