Section Zero
| Section Zero | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Image Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing (Cancelled After Three Issues) |
| Publication date | June – September 2000 |
| Number of issues | 3 |
| Main character(s) |
Sam Wildman Dr. Titania Challenger Tesla Thom Talesi Sargasso |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Karl Kesel |
| Penciller(s) | Tom Grummett |
| Inker(s) | Karl Kesel |
| Creator(s) | Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett |
Section Zero is an American comic book series, published in 2000 by Gorilla Comics, a minor comic book company that also acted as an imprint of Image Comics. It was written by Karl Kesel with artwork provided by Tom Grummett.
The series featured a fictional covert organization working for the United Nations. Their mission being the investigation and containment of unexplained phenomena from around the world.
At its start Section Zero was intended to be an ongoing series, but due to financial problems experienced by Gorilla Comics, only three issues were published.
Publication history
The three issues of Section Zero that were published were dated June 2000, July 2000 and September 2000. A fourth issue was solicited, but was never published.[1] Gorilla Comics was intended to be a creator owned company financed by a comics related website, eHero.com.[2] The website proved to be a financial failure, leaving the creators to personally finance their own books. Along with the other Gorilla Comics creators, Kesel and Grummett attempted to continue the series they started, but these efforts proved to be unsuccessful.[3] In January 2012, Kesel announced that he and Grummett would be relaunching Section Zero as a webcomic on the Mad Genius Comics website.[4][5] The previously published stories are being posted on the site and new material will be added as it is completed.[6]
Characters
- Sam Wildman the team's field leader.
- Dr. Titania Challenger the last living member of a family of scientific adventurers. She is also Sam Wildman's ex-wife.
- Tesla a childlike alien who pilots the team's flying saucer. Tesla has no memory of his life before he began working for Section Zero.
- Thom Talesi an American teenager of Asian descent. Tom has a magical tattoo that allows him to transform into an insect-like being for a twenty-four-hour period.
- A. J. Keeler the group's leader. Keeler secretly also leads the Ghost Soldiers, a second covert group that may or may not be working against the best interests of Section Zero.
- Sargasso a reptilian being who worked for Section Zero in the 1960s and 1970s only to be found in the present.
Plot synopsis
Issue #1
After rescuing Thom Talesi from a murderous mob in the Southeast Asian country Siatok, Sam Wildman, Titania Challenger and Tesla recruit him onto Section Zero.
Shortly after returning to the abandoned Air Force base that serves as Section Zero's HQ, the team is sent to investigate a series of livestock killings in Australia. After they leave, A. J. Keeler contacts the Ghost Soldiers and orders them to follow.
Issue #2
The team discovers and rescues Sargasso from a cave inside Ayers Rock. Not long after this they find themselves in a fight with a saber-toothed tiger that ends when it drags Titania Challenger though a portal shaped like a ring of fire.
Issue #3
Attempting to seek the Ring of Fire, the team journeys to its last known stable location, the abandoned subway tunnels beneath New York City. There they face the forces of the Rat King. After defeating their foes, the team is confronted by the Ghost Soldiers.
Issue #4
Although it was never released, issue #4 had a brief plot teaser at the bottom of issue #3's letters page:
| “ | Doc Challenger fights alone in a forgotten land of monsters, myths and legend -- uncovering an important clue to the unexplained phenomena that haunts our world. But will she live to use it? Also: is she friend or foe? Introducing the fiery femme fatale known as -- Lava! | ” |
Footnotes
- ↑ Section Zero at the Grand Comics Database Project
- ↑ Yarbrough, Beau (December 28, 2000). "State of the (Ape) Nation: How Healthy is Gorilla?". ComicBookResources.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ↑ Dean, Michael (June 8, 2001). "The Case of the Disappearing Gorilla: The Banana Trust Explains How Not to Start a Comics Line". The Comics Journal #234. Fantagraphics Books. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ↑ Parkin, JK (January 3, 2012). "Kesel and Grummett's Section Zero returns as a webcomic". ComicBookResources.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ↑ Kesel, Karl (January 2, 2012). "Back to ZERO!". MadGeniusComics.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ↑ Kesel, Karl; Grummett, Tom (2012). "Archive for Section Zero". MadGeniusComics.com. Retrieved March 4, 2012.