I am referring to Secret Identities and the co-writers in question are Jay Farber and Brian Joines.Here's the solicitation:
The supergroup known as The Front Line have just invited new hero Crosswind to join them. But what they don't know is that Crosswind is a mole, sent to learn all their secrets. And the Front Line have LOTS of secrets. Writers BRIAN JOINES and JAY FAERBER and the stunning art team of ILIAS KYRIAZIS and CHARLIE KIRCHOFF bring you classic super-team action and intrigue for the 21st century. Behind every mask is a secret...I kind of wish I didn't know about the mole already...
Doesn't sound very Canadian on the surface, however Faerber said the following in the Bleeding Cool article:
...it’s interesting to me that we both love Alpha Flight and we ended up writing a book set in Canada. But that wasn’t always the plan. I distinctly remember you and I (and Ilias, our artist...discussing where the team should be based. We felt New York was overdone, so was Los Angeles. Maybe Chicago? Then one of us — I forget who — suggested Toronto, and we all latched onto the idea. But unlike Alpha Flight, our team isn’t a Canadian super-team, per se. It’s a team that happens to be based in Toronto. But their leader is the daughter of the President of the United States. So there’s a strong American presence, as well.Oh. So they're not Canadian, just based in Canada? Faerber again, from a Comic Book Resources interview:
The team itself is called The Front Line, and they came together to fend off an alien invasion that occurred before the book starts. The team is based in Toronto, because that's where the invasion happened to be centered -- but it's not exactly a Canadian super-team. This isn't Alpha Flight; some of the members just happen to be Canadian.Some. I'll take it, since most books tend to only include one at most. Hell, Justice League United, also based in Canada, only has two (unless Alanna Strange counts) and of those, Adam Strange was "turned" into one (before DC 2011 relaunch of its titles, I believe Strange was actually from Chicago).
A few years ago, when Marvel Comics released a Canada-based series called Omega Flight, that team also only had two Canadian. And an American (an awesomely lame one, no less) wearing the Guardian suit. You'll excuse me if my expectations are low.
This team doesn't appear to have many either, mind you. Let's read some of the character descriptions (leaving out the daughter of the U.S. prez for obvious reasons):
Vesuvius: He was a Roman centurion caught in the explosion at Pompeii...Not him.
Gaijen: Gaijin is an alien whose ship crash-landed in Japan when she was a child.That's a "no".
Helot: Artist Ilias Kyriazis says: "Needless to say there's a reason he looks like an ancient Greek warrior -- an in-story reason I mean..."Eh. Probably not then...
Maybe I'll just stop there since that only leaves four members, including the mole. Given my choice among the remaining members, I suppose I would select The Recluse.
Joines: The Recluse is our dark vigilante character -- moody, brooding, never letting anyone get too close. With so many colorful characters, he's the team's ultimate straight man. But beyond the superhero side of things, his origins lie in a more Doc Savage/pulp hero scenario, with jungle explorations, ancient curses, and the like.
Sounds pretty cool. Here's another aspect of the book that I think might be interesting, simply because few writers choose to tell their stories in that manner.
Joines: Speaking of Byrne and "Alpha Flight," Jay and I decided early on to adopt his strategy with that team: Not every issue has to feature all the characters. Sometimes the primary story in an issue will spotlight one or two characters only. That way, we can spend some time getting to know them as individuals without being distracted by the other seven characters running around. Plus, it means when we do use the entire team, that suggests some serious shit is going down.Right on. Secret Identities comes out on February 18th.
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