A bad cop suffers a “psychic head wound” and finds himself stuck in the middle of a battle between heaven and hell. For an actor/producer who’s made a name for himself in one of the world’s biggest film franchises, it’s a perfect idea to create a new franchise for himself. Or at least one heck of a strong genre film that gives him a chance to play a little more complicated than he could in a galaxy far, far away.
Through his production company Mad Gene, Isaac teamed with childhood friends to create the story that would become Head Wounds: Sparrow. With the auspices of Legendary Comics, he and his friends got comics creators to come onboard and do the graphic novel — all the pieces are in place to generate excitement before going ahead with a film production. That’s not cynicism here at Fanboy Planet; that’s reality, and it’s a smart move. It may be a long time before live-action films make it through the production pipeline, and in the meantime, comics are the right way to get the story in front of people.
Here’s the full Legendary Comics panel:
And here’s the press release from Legendary Comics:
At today’s Comic-Con@Home panel, Legendary Comics announced a thrilling new original graphic novel, Head Wounds: Sparrow, from creator Bob Johnson, with story by John Alvey, and developed by Oscar Isaac (Show Me A Hero; the Star Wars franchise; Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Dune) for his production company Mad Gene, and Jason Spire, available in stores and online in Early 2021. Leo Guidry is a bad person and an even worse cop. When he suffers a psychic head wound, his life on the edge slips into spiritual warfare. In a landscape of angels, devils, and everything in between, can a person utterly devoid of empathy find a way to overcome the forces of darkness that have infiltrated his reality? This is the world of Head Wounds: Sparrow.
During the panel, the creative team—including childhood friends Isaac, Johnson, and Alvey—discussed the deeply personal origin of the Head Wounds story. When diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma and as a way to cope, Johnson turned to his passion of writing and created the character of Leo. Inspired by a dream, Johnson conceived the supernatural affliction that haunts Leo throughout the story and forces him to face his own past trauma and lack of empathy. Head Wounds features an original world with compelling mythology created by Johnson and Alvey that will instantly draw in readers.
“Head Wounds: Sparrow is an exceptionally powerful tale as it draws from the creators’ own life experiences, as well as their passion for the medium,” said Robert Napton, Senior Vice President of Legendary Comics. “Sometimes things come together so effortlessly, and this is one of those projects.”
“Bob Johnson has a mind and a soul like no one else,” said Isaac. “Our friendship and creative collaboration has spanned nearly three decades. I couldn’t be more excited to bring his unique and singular vision of Head Wounds: Sparrow to life with the incredible group of artists we’ve assembled.”
Head Wounds: Sparrow is written by New York Times’ best-selling writer Brian Buccellato (Legendary Comics’ POKÉMON: Detective Pikachu and Lost in Space: Countdown to Danger; DC Comics’ Flash and Injustice) and will feature art by Christian Ward (Invisible Kingdom; ODY-C; Marvel’s Black Bolt).
Fans tuning into Comic-Con@Home are invited to join the comic creators and the Legendary Comics team, Robert Napton, Jann Jones, and Nikita Kannekanti, as they discuss and share exclusive looks at upcoming projects including: Rob, the modern day retelling of the classic tale Robin Hood, available digitally on Webtoon in Fall 2020; the visionary young adult (YA) titles: The Heart Hunter, Lupina, and Championess, set for release in 2021; the newly announced original noir graphic novel Head Wounds: Sparrow, from actor Oscar Isaac; and the supernatural thrillers: Bram Stoker’s Dracula starring iconic film and stage actor Bela Lugosi and the special 10th anniversary deluxe hard copy graphic novel Trick ‘r Treat collection, both coming to stores and online in October 2020.
