Stephen Colbert can now check "create comic book series" off of his to-do list. Before that he's successfully branded a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor (mmm...Americone Dream), had a minor-league hockey team mascot named after him (Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle), nearly had a Hungarian bridge named after him and...might as well credit him for getting the bald eagle off the endangered species list, too.
As for the comic book, EW has more on Stephen Colbert's inner-geek project, Tek Jansen. Those familiar with Colbert have already heard this name, he's the hero in the book that he mentions on the Report. Well now you can get your hands on a copy (instead of reading of Tek's adventures online), and rest assured that Colbert is really the co-creator...but you can call him "Galactic Overlord".
There are five issues, the first of which features two stories and will be available for purchase on July 11th. EW gives us a clue as to what's in the pages:
The main serialized story...follows the intergalactic war Tek sets off when he assassinates a leader of a benevolent alien race called Optiklons. They've offered to give the citizens of Alphalon-7 ''stupefyingly sophisticated technology, capable of permanently eradicating hunger, greed, suffering and unhappiness'' — if the Aphalons agree to donate one micro-percentage of their surplus energy reserves to a less fortunate planet. It's easy to understand why Tek doesn't trust the Optiklon: ''Think about it. In a world where everybody's cared for, how could you be treated better than the next guy?''
The writers say that Colbert wasn't exactly a lazy editor (no surprise there) and, in fact, injected much of his own insight and humor in to the stories ("there's quite a bit of back-and-forth because I think Stephen Colbert is a geek'') and even having approval on the artwork (that guy Tek sure looks vaguely familiar). Each issue also comes with a secondary tale in the form of "an independent, self-contained case file that forces Tek to go undercover." You can check out a few pages for yourself, here. If you just want to catch him in his natural tv habitat, check out Ben Sisario's article about waiting in line for shows that film in New York to get some tips.
