Protectors TPB Lands in Chicago This Weekend!

Nice news indeed.

I ordered issues number one and zero of The Protectors in print two years ago on the basis of not only a French-Canadian team member named Gerard Rioux but a (Nigerian-born) Canadian creator in former NFL player Israel Idonije. Supported by industry veterans Ron Marz and Bart Sears, Athlita comics put forward an entertaining debut with a vast back story to be explored.

I recently downloaded the Madefire app in order to access new Protectors material but while these are quite well made, motion comics aren't really my thing. So the news of a print option is welcomed indeed.

Looking at the app today, it lists 14 issues of the Protectors series plus a number of fact books (HERO Handbook, Allies and Enemies, that sort of thing). A few of those issues display the same cover with slightly different colouring so I suspect that much like DC Comics "digital first" books on Comixology, they are shorter than a standard comic book. Regardless, Athlita confirmed on Twitter that the book is a compilation of six issues (presumably including the zero book) and weighs in at 176 pages.

So the book will debut at the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo but Athlita has also stated that they will have a few for sale from their website, which has recently undergone a significant renovation. Supplies may be limited though so if you'd like to get a copy, you may need to move fast (faster than me, anyway).

Gérard The Protector!

Shortly after first posting information about Athlita Comics' The Protectors on April 28th, I proceeded to order issues #0 and #1 of the book.

First things first; Here is the French-Canadian hockey player that becomes a member of the team.

The above is from #1. "Gerard" would be a little weak as a superhero name but the character file in the zero issue confirms that all the Protectors will have code names, they have just not yet been revealed.

I was a little concerned with the the zero issue. The introductory story, entitled "Seeds", is a good teaser but was light on dialogue. I thought that might be a trend in the book, but at least based on #1, it doesn't actually appear to be the case.

There is also a 6-page preview of the first issue, rather useless if you've just bought that very issue, but I believe it was produced quite some time ago so it was logical t the time. The remainder of the book is character sheets and creator interviews.

The first "official" issue's story is mostly told in recent flashback (five days prior) as the characters are introduced to the reader through their individual sporting achievements, then later to one another at a gala event. It is at this event that the wheels are set in motion for the members of the group to gain their respective powers.

Overall it's pretty cool. Creator Israel Idonije has some experienced heavyweights bringing his vision to life in writer Ron Marz and artist Bart Sears, among others. If you want to see for yourself, you can order the two books as a package for $10 (plus shipping) on the Athlita Comics website.

A Canadian Protector

The Protectors book has been in the news a few times over the past couple of years, but it seems that its first issue (not counting last year's #0) was released on Friday.

The team's creator, current Chicago Bears defensive end Israel Idonije, was already familiar to me for what he DIDN'T do on the football field.  Born in Nigeria, moving to Canada at the age of four, Idonije excelled as a defensive lineman for the University of Manitoba.  He was a draft choice of  my hometown Ottawa Renegades, for which I was ecstatic...but he caught on in the NFL and never played a down for Ottawa, unfortunately (for me, it's certainly not unfortunate for him).

If you'd told me at the time that I'd be buying his comic book about ten years later, I would have found the notion ridiculous.  But apparently exposure to a Green Hornet comic as a kid created an interest in comics which lives on today, and is part of his post-football strategy.  Read more below.

Chicago Tribune:
By Andy Grimm

By day, Israel Idonije is a fairly mild-mannered defensive end for the Chicago Bears. By night -- or at least in the off season -- he’s a comic book auteur.

Idonije this afternoon will be manning a booth at McCormick Place for C2E2, the comic book/sci-fi/pop culture mega convention, hawking copies of issue #1 of “The Protectors,” a superhero team he first imagined during Bears training camp in 2007. 

Though the leader of The Protectors, Isaac Chike, is, like Idonije, a bald, bearded defensive end who immigrated from Africa as a child, Idonije first says the comic is not autobiographical, then concedes that the plot is grounded in his desire to do good off the football field.

“The characters’ athletic prowess is a by-product of their (super) powers,” imbued by a demi-god character, Idonije said Thursday. “They were put on this earth to do more than just entertain… I’d like to think I’m committed to doing more than that, too.”

Other Protectors also are super-powered jocks from the equivalent of the NBA, NHL, Major League baseball and women’s professional soccer, who must use their supernatural powers to defend the earth from alien invasion....

Idonije collaborated with comics veterans Ron Marz and Bart Sears on the comic.

I had a difficult time locating more information about Protectors other than lead character Isaac Chike.  The mention of a member being a hockey player caused me to believe that he may be Canadian.  I finally did get a brief breakdown of the cast in a Red Eye Chicago article from last year:

Set in Chicago, "The Protectors" follows a squad of athletes granted superpowers to defend Earth against an evil force called The Dissenters, which plans to enslave humanity. Each of the main characters--a diverse group that includes an African-American football player, a basketball star born on Chicago's South Side, a Latino baseball player, a French-Canadian hockey player and female soccer player--will get their own extraordinary abilities over the course of the story, which Idonije says will be a full origin story.

The #0 cover is below.  Athlita Comics has a website, but there's very little information on it at the moment.  Their Facebook page, on the other hand, appears to be quite active.