One of the best comics of 2017 was Spencer & Locke, a book from Action Lab Comics by David Pepose and Jorge Santiago, Jr. I’m not alone in thinking this — it’s been nominated for five Ringo Awards this summer, including best series. Whether this adds weight is a matter of taste, but it’s also been picked up for film development. When I talked to Pepose at Los Angeles Comic Con last October, he hinted that a sequel was coming, and that it would really expand the universe of the two detectives that bear a suspicious resemblance to a beloved comic strip.
And here it is –the first issue of Spencer & Locke 2 will have a preview copy available at the Action Lab Comics booth (#2006) at Comic-Con. No doubt packed with the same excitement, twists, and surprises as the first, this one offers a bit more. Spencer and Locke will face down the dark doppelganger of another beloved comics icon — and Pepose promises there will be more to this than the previews suggest. This isn’t exactly irreverent; like what DC has been doing with some of their Hanna-Barbera properties, this is more starting over with a more adult vision that leaves the originals intact.
From Action Lab Comics:
The Ringo-nominated saga returns in SPENCER & LOCKE 2, written by David Pepose and illustrated by Jorge Santiago, Jr.! Suspended by Internal Affairs, Detective Locke continues to wrestle with the demons of his past alongside his trusty partner, his talking imaginary panther Spencer. But when Spencer and Locke face Roach Riley, a scarred former soldier set on violence and terror, will their partnership become the latest casualty on Roach’s hit list? Find out when the twisted nostalgia of Action Lab’s SPENCER & LOCKE 2 arrives in comic shops and digital devices Winter 2019, or be one of the first to enjoy the story at San Diego Comic-Con with an exclusive variant of SPENCER & LOCKE 2 #1 by artist Joe Mulvey!
“We’ve told fans from the beginning that there was a much larger universe for SPENCER & LOCKE to explore — and we’re excited to expand their world further with their latest adversary, Roach Riley,” Pepose said. “Half The Deer Hunter, half Heath Ledger’s Joker, Roach is only the beginning of Locke’s latest gauntlet, as every classic comic strip from your childhood will be fair game for parody in our action-packed sequel.”
“I think people that enjoyed the first volume will love where SPENCER & LOCKE 2 takes them,” added Santiago. “In both scale and scope, Spencer and Locke will have a lot more riding on things with Roach lurking in the shadows.”
The first volume of SPENCER & LOCKE recently earned five nominations at the 2018 Ringo Awards, including Best Series, Best Writer, Best Cover Artist, Best Colorist and Best Letterer.
In addition to running Fanboy Planet, Derek has written for ActionAce, Daily Radar, Once Upon A Dime, and The Wave. He 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 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].
