Brooklyn is home to many comic creators, being just around the corner from many of the publishers. Brooklyn is also home to many superheroes, and it’s just got a few more. Dean Haspiel, the late Seth Kushner, Shamus Beyale, Vito Delsante, and Ricardo Venancio, collectively known as Studio Hang Dai in Brooklyn, are bringing us a whole new universe of heroes with New Brooklyn.
“As a native New Yorker, I’ve always loved the idea of creating a comic universe that captures the history and culture that is unique to Brooklyn,” says Dean Haspiel, the architect of New Brooklyn and the creator of The Red Hook and co-creator of The Purple Heart. “I’m very proud of the story we have been able to weave through our individual heroes and we are excited to launch New Brooklyn on LINE Webtoon.”
“Brooklyn is a major part of the current pop culture zeitgeist, but there is not yet a comic series out there that truly represents the borough and the people who live there,” said JunKoo Kim, Founder and Head of LINE Webtoon. “We are looking forward to bringing the unique and colorful alternate reality of New Brooklyn that Dean Haspiel and his fellow artists have created to life on LINE Webtoon.”
The borough has become sentient and seceded from New York state after having its heart broken, leading to upheaval for its citizens. In comes three new heroes to keep the peace in the living, breathing New Brooklyn from Hang Dai and digital comic distributor LINE Webtoons.
The Red Hook, named after the borough, by Dean Haspiel, is a former thief who unexpectedly gains superpowers and vows to protect the citizens of New Brooklyn.
Brooklyn’s master thief, Sam Brosia aka The Red Hook, can no longer lie, cheat, or steal when America’s greatest champion bequeaths him the powers and moral burden of the Omni-Fist of Altruism– against his will!
The Brooklynite, originally created by the late Seth Kushner and Shamus Beyale, is a comic artist turned superhero when he also unexpectedly gains superpowers. The Brooklynite is to be Kushner’s last published work, and has been created as close to his intentions as possible.
Brooklyn cartoonist, Jake Jeffries gets caught in the fallout of two super-humans battling and is accidentally irradiated with superpowers. Fraught with “Superman powers and Spider-Man problems,” Jake learns to fight crime in his secret identity as The Brooklynite, and chronicles his adventures in a comic book series while struggling to lead a dual existence.
The Purple Heart, by Vito Delsante and Ricardo Venancio, is a former soldier and New Brooklyn’s chosen cosmic guardian.
US Navy soldier, Isaiah “Zeke” Nelson has returned from war overseas. He is done fighting and all he wants is to go home to Brooklyn. But Brooklyn has other plans when her heart is broken and she secedes from America and selects Zeke to become New Brooklyn’s cosmic guardian, The Purple Heart.
The New Brooklyn universe launches in March 2016 with its first title, The Red Hook only on webtoons.com.
