Mark Millar's New Netflix Comic, SPACE BANDITS, is a Female-Led Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Story Set in Space
Netflix and Mark Millar have announced a new comic series called Space Bandits and it actually sounds like it could be a lot of fun! It’s a female-led sci-fi story that is described as “a female Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid set in space with a massive and exciting cast of characters.”
The story will revolve around two characters named Thena Khole and Cody Blue. They are “outlaw queens who lead notorious heist gangs that hop from starship to starship taking whatever they want whenever they want it. But when both Khole and Blue are betrayed by mutineers in their own crews, the two bandits are united in their thirst for revenge.”
When talking about the new comic series to Deadline, Millar said:
“I love writing female-led stories in everything from Reborn to Empress to Hit-Girl to Jupiter’s Legacy and, of course, our recent Magic Order at Netflix also love writing big, fun sci-fi things. In a world with a billion superhero properties and gloomy, rain-soaked dystopian sci-fi, there’s a gap in the market for sci-fi that’s upbeat and fun and I wanted to combine all this into a big, high-octane story. I’ve been working on this as a property for Netflix since last summer and now I’m being joined by the brilliant Matteo Scalera for the comic-book translation of this story. The guy’s a genius and I’ve followed him for years. Having him draw this is like someone you’ve always had a crush on going out on a date with you. He’s just amazing.”
Image Comics will handle the tie-in comic book iteration of the Netflix property and artist Matteo Scalera will illustrate the space adventure series.
Space Bandits issue No. 1 will be released on July 3rd. The comic will cost $3.99, but there will be a limited edition Legends Cover Edition that will be just 75 cents, which was the standard cover price of comic books when Millar was in high school.
Along with the throwback pricing, the Legends Cover Editions will feature a cover image by an industry legend whom Millar counted among his “favorite all-time comic book artists.”
The Legends Cover Edition for issue No. 1, will feature the work of Howard Chaykin, who is best known for American Flagg!, Dominic Fortune and the first ten issues of Marvel Comics’ Star Wars adaptation series in the 1970s.
Space Bandits #1 also will be available for purchase across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.
You can find Chaykin’s cover art for issue No. 1 of Space Bandits below along with Scalera’s primary cover for the regular publication.
I imagine Netflix will be looking to adapt this comic into a new series or film just like the rest of the comic properties that Millar has been creating for them.
