Prepare to see Santa Claus, Rudolph, Ebenezer Scrooge and a host of other festive pop culture favorites in a weird and wonderful new light. Hundreds of thousands of people know Bill Corbett from his days starring in ‘Mystery Science Theatre 3000’ and, now back in the limelight, his twisted and witty imagination produces a new dark comedy in comic book form for the Holiday season. But there’s also a semi-serious message – nudging readers to value the magic of storytelling and embrace the spirit of Christmas however it works for them.
Minneapolis, MN -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/06/2014 -- Thousands have wondered what happened to the stars of ‘Mystery Science Theatre 3000’, a cult television show that aired for eleven seasons up until 1999. They haven’t been hiding! In fact, many of the cast members have since collaborated to form RiffTrax – producing hilarious commentaries to popular movies that are simulcast to over six-hundred movie theatres four times a year. But Hollywood creations are not all they are tearing up; Bill Corbett (Crow T. Robot) is now venturing into the world of comic books to retell the Christmas story as it’s never been told before.
It’s hard to pigeonhole ‘Super Powered Revenge Christmas’ into any single genre. This darkly-comedic and gritty comic book gathers a host of pop culture Christmas characters, turns them into ret-conned versions of their former selves and throws them all into a comic book superhero story that needs more than just snow and reindeers to find the perfect festive ending.
Synopsis:
SUPER-POWERED REVENGE CHRISTMAS is a humorous retelling of the Christmas story with the heroes and villains of pop culture Christmas re-imagined as comic book superheroes. Included in the book are ret-conned versions of Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Ebenezer Scrooge, and many others, all redone as gritty comic book characters.
This is all woven into an overarching story about the writer of this crazy new comic book battling his artist (and sometimes-girlfriend) for the right Christmas ending, as they recount the story to a pub full of barflies on a snowy Christmas Eve night. This epic volume, funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign, is illustrated by artist Len Peralta, known for his "Geek A Week" series of cards and interviews.
“I tried to make this an entirely new way of looking at Christmas, reimagining the whole danged holiday comic book-style,” explains Corbett. “I wanted to to be a rip-roaring superhero tale across the festive spectrum that comes at a time when many people have had enough of the season’s traditional stories. Like a lot of folks, I've been entranced and inspired over the years by these timeless stories we see every year during this season, but I also feel cynical about how hyped up they've become in the service of selling stuff. So this is my way of telling a satirical but ultimately heartfelt story using the Christmas icons of our culture. If it's a bit twisted and irreverent along the way, but so be it! Christmas should be fun.”
The book is expected to become a cult classic in its own right, with almost one thousand fans of Corbett and his peers’ work coming together to fund the project through Kickstarter.
“We needed $23,000 to be able to complete the project, illustrate it and release it across multiple platforms. Thankfully we met that goal plus more, and that crowdfunding secured us hundreds of pre-orders. It has been booming ever since. But we'd love to reach an audience beyond our core fans. We think this comic will appeal to anyone who knows pop culture, loves a good laugh, and would like something fresh for Christmas besides a new fruitcake recipe.” he adds.
‘Super-Powered Revenge Christmas’ is available now: http://www.superpoweredrevengechristmas.com
For more information on RiffTrax, visit: http://www.rifftrax.com
About Bill Corbett
Bill Corbett is a principal writer and performer for RiffTrax.com, and formerly for the cult TV show “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” providing voice and puppetry for the robot Crow; as well as playing the all-powerful but clueless alien The Observer (a.k.a. “Brain Guy”) and occasional other strange characters. Corbett is also a screenwriter and award-winning playwright whose works have been produced all over the U.S.A. and internationally, plus a contributing writer/performer for the public radio show “Wits.” Bill lives in Minneapolis with his wife Virginia and their two super-genius children.