According to series creator Dan Harmon, the first-season DVD set of Community (due September 21) will come with a 12-page Kickpuncher comic, reviving the hero whose cyber-punches have the power of kicks for an all-new adventure, one that's far outside the realm of more traditional punches.
Harmon, who worked with writing partner Rob Schrab on the independent comic Scud: The Disposable Assassin in the ’90s, tells Entertainment Weekly that he got the idea for a Kickpuncher book when he “remembered” that he had connections in that world. Among those connections: Jim Mahfood (Grrl Scouts, Stupid Comics, Clerks), who agreed to draw a tale “written” by Donald Glover’s Community character Troy Barnes. Yep, even the Community swag is meta. Harmon explains:
The idea is that [Troy] was in an art class with Jim Mahfood — who I’ve known for a long time — who’s a really cool underground, yet successful, comic book artist and muralist. The idea is that he’s an art student at Greendale and had an art class with Troy, who took a shine to his talents and decided to take him under his wing as a protégé and do this comic book. So it’s from the mind of Troy Barnes, which can be a little scattered. At times he’s not a master storyteller, but he is an entertainer. [Laughs] So it’s six pages of satisfying content, which does feature Annie and Britta in a typical comic book situation, which is scantily clad and in jeopardy. And it, of course, features Kickpuncher, who is at the whim of Troy and Abed because they’re so cool.
We’re well aware that you all stopped paying attention right around the words “scantily clad,” so let's just try to wrap this up real quick. Harmon says the plotline of Kickpuncher will involve a story where “the study group falls into peril and Troy and Abed are their only hope and they use Kickpuncher to get the job done and form a new relationship with each other that promises for great things down the road,” and that he’s hoping this may even lead to future Kickpuncher books, such as “a 25-20 page Kickpuncher comic book written by Troy and/or Abed. Or maybe other characters taking turns at writing storylines to get revenge on Troy’s storyline.”
All in all, Harmon sees it as the first step toward creating “multiple Community outlets for expression…not unlike The Simpsons.” If you’re attending Comic-Con this year, don’t forget that you can attend a Community panel hosted by The A.V. Club’s own Todd VanDerWerff this Saturday, where you can ask Harmon and the cast questions like, “What are some of the other outlets for expression you’d like to explore?” and “Could one of them be a video game called The Search For Annie’s Boobs?” and “Annie’s booooooobs!!!” before security can get to the microphone.