"Sons of Anarchy" Prequel Story Revealed in "Redwood Original" Comic Series

CBR

By Anthony Couto

Published May 17, 2016

"Sons of Anarchy" is returning to comics later this year in a new prequel title that will be overseen by Kurt Sutter.

"Sons of Anarchy" is returning to comics with a new prequel series at BOOM! Studios called "Sons of Anarchy: Redwood Original." Overseen by series creator Kurt Sutter, written by Ollie Masters and with art from Luca Pizzari, the prequel will follow an 18-year-old Jax (Charlie Hunnam) as "...he leaves high school still trying to come to terms with his dead father's legacy and the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club as a whole."

Describing the prequel's focus, Masters told The Hollywood Reporter, "It's Jax prospecting to become a full club member...This is a story about him proving himself - to the club, to their enemies and allies and to himself. In [the TV series], the shadow of his father looms large over him and it does in our series as well, but for us it's recent history, so it's more of an open wound than a scar being pulled open. He's still dealing with J.T's death and what it means to exist in a masculine heavy world without a father to guide him."

Discussing the challenges of adapting the characters as younger versions of themselves, Masters said, "What I've tried to do is think about where they are in that first season, think about how they got there and have that be my outline for the characters...It's a delicate tight rope walk. You don't want to lose the core of the characters, what made them so compelling in the first place but at the same time, you don't want to just retread what happened with them in the show."

On Sutter's involvement with the series, Masters told the site, "Kurt had a lot of input...Everything gets sent to him to check over to make sure it works with how he sees the characters and to see if he has any input. I'm not gonna lie, it's been pretty surreal and intimidating knowing that such a great writer as Kurt has been looking over my ideas for the series. It feels like I had a lot to live up to."

Prior to the prequel series, BOOM! released one other "Sons of Anarchy" comic series between the show's fifth and sixth seasons, which lasted 25 issues.

"Sons of Anarchy: Redwood Original" is set for an August 3 release.