Frederick man’s superhero creation leaps into his own comic
Originally published February 01, 2008
Source: Frederick News Post

Adam Behsudi
News-Post Staff

Beware villains. The Fist of Justice has returned to Charm City.

The superhero has work to do — mainly regaining his superpowers — before he can take his rightful place as the guardian of a city loosely based on Baltimore.

But, despite his 30-year absence, the Fist isn’t depressed, dark or brooding like many current comic book heroes.

“There’s a lot of real world elements in comics now,” said Mike Imboden, co-creator of the character now featured in a comic distributed worldwide and assistant manager at Beyond Comics.

“We’re trying to take comics back to being fun again,” he said.

The Frederick resident said there’s nothing wrong with a moody and complex protagonist, but he wanted to revive the styles from another comic book era.

“The stuff we read was 70s-era comics,” Imboden said. “We wanted to get back to what we read as kids.”

“The Fist of Justice” was born from an idea between Imboden and friend Ed Dukeshire, the owner of Digital Webbing Press. The company publishes other titles including “Bloodrayne,” a comic inspired by a popular vampire-themed video game.

Imboden is having a release party at Beyond Comics on Feb. 8.

The main character, only known to readers as the Fist of Justice, is back after a “mysterious absence.” Upon his homecoming he must defeat an impostor who has absorbed his power and is dealing his own version of heavy-handed vigilante justice on the city.

“Now, he’s back to prominence,” Imboden said.

In the first issue, the two characters battle it out in Charm City. The Fist is seemingly outmatched by his powerful enemy.

He said he hopes the next issue will be out by early April. Future issues may even mention or take place in a town resembling Frederick called Key City, Imboden said.

Although meant to be lighthearted, the Fist of Justice is a character who struggles and has his own tortured past. But Imboden describes him as a good guy. He just wants to make things right.

Imboden wrote the story with creative help from Dukeshire. The drawings for the comic were done by an artist in Brazil. Imboden said it’s usually cheaper to use foreign artists, but their skills are at the same level of those in America.

He said they often find artists through the Internet. A writer will send the story with descriptions of scenes. The drawings then come back in black-and-white and are later colored.

“That’s the marriage of a comic,” Imboden said. “The writing and an artistic style.”

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