Dynamic Forces
and Image Comics have announced that Jae Lee's Hellshock: The Definitive
Edition trade paperback has been printed, and will be in stores
in Decmeber.
Initially, the collected edition of the Hellshock miniseries
was due to reach stores in July of 2005, but obviously, more time
was needed for re-coloring and remastering the pages.
"We apologize to the
retailers and fans that this took longer to release than originally
thought," said Dynamic Forces President Nick Barrucci. "Jae's Hellshock
is the most personal story he has told, and it needed to be perfect
before being released. This took longer than expected, especially
since Jae wanted the ending to be worth the wait. Jose Villarrubia's
original coloring was top notch, and though he was swamped, June
Chung came in and did a fantastic job 're-mastering' the first three
chapters and completing the grand finale. Retailers have order adjusted,
and we expect high sell through upon release. Hopefully, the fans
and retailers will feel the final product is worth the wait. I know
we do!"
A quick history lesson…that
is, what is this about anyway?
In the confines of a
psychiatric hospital a suicidal young woman meets an enigmatic stranger
who believes he is an angelic presence not of this earth gifted
with the powers of GOD. Is she being seduced into a cult ... or
is she bearing witness to a miracle?
Of course, this wasn't
the first delay Hellshock had seen. When the miniseries first
came out in 1996-1997, the initial three issues of the planned four
issue miniseries came out, but the fourth never appeared.
"When I first started,
I didn't know what I was doing, so I was using a lot of techniques
to cover up the bad drawing - a lot of shadows, a lot of splatter,
and a lot of crosshatching," Lee
said in 2005. "I just thought that if I filled up every inch
of space, it would help cover up the drawing flaws.
"So, if you
look back on my early work, it looks like I was trying to cover
everything in splatters to make up for something. But then, what
happened with Hellshock was that storytelling became really
important to me, because I was writing it myself. I wanted the characters
to look a certain way, and wanted them to portray emotions in a
convincing manner, so I had to pay attention to things that I had
never really cared about before.
"I was rewriting it,
and rewriting it and rewriting it. I would draw a page, rewrite
it, and then have to redraw it. So I kept taking the book in different
directions, and I couldn't make up my mind. It was never the artwork."
The collected edition
will include the final, never before seen fourth issue, as well
as an alternate beginning, and other extras.
And - to clarify, the
collected edition is the second Hellshock miniseries, which,
by many accounts, was Lee's masterwork of the two, showing a true
transformation of the artist.
""The creative process
is not an easy one, and with Hellshock being a very personal
work, I really wanted to make sure this came out as perfect as it
could," Lee said. "That took a little longer than any of us would
have liked, but I feel, looking at the finished book, that the wait
was worth it and I thank everyone for their patience in helping
me complete this creative journey."
Erik Larsen, Image Publisher:
"Jae is incredible. The effort Jae put it to make Hellshock
into everything it could be was amazing. The book outshines the
comics and makes in a worthy addition to anybody's collection. This
is Jae Lee in top form, showing all the pretenders and peons how
it's done. Hellshock is outstanding."
The 144 page trade will
carry a $19.99 cover price, and will feature a foreword by Jim Lee,
and an afterword by Barrucci.
Noting the other greatly
delayed project between the two, Barrucci confirmed for Newsarama
that similar news of the American Flagg! collection would
be coming soon.   
  
  
  
  
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