Veteran Hollywood scribe Tony Puryear is perhaps best known for penning Eraser way back in 1996, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vanessa Williams and James Caan.
Over the years, Puryear has also adapted sci-fi franchises such as Fahrenheit 451 and Buck Rogers for the big screen, while writing scripts for actors like Will Smith, Mel Gibson and Jerry Bruckheimer.
And now Puryear is making his debut in the world of graphic novels with Concrete Park via Dark Horse Comics, which the veteran screenwriter describes as nothing short of a “sprawling” epic.
“It’s the sci-fi story I’ve been waiting to tell. It’s a perfect fit with Dark Horse Presents, the legendary anthology comic that served as a launch pad for innovative work by the biggest names in comics, including Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) and Mike Mignola (Hellboy),” he explained.
“I’m honored to be in the company of these amazing world builders, and happy Mike Richardson of Dark Horse believes Concrete Park belongs with them, [because] I love this strip.”
Any why not?
Concrete Park is a dark, dystopian and provocative near-future story. It takes place in a turbulent mega-city on a distant desert planet, so thinking of Cairo, Rio or Vegas on another world would be right on the mark. The planet, like any other good genre Dust Bowl world, is populated by human exiles from Earth who must fight to make a new life for themselves on the dusty rock, as they are “young, violent and ten billion miles from home.”
Although the official press terms Concrete Park similar to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire in terms of “ambitious scope,” I would definitely be wary of drawing any serious comparisons between such obviously disparate works and styles.
Still, if you are looking for favelas and aliens, cops and cyborgs, ghettos and gangs instead of castles and armies, well, Concrete Park might just be the graphic strip for you.
Concrete Park – which appears in Dark Horse Presents #8 – has already received positive reviews from Read About Comics.
“[Puryear’s] art… instantly grabbed [your] attention. His thick, heavy inks are striking, forming his characters with a great deal of confidence and force… Through his art, you instantly get a feel for this near-future [city]; the swagger of his characters and their surroundings just bursts off of the page.”
Dark Horse Presents #8 can be previewed here.
