Virgil Hawkins/Static is back in an official preview for the first issue of Static: Shadows of Dakota, which serves as the second season of DC's Static relaunch under the revived Milestone Media banner.
Static: Shadows of Dakota #1 is slated to hit comic shops on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The comic is written by Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Vita Ayala, with Draper-Ivey also serving as its interior artist -- and its main cover artist. Shadows of Dakota #1 also features variant covers by the likes of Chase Conley, Dan Hipp and the duo of Olivier Coipel and Brad Anderson. The issue picks up after the conclusion of DC and Milestone's Static: Season One, in which Virgil freed his fellow Bang Babies and sent the Feds packing. However, Virgil also inadvertently unleashed a new threat: Ebon, a fan-favorite villain from the classic Static Shock animated series.
STATIC: SHADOWS OF DAKOTA #1-IV
- Art and cover by NIKOLAS DRAPER-IVEY
- Variant covers by CHASE CONLEY and OLIVIER COIPEL
- 1:25 variant cover by DAN HIPP
- 1:50 foil variant cover by CHASE CONLEY
- 1:100 foil variant cover by OLIVIER COIPEL
- $3.99 US | 32 pages | 1 of 6 | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
- ON SALE 2/7/23
- Static is back! Though Virgil and his friends might have been able to stop the government’s off-the-books prison operations in Dakota, a powerful new threat lurks in the shadows. The mysterious Ebon is cutting a bloody swath through the underworld on a single-minded quest to find his brother. Against this backdrop of exploding violence, innocent people are finding themselves in the crossfire. The breakout creative team of Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Vita Ayala have returned to make Static’s life, and Dakota City, very complicated indeed—you’ve never felt shocks like these!
Re-Rebirth of the Cool
Created by Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis and Derek T. Dingle, Virgil Hawkins/Static first appeared in 1993's Static #1, which was published by independently-owned DC imprint Milestone Comics. Static's original solo series ran for a total of 45 issues and was discontinued in 1997, the same year Milestone Media shut down its comic book division. However, the character found a second life on television thanks to the aforementioned animated series Static Shock, which premiered in 2000.
The show's massive popularity led DC to publish a four-part limited series, Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool, in 2001. Static's native Dakotaverse was later merged with the main DC Universe as a result of the events of Final Crisis. After the fact, Static maintained a presence within the DCU, though Milestone remained dormant. That was, of course, until 2020, which saw the launch of DC's Milestone Returns initiative. This initiative introduced a rebooted Milestone universe, dubbed Earth M. Virgil's first solo series under the Milestone Returns banner, Static: Season One, debuted in mid-2021 before concluding in early 2022. The electric superhero's adventures on Earth M continue in Shadows of Dakota.
Written by Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Vita Ayala, illustrated by Draper-Ivey and lettered by AndWorld Design, Static: Shadows of Dakota #1 goes on sale Feb. 7 from DC.
Source: DC