The Resistance Universe: The Origins Format: Paperback

In March 2020, amid Covid-19 lockdowns, AWA launched a bold new universe for the 21st Century with J. Michael Straczynski & Mike Deodato Jr.’s The Resistance, in which “Reborns” gain incredible powers in the wake of a global pandemic. Other creators followed with series such as E-Ratic, Knighted, and The Joneses. Now, for the first time, we are collecting each of the initial chapters in this super-sized collection.

In a world facing ever-changing 21st century threats, hope—and danger—arrives with the superpowered Reborns…welcome to AWA’s shared universe!

A global pandemic kills millions of people worldwide before suddenly—and mysteriously—vanishing. In the aftermath, a small percentage of survivors spawn a new race of superhumans around the globe. Known as Reborns, these superpowered individuals must choose sides in a new world order where fear and fascism are rising threats. Select powered individuals form The Resistance, an underground force formed to fight against increasing tyranny in the U.S. and across the globe.

Straczynski has worked in every medium except poetry, at which he sucks. His film credits include five films that collectively earned over a billion dollars: Changeling for Clint Eastwood, Thor for Kenneth Branagh, Ninja Assassin, Underworld Awakening, and World War Z. He has written over 300 produced episodes and seven TV movies, and has been a creator/show-runner for such series as Babylon 5, Jeremiah, Crusade, and, most recently, Sense8 for Netflix. His comics have sold over 13 million issues, including stints on Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man, Thor, Fantastic Four, and others. His Superman: Earth One graphic novels for DC Comics consistently appeared on the NY Times Bestseller List. His creator-owned titles include Midnight Nation, Dream Police, and Rising Stars. He currently heads the creative council for the comics publishing company AWA (Artists, Writers and Artisans) and his first title, The Resistance, debuted in 2020 with several additional titles scheduled for 2021. He was nominated for a Best Screen Writing BAFTA (British Academy Award) for Changeling, and has received the Eisner Award, the Inkpot Lifetime Achievement Award, the Hugo Award (twice), the SDCC International Icon Award, the Saturn Award, the Ray Bradbury Award, the Christopher Foundation Award, the E Pluribus Unum Award from the American Cinema Foundation, two technical Emmy’s for Babylon 5, the GLAAD Media Award, and dozens of others. His autobiography, Becoming Superman, was published in hardcover by HarperCollins Voyager in 2019 to glowing reviews in the Washington Post, New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, the Los Angeles Review of Books and the Wall Street Journal. He holds two Bachelor Degrees, one in Clinical Psychology and another in Sociology, and teaches Advanced Scriptwriting in the MFA program at San Diego State University. Finally, as a former journalist, he has written over 500 published articles while working for the The San Diego Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, TIME Inc, Writer's Digest, The Daily Californian and other newspapers and magazines. He lives in Los Angeles and likes it a lot.
 

Kaare (rhymes with Atari) is the only director in the world working simultaneously in comics, film and TV.

The first recipient of Canada's award for comics, "The Shuster", his work on Marvel's SPIDER MAN: REIGN was named one of the “Top 25 Spider-Man Stories Of All Time” and "Top 10 Must-Read Spider-Man Stories."

His film, SNIPER: ASSASSIN’S END was released in summer of 2020 for Sony and hit #1 on iTunes. Some of his TV credits include V WARS for Netflix, VAN HELSING, AFTERMATH for SyFy, the live action pilot SIBLINGS for Cartoon Network, and MECH X-4 for Disney. Kaare has been featured in Vice, USA Today and Hollywood Reporter.
 

Gregg Hurwitz is the New York Times, #1 internationally bestselling author of 22 thrillers,
including the Orphan X series, and two award-winning thriller novels for teens. His novels have won numerous literary awards, graced top ten lists, and have been published in 33 languages. Gregg has written screenplays for or sold spec scripts to many of the major studios (including THE BOOK OF HENRY), and written, developed, and produced television for various networks. He is also a New York Times bestselling comic book writer, having penned stories for Marvel (Wolverine, Punisher) and DC (Batman, Penguin) before joining the creative council and writing for AWA Studios. He has published numerous academic articles on Shakespeare, taught fiction writing in the USC English Department, and guest lectured for UCLA, and for Harvard in the United States and internationally. In the course of researching his thrillers, he has sneaked onto demolition ranges with Navy SEALs, swum with sharks in the Galápagos, and gone undercover into mind-control cults. Currently, Gregg is actively working to end polarization in politics and on college campuses. To that end, he’s produced several hundred commercials which got over a hundred million views on digital TV platforms. His editorial pieces have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Bulwark, and others.

CP Smith is known for his rigid art and gritty detail. His style is inspired by artists like, Tomm Coker, Katsuhiro Otomo, Bill Sienkiewicz, Kevin Nowlan, and Chris Sprouse. Typically, he uses excessive amounts of photo reference for his art, drawing inspiration for character faces from his personal friends.