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The Cardinal –
K.J.'s Cardinal Adventures is one of the longest running Christian comics of all time. K.J. has been consistantly producing the adventures of the high flying superhero since 1990. Community Comics is proud to present these classic adventures of the Cardinal for your reading pleasure.
Check out TheCardinal.org for more info!
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The Cardinal Comic
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CARDINAL NEWS!
(Winter 2007=2008)
UPDATE
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K.J. Kolka has announced that The Cardinal has now gone online, as of Nov. 15, 2007. The red clad hero is appearing weekly at the secular Web site, ComicsSherpa.com, a sister page of GoComics.com, which carries over 100 professional comics. A new Cardinal strip appears on site every Sunday. Readers can also receive The Cardinal via e-mail through a FREE subscription service, available on the Web page. |
"This is Cardinal 3.0," explained K.J. Kolka, creator of the comic. "We're starting the whole series over but with some changes. The potential for many new readers on the Internet is phenonmenal and we felt it was best to start over.
"Old fans won't be disappointed though. The series starts off with a new story and introduces some new regular characters. After that it will be a mixture of new stories and re-envisioned old stories. I'm redoing old stories with new scenes, enhancing old scenes and even adding new characters. They may even have different endings."
Kolka said a new vision for The Cardinal series began to develop a few years ago, around 2004, when a group of Christian comics creators gathered for a "SALT Summit" to discuss the future of Christian comics. By then, the idea of online comics was already being considered and Kolka wanted to create a second Cardinal series aimed toward teens. Somehow, the ideas eventually merged.
Over the next few years, printing prices and distribution costs rose while funding for his free printed publication dwindled. Seeing Web sites the way of the future, he began researching what was popular in comics and culture, checked out comics Web sites, spent time around non-Christians, and sought advice from a comics professional on how to improve The Cardinal.
"I really felt God was calling me to do The Cardinal 3.0 for non-Christians in the end. That meant changing my perspective on how to write it and creating a bunch of new characters. It also meant finding a secular Web site."
In the new series, Arbor City is greatly developed as an entity, a place of divergent cultures and faiths. Readers will meet the mayor, the newspaper editor, police, various citizens and homeless people, all of whom have their own opinions about the city's birdman. College student Rich Benton (the Cardinal) will spend much of his time volunteering at the local mission, which is the major setting of the new series. By night he'll protect the inhabitants of that slum area as the Cardinal, an idealistic Christian super hero in a postmodern world.
"I think both old and new readers will enjoy the new series," said Kolka. "The Cardinal will be highly recognizable to former readers. He'll just be more fleshed out as a character -- as are all the characters from the former series. To me, it's just a step up and I'm excited about where it's going."
The new series can be read online at:
http://www.comicssherpa.com/site/feature?uc_comic=csfjg
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CARDINAL NEWS!
(Spring 2007)
UPDATE
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In Fall 2007, "The Cardinal" will return as a new online comic strip at a secular comic site, which provides both professional newspaper strips and amateur strips for viewing. Re-envisioned for the 21st Century, the online Cardinal will continue to feature the adventures of Christian college student Rich Benton and his friends on the streets of Arbor City and at the ecumenical college they attend.
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There will be some changes to the online Cardinal strip compared to the printed one. The Old Arbor Mission will now be the central setting for the strip. Rich (the Cardinal) volunteers there. Rev. Charity will be there to offer unconditional love and to recite Bible verses when appropriate. And just as Jesus spent much of his time helping the outcasts of society, Rich will be doing the same for today’s outcasts. Helping the poor and struggling reclaim and renovate the slums will prove to be difficult for Rich and his co-workers.
Corrupt politicians see the slum residents as a waste of money and time. Police are too understaffed to help curb crime there. Youth gangs and other criminal elements won’t give up their territory easily. Then in answer to a prayer, God grants Rich an unusual gift. Secretly joining forces with a police detective, Rich dons a disguise by night to keep the citizens of Arbor City safe and keep the criminals at bay.
"The Cardinal" 3.0 mixes action and cliffhanger situations, like the newspaper strips of the 1930s and ‘40s, with heartfelt humor as God teaches timid Rich how to be the hero Arbor City truly needs. The stories will be more complex and the characters more developed, having families and backgrounds not mentioned in the original strip.
Besides the return of all the original characters, the online strip will offer a variety of new, non-Christian characters, for the wider audience the Internet provides. Societal outcasts, a politician who sold her soul, journalists and a Muslim business owner are among the new characters debuting this fall.
Arbor City will also be more developed. We will explore its multi-cultural aspect and its catalyst, Great Lakes University which brings in students from around the world. How will politicians, the media and average citizens view this super hero called the Cardinal? This too will be explored!
TO BE CONTINUED!
