Take a slabbed comic and put a stake through its heart? Bad idea. So bad that only Bad Idea could come up with it as a way to actually increase the comic’s value. As Cul-de-Sac writer Mike Carey puts it, “This is what happens when creative insanity meets professional enabling. I’m just glad no one lost a finger.”
Only 36 stores will have access to this legitimately CGC graded edition of Cul-de-Sac #1. After a too-long absence, Carey returns to comics with artist Jonathan Wayshak to put a spin on vampires that feels one part Runaways and one part Desperate Housewives. But that only means I’m in. (Will I get the collectible version? It’s so silly to me I just might try.)
“At BAD IDEA, we believe comics should be dangerous—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The CUL-DE-SAC #1 Impaled Edition isn’t just a comic, it’s a pointed statement. A stake through the heart of the mundane. A rejection of the idea that comics should sit quietly and untouched. It’s beautiful vandalism. It’s what happens when a comic refuses to die. A jagged reminder on the power of our ink on paper industry. The last of its kind. The one that refuses to die. The one that might just bite back,” said BAD IDEA Creative Operations Director Brockton McKinney. “And yes, CGC really graded it.”
When the publisher started, Bad Idea felt more like a lifestyle choice than a smart business plan. I’ve said as much to some of their team. Yet I admit when I’m terrifically wrong. This past year they’ve taken their infamy and upped their game in terms of books that sound can’t miss. (They always sounded that way, but now they’re actually making it easier to actually find the books.)
Bringing Carey (Lucifer, X-Men) back got my attention. And Cul-de-Sac looks creepy yes but fun, thank you. Bad Idea describes the series this way:
What lurking evil lies hidden at the end of the cul-de-sac?
Nestled in a tucked-away corner of sleepy suburbia, the Kingsley, Herriman and Ortega families seemed like any other close-knit neighbors. So nothing seems amiss when Mrs. Kingsley piles all the neighborhood kids into the family RV for their annual summer camp-out. But in the dark of the woods, she unleashes a grisly, bloodcurdling display, revealing their families’ shocking secret—their parents are vampires and they’re eager to pass on their legacy.
Now the children must choose—to join them and revel in their awesome dark powers or live out their lives as mortals. But when they return home, they confront a gruesome scene—their parents dead on the floor, brutally murdered by an elite squad of vampire hunters. And the hunters? They’re looking to finish the job. Now the kids are on the run, chased by vampire hunters, the police, and even a shadowy cabal of their fellow vampires as they search for answers to unlock the secret of what they really are before their fates are sealed forever.
As for the staked CGC slab:
The monster idea spawned from some hard-hitting, essential questions: If a human can become a vampire, does that mean an animal could, too? Like, what if a dog or a cat was bit, would it become a vampire? And what about inanimate objects? Can a chair become a vampire? Can a comic book!?! If a comic book becomes a vampire, how do you kill it?! I guess you’d have to slab it and then stab a stake through the slab.
And that’s how the CGC-graded CUL-DE-SAC #1 Impaled Edition came to life… or undeath.
This blood-soaked collectible masterpiece turned fine art installation took the two companies seven months and required solving a very serious engineering challenge: how to drive a stake through a CGC holder without cracking the case or shattering it into a million pieces.
The result? A limited run of 36 certifiably-cursed and stake-pierced comic books, each a one-of-a-kind art piece that sits upright when leaned against the stake and featuring:
An ultra-rare edition of CUL-DE-SAC #1
A handcrafted wooden vampire stake perfectly stabbed through the slab
A splash of Hollywood special-effects wizard-crafted gore
Two tiny vampire bite marks that are evident in every copy
CGC certification and grading intact (somehow)
Behind the madness: a three-person team of engineers, a 30-year veteran woodworker, and a Hollywood special effects artist came together to meticulously create each one. What they’ve created is more than a collectible—it’s a statement. One that says: “We’re not afraid to ruin a comic book in the name of vanquishing all that is unholy.”
I’m all for vanquishing all that is unholy. The 48-page Cul-de-Sac #1 retails for $5.99 and hits stores on August 6. FOC is June 30, so excuse me while I adjust my order at House of Secrets.
Founded in 2020, BAD IDEA is the last and greatest underground comics publisher. Committed to pushing the boundaries of excellence in the medium and industry, BAD IDEA produces only A-level comics storytelling from the medium’s leading talents in a prestige-format package. Breaking onto the scene with the explosive and hotly sought after secret drop of THE HERO TRADE, BAD IDEA followed up with a series of smash hit slates featuring titles like ENIAC, PYRATE QUEEN, THE ENDS, THE LOT and TANKERS among many others. Earning widespread acclaim, multiple sellouts and allocations, BAD IDEA continues to set the standard and then raise it.
With fans lining up outside shops overnight, funding record-setting crowdfunding campaigns, and jamming convention aisles, BAD IDEA is more than just comics. It’s an all-in lifestyle commitment to the best and most exciting name in comics today.
For more information, visit Bad Idea online at BadIdeaCorp.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or just mash the screen with your palm and do all four simultaneously.
In addition to running Fanboy Planet, Derek has contributed stories to Arcana Comics (The Greatest American Hero) and Monsterverse Comics (Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave). He has performed with ComedySportz, City Lights Theater Company and Silicon Valley Shakespeare, though relocated to Hollywood to... work in an office? If you ever played Eric's Ultimate Solitaire on the Macintosh, it was Derek's voice as The Weasel that urged you to play longer. You can buy his book "I Was Flesh Gordon" on the Amazon link at the right. Email him at [email protected].
