Tony Puryear is a name that’s very well-known in Hollywood circles. Puryear is the first African-American screenwriter to have one of his films, the 1996 hit Eraser, break the mythical $100 million mark. Since then, he’s gone on to write scripts for such directors as Mel Gibson, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Will Smith. Now, Tony Puryear can add another chapter in his already impressive resume; comic book writer/artist. His Concrete Park, a sci-fi story set in the near future, debuted in Dark Horse Presents #7, with the second chapter of the story continuing yesterday in DHP #8. His first work in comics is already earning him all sorts of attention.
As for the plot to Concrete Park, allow me to quote directly from the Dark Horse press release…
“Concrete Park is a dark and provocative near-future story. It takes place in a turbulent mega-city on a distant desert planet (think Cairo or Rio in space). Young human exiles from Earth must fight to make a new world there. They are “young, violent and ten billion miles from home.” In its ambitious scope, it resembles nothing so much as George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, but with favelas and aliens, cops and cyborgs, ghettos and gangs, instead of castles and armies. “
In speaking about Concrete Park, here’s what artist/writer Tony Puryear had to say…
“Concrete Park is a sprawling epic. It’s the sci-fi story I’ve been waiting to tell. It’s a perfect fit with Dark Horse Presents, the legendary anthology comic that served as a launch pad for innovative work by the biggest names in comics, including Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) and Mike Mignola (Hellboy). I’m honored to be in the company of these amazing world builders, and happy Mike Richardson of Dark Horse believes Concrete Park belongs with them.”
Puryear, who handles all the art and writing chores for Concrete Park, co-created the comic with his wife, actress Erika Alexander, and his brother-in-law, Robert Alexander. Since it’s debut, Concrete Park has garnered quite a bit of attention from both fans and the comic press. Only two chapters into the story, Concrete Jungle has already received attention from the likes of Comic Book Resources, Bleeding Cool, and Digital Spy. For the most part, the attention being paid to Puryear’s work has been overwhelmingly positive. Consider the following review of Concrete Park that appeared over at Go Suck a Comic…
“In the last issue of DHP we were given the first chapter to this new series. My expectations were not dramatically high but as I read onward my curiosity got the better of me and I wanted more and more. The story so far is awfully hard to describe, yet from what I can uncover we are in a future, dystopian world set in the urban decay of a gangland LA (or someplace very much like it). Surprisingly, most of the characters are American racial-minorities which creators rarely use in the comic medium. But this Tony Puryear is a clever one. Concrete Park could easily be mistaken for a generic Spike Lee urban tale. However, Puryear goes the route of literary master Octavia E. Butler and transcends that urban struggle with the captivating blend of a dystopian struggle. I believe most readers will grasp onto the science-fiction aspects of this new series more so then they would notice the race-class-urban challenges. This is a series to keep your eye out for.”
Chapter two of Concrete Park appears as part of Dark Horse Presents #8, which is on sale right now for the price of $7.99 (it’s 80 pages, so that’s actually a pretty fair price). Considering the attention that Concrete Park is getting, don’t be surprised if Tony Puryear’s comic moves from the pages of DHP into something of its own.
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