The American Way
John Ridley, writer, Georges Jeanty & Karl Story, artists
DC/Wildstorm

SYNOPSIS
A team of superheroes in post-WW2 America that exists to inspire the public in the fight against Communism is actually fake – engineered by the government, heroes and villains alike. When the deception begins to unravel amidst the turbulent 1960’s, the Kennedy administration creates a new hero to appeal to a new America – one who is secretly black.

QUOTABLE
John Ridley at Newsarama:
“The set-up is that there are Southern heroes and Northern heroes — and the easy thing to do would have been to say, ‘OK, the Southern heroes are all bigots and the Northern heroes are all very heroic and liberal.’ But the reality is that race relations are far more complicated than that. And the nice thing is, coming into this book — aside from the superheroics and those kind of things that make graphic novels and comic books so much fun — the idea was figuratively and literally to have heroes that are different aspects of America…

“The New American comes into it and is like, ‘I don’t really want to stand up.’ Which I think is an aspect of black America. You know, those who will sort of mouth off and complain, but do they ever really take a stand? Do they ever really stand up for anything? And that’s his hero’s journey, being a self-reliant black man. Also, it was very important for me to put into this story… it’s great fun and it’s a great opportunity to write any comic book. But when you have this opportunity, maybe once in your life, to do something really special and different… I really wanted to use it as a velvet hammer. I wanted people to enjoy the book, and not feel like they’re getting a finger wave in the face, but for the individuals who read it to say, ‘Ah, OK. There’s more going on here.’”

SAMPLE REVIEW
“Ridley’s densely packed action-thriller plot zooms along in tandem with his jabs at the racism and xenophobia that underscored the myth of Camelot. He literalizes the era’s ideological conflicts as costumed brawls; the story culminates in a series of enormous fight scenes and a touch of nuclear terror, all set into motion when the New American goes after a serial killer who has attacked a bus full of Freedom Riders. Georges Jeanty and Karl Story’s slick, bright artwork is mostly in generic superhero-comic mode, which allows Ridley to pile up his satirical double meanings with a straight face — a Human Torch-style, flame-covered quasi-Klansman is called Southern Cross.” – Douglas Wolk, Washington Post

ABOUT JOHN RIDLEY (from his blog)
John Ridley is a multi-faceted talent in film, television, and publishing. The author of three highly regarded novels and a former producer on NBC’s Third Watch, he wrote and produced the film Undercover Brother, conceived the story for Three Kings, and wrote and directed Cold Around the Heart. His critically acclaimed novel Stray Dogs was made into the movie U-Turn, directed by Oliver Stone. In addition, he is also a regular commentator for National Public Radio.

ABOUT GEORGES JEANTY (from his website)
Georges Jeanty was born in Brooklyn, New York, raised near the sunny beaches of Miami, Florida, and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. After majoring in the Fine Arts , at Miami-Dade University, he considered a career in acting, but decided to use his artistic talent to pursue a career as a commercial artist. Inspired by the comics he read as a kid – superhero icons like Luke Cage and Blade – he made comic books his focus. His artist influences includes John Bryne, Michael Golden, Alan Davis, and others. His first break in comics was Paradigm #1 (1994) published by Caliber Comics. Soon after, he worked on some of the bad girl books at London Night Studios. Laying his artistic hands on various London Night characters such as Poizon, Stryke and Razor, he was, consequently, arrested, arraigned and acquitted. This led to his work with other underground comic publishers, plus a stint as a resident artist at Gaijin Studios.

And what a call! Georges was asked to audition for, and later offered, the monthly comic Bishop: The Last X-Man. His earlier Marvel work also included a Gambit mini-series (also an X-Man) and Deadpool – the “merc with a mouth” who is not an X-Man, but still a mutant! After receiving rave reviews for his stint on Deadpool, Georges continued his mutant-mania with Weapon X and another Gambit project – this time as an ongoing monthly comic series.

In addition to being an incredibly charming artist, Georges is a man of many hats – adventurer, scholar, Prince aficionado, sometimes table dancer, and all around nice guy. But above all these talents “Comic Artist” best fits our man of mirth, mystery and intrigue!

Georges just recently completed The American Way – an 8 issue mini-series written by Hollywood screen-writer John Ridley, and is currently working day and night with Joss Whedon on a new Buffy: The Vampire Slayer comic book published by Dark Horse Comics.

LINKS
John Ridley blog
Georges Jeanty website
Wildstorm