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“Comics helped Steve through some tough times growing up and he turned his love of the medium into a comic shop business,” said writer Gary Scott Beatty. “In Number One we see whether operating the business is worth the toll it takes on his family.”
Returning to comic book illustration in Number One is Aaron Warner, whose Adventures of Aaron comics became a critically acclaimed newspaper strip that ran for over 10 years, was read by over six million newspaper subscribers, and garnered a Rueben Award nomination from the National Cartoonist Society.
“Aaron understood the comic book guy in Number One like I think most of us will understand him,” said Beatty. “We don’t have to be comic shop owners to relate to someone who loves comic books. The adventure, the history, the hope and passion comics inspire inform our every day lives.”
Small business owners will also feel for Steve, said Beatty. “I think we’re all more informed about how difficult it is to operate a local business these days, since the recession of 2008.”
American media offers a distorted view of comic book readers, said Beatty. “I enjoy the goofy actors on television, but few of the people I know who read comics are like that. I set out to write a story that, in an personal way, can explain to those outside our community why we love comics.”
Steve’s tale brings readers through decades of comic book history. Also included in Number One’s 32 pages is a short Guide to Illustrated Stories. “I put comics in historical context, from Gilgamesh, to The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck, to Free Comic Book Day. Number One is a complete package explaining, in an entertaining way, our hobby and our passion for it.”
Art and story samples, and video previews, can be seen at http://garyscottbeatty.com/
Number One can be ordered from July 2014’s Previews catalog under Aazurn Publishing, Diamond Code JUL140749.
