Billionaire Marcus King is as deadly as he is rich. Considered a modern-day Robin Hood by some and a terrorist and deserter by others, King is at the center of Bankshot, a new creator-owned Dark Horse Comics series by writer Alex de Campi, artist ChrisCross, and colorist Snakebite. Hired by the Russian government to take back an old KGB facility in the Ukraine, King finds himself face-to-face with a figure from his past that threatens to upend his life, and he needs to get his hands very dirty if he’s going to survive. This book is all about action, and this is a creative team highly qualified to tell a thrilling story about one man’s mission to protect his secrets by kicking as much ass as possible.
Alex de Campi’s most recent work on Image Comics’ Mayday has had her upping her already strong action game, and she writes comics that are tailored to the strengths of her collaborators. In the case of Bankshot, DeCampi working with an artist whose talent has been sorely underutilized in American comics, and it’s exciting to see ChrisCross on a project where he can go all-out without having to worry about editorial restriction. ChrisCross has worked on a few books at DC and Valiant over the last five years, but it’s exciting to have him on a full five-issue miniseries that really pushes his action storytelling skills.
“I’ve wanted for a while now to write a really no-holds-barred action story, and to be able to work on it with ChrisCross (along with Snakebite making it all explode into living color) is a dream come true,” says Alex de Campi. “We’re having so much fun with this book, dropping our characters into impossibly dangerous situations and having them blast their way out again.”
These exclusive process pages of June’s Bankshot #1 spotlight those intense stakes and King’s prowess in the field, and visuals like a man pissing his pants while King has a gun pressed against his dick show how ruthless the lead is in action. There’s an impressive amount of detail in the raw pencils, which reveal how well ChrisCross understands bodies in movement and creating a dynamic energy that he then amplifies with manga-inspired effects like speed lines.
“I was in another massive project when Alex approached me with Bankshot. When I read the first script I was hooked,” says ChrisCross. “I was always a fan of the anime Spriggan, and in being a part of this project, I realized I could be unleashed on this project just like Ryouji Minagawa did on that manga. Once the other project evaporated, I wasted no time getting this book ready to go. Everyone will love Marcus and co. It’ll boom like a lit cigarette in a leaky gas station!” Readers can feel the explosion when Bankshot #1 goes on sale June 28, but in the meanwhile, here’s a look at ChrisCross’ artistic process for two brutal pages.