Vault Comics has announced The Blue Flame, a new superhero maxi-series from writer Christopher Cantwell (Iron Man, Doctor Doom, Halt and Catch Fire), artist Adam Gorham (Punk Mambo, New Mutants, The Violent), colorist Kurt Michael Russell (Money Shot, The Plot, Brandon Sanderson’s Dark One), letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (Black Stars Above, Engineward), and designer Tim Daniel. Check out a preview of the book below.
The Blue Flame is a cosmic hero. The Blue Flame is a DIY vigilante that fights crime on the streets of Milwaukee. The Blue Flame is a blue-collar HVAC repairman named SAM BRAUSAM. In the wake of a horrific tragedy, the boundaries of the Blue Flame’s identity blur even further. Now, before a universal trial, the Blue Flame must prove that humanity is worth saving. But in order to do that, Sam Brausam has to save himself. Can he?
“Contrary to what Adam’s incredible cosmic art might suggest, the concept of Blue Flame was actually born out of a real feeling of helplessness,” said Cantwell. “So far the 21st century has provided some truly intense and infinitely complex tragedy that I believe challenges the very idea of what it means to be human, let alone superhuman. Personally—in the face of so much compounding unprecedented anxiety and strife—I’ve recently been in full retreat mode culturally as an adult. I have found myself dreaming of farther and farther away places, and escaping into the more and more fantastical, if just for some way to stay sane. That’s because the truth remains that we are all struggling in a very difficult contemporary reality with all sorts of seemingly insurmountable problems that don’t seem to be easily solved by anything.“
Superhero story…or not.
Vault Comic‘s Editor-in-Chief, Adrian Wassel, added, “The Blue Flame is either the truest superhero story I’ve read, or it’s not a superhero story at all. Maybe that sounds ridiculous, but it’s that dichotomy that drew me to The Blue Flame in the first place, and made it fit so well within Vault’s catalogue. The series is, really, the life of a man split between three realities played out in triptych. It is also a trial story. A trial for all of humanity, where flying around and shooting flames won’t do our hero (or us!) much good; and instead, we’d all rather have a seasoned litigator ready to defend us. No matter which way you slice it, The Blue Flame is science fiction of the most ambitious variety. Most days, I don’t think of it as a superhero story at all. Other days, if you asked me what story most carefully handles the question—What does it mean to save humanity?—I’d say The Blue Flame. And isn’t that the whole point of a superhero?”
The Blue Flame #1 comic shops in May 2021, and will debut with a special Vault Vintage cover from Nathan Gooden and Tim Daniel that pays homage to Dave Stevens’ legendary cover to Rocketeer Adventure Magazine #1.
Pre-Order The Blue Flame #1 now from Amazon & Comixology
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