Prophet turns 30 next month, and he’ll get a boost from a few comic book luminaries. The character, created by Rob Liefeld in 1992, will star in Prophet Re-Mastered No. 1, which retells the events depicted in the anti-hero’s first solo comic.
The Hollywood Reporter has a look at a number of covers created by artists such as Jim Lee, David Finch and Liefeld himself for the issue, due out from Image Comics on July 20.
“Prophet exploded onto the scene in July of 1992. Over the years, his adventures have been chronicled by the finest creatives in the comics industry,” says Liefeld in a statement. “As we continue to commemorate the occasion of his 30th anniversary with our All-Star Prophet Re-Mastered edition, we’ve added some great new versions of familiar Prophet covers as well as a few new ones that are sure to be instant classics themselves.”
Liefeld debuted Prophet in the Image Comics series Youngblood, with the character getting his own title in 1993. He is a DNA-enhanced super-soldier from the World War II era who awakens in our time after being put in cryogenic freeze for a future mission. He is akin to an anti-Captain America and lives as a fish out of water, spending his time in search of a mission that does not exist.
On the topic of Prophet Re-Mastered, Liefeld adds, “Classic Prophet covers by comic book legends Stephen Platt, Jim Lee and Joe Quesada, return with a fresh coat of paint, certain to command attention from fans who might have missed them years back. David Finch, one of comics’ most popular talents, and an early Image acolyte as well, illustrates an incredible Prophet image that I inked up, creating a first Finch Prophet for fans to consume!”
Prophet is enjoying renewed interest in recent years. Jake Gyllenhaal is attached to star in a film adaptation for Studio 8, with Extraction filmmaker Sam Hargrave to direct. The film version begins near the end of World War II, with Prophet volunteering for a German experiment to feed his family. After a bombing buries him alive and traps him underground for 20 years, he reawakens in 1965 to a world that has moved on without him. His daughter resents him, and KGB agents are after him to create super-soldiers from his blood. Jeff Robinov, John Graham, Adrian Askarieh and Liefeld produce the film.
See the new covers below.