Old School Comics For An All-Ages Alterna Audience

Hey, kids, comics! And we’re not kidding. Gone may be the spinner racks of yesteryear, but alive and well are new titles from Alterna Comics that bring back the bounce and beauty of all-ages comic books.

At this year’s Baltimore Comic Con, we were able to speak with writers/artists Michael Bracco and Charles Dowd to see what books they’re currently producing through Alterna. They were happy to show that the books they crank out harken back to a time when comics were read for fun, and not coveted for a 9.8 CGC grading.

“So the first thing you should notice is that I actually have this rolled up in my back pocket. The great thing about Alterna Comics is that we’re printing them on newsprint so it’s kind of like…old school,” said Michael Bracco. Obviously a man who remembers comics before variants and the lenticular cover craze.

Michael’s book that he brought to show off was titled Adam Wreck, and it had readers follow the exploits of a space pirate and his quest for the galaxy’s greatest treasure.

Fellow creator Charles Dowd added to the volume of discussion by pointing out that his book, Lilith Dark, was also produced on newsprint (which allows for books to be priced at an affordable $1.50 each). However, Lilith Dark didn’t feature any space pirates, but rather the tagline of “eat or be eaten.”

“It’s kind of my love letter to 80s fantasy and horror films,” Dowd confessed. “When I was a kid, we would watch Friday The 13^th on the global UHF channel. It was a little different than it is today.”

Both creators talk at length about their new all-ages titles, and we encourage you to watch the above YouTube video interview to learn more about Adam Wreck and Lilith Dark, and how you can order them each at your local comic shop!