*Copies of the old Cardinal Adventures publication are still available for purchase at the Cardinal Web page. Plus, a new Cardinal direct-to-DVD movie will be released this fall as well! Hang in there, bird watchers!
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CARDINAL NEWS!
(Spring 2006)
UPDATE
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CARDINAL ADVENTURES 16 RELEASE DELAYED! K.J. Kolka has announced that publication and distribution of CARDINAL #16 has been temporarily delayed due to unforeseen circumstances.
"Actually, I went in for some emergency surgery back in February," said Kolka. "That is usually the time I am working hard on drawing the strip. I'm fine now, but recovery took several weeks and even getting my strength back to draw did not come easy."
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Traditionally, CARDINAL ADVENTURES is printed by mid May, prior to the opening of the Motor City Comic Convention in Novi, Michigan. "Usually the Cardinal himself passes out copies to guests at the con," Kolka said. "We just couldn't make that deadline this year."
According to Kolka, as of May 6, all of the artwork for The Cardinal is complete. Currently, the graphics people are working on the publication. The sixteenth edition of the free tabloid comic is expected to release sometime in early June.
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CARDINAL NEWS!
(Winter 2005/2006)
UPDATE
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° CARDINAL ADVENTURES #16 is currently under production. In the upcoming adventure the Cardinal sees a U.F.O.while foiling a robbery! Is it for real? Is an alien invasion imminent? Hold on to your masks, as the Cardinal investigates. Plus, more action with Erica Well’s "The Miller Sisters" and G. Raymond Eddy’s "Galen the Saintly". Scheduled to release in June.
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• New Parable Films and K.J. Kolka have announced production of a second direct-to-video Cardinal movie! The movie is scheduled to go into full production January 2006. Once again, Cardinal creator K.J. Kolka has supplied the script, based on his earlier work. Called "The Cardinal and the Wrath of the Warthog" the film will adapt "Cardinal Adventures" #8 from 1998. In it, an abused teen is transformed into a monster through use of experimental steroids and seeks revenge on those who abused him.
"In the last movie, we tried for more of a dramatic storyline, exploring the Cardinal’s personality," says Kolka. "This time, it’ll be an all-out action movie." For big screen inspiration, Kolka turned to the old matinee serials of the 1930s and ‘40s. "The Cardinal strip has always had this sort of retro look to it, a throwback to comics of that same period. So, it seemed natural to look to the serials for guidance. In many ways, it is also a salute to the superhero serial."
Another difference in the new movie will be new locations and new faces. Portions of the movie have been filmed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the inspiration for fictitious Arbor City where the Cardinal attends college. Some special guest stars will also make appearances in the movie, including a nationally syndicated cartoonist!
For more information on the new movie, go to:
http://www.tracts.com/Cardinal2.html
• New Parable Films is now finishing production on a video CD about the history of the Cardinal comic strip. The as-yet untitled history video, designed for play on computers, will be a free bonus product for people ordering either a packet of Cardinal comics or a Cardinal movie. Some copies may also be available for purchase separately. More news on this product will be available at a later time.
"Deadlines are all about courage in the face of the impossible." --Brenda Starr, Reporter
CARDINAL ADVENTURES, Christian comics since 1990.
Web Page: http://www.thecardinal.org
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| 2005 CARDINAL STORY IN THE WORKS! |
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CARDINAL NEWS!
(Winter 2004/2005)
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According to cartoonist K,J. Kolka, work on the Cardinal story for Summer 2005 has commenced. The story will see the masked hero coming to Gaylord, Michigan to help out at VBSs around the area. Unknown to our hero, however, the Alpine Village has another guest and his intent is to commit murder. It’s the return of a classic Cardinal villain and the story of a man whose promising future may be destroyed by the dark secret in his past. The upcoming issue will celebrate 15 years of continuous publication as America's longest running Christian superhero strip!
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The Miller Sisters saga continues, as Julia’s 18th birthday approaches. Galen the Saintly celebrates 10 years of appearances inside CARDINAL ADVENTURES with a brand new story and an interview with his "daddy," G. Raymond Eddy. Plus, fun articles and more!! Due out May/June 2005! For info on how to receive copies of previous issues, check out the Cardinal webpage at http://www.thecardinal.org.
"CARDINAL" MOVIE AVAILABLE!
For those who enjoy old "Godzilla" movies and the 1970s "Shazam!" TV show: John Martin of NEW PARABLE FILMS has finished production on THE CARDINAL--The Movie, slated for video release in 2004. The Ohio filmmaker has produced and directed the project from a script supplied by K.J. Kolka. Lucas Scattergood stars as The Cardinal; Roy Symonds as Det. Truth; Jim Harvey as the Scarlet Assassin and Heather Cooper as Chris McCoy. Previously, Martin has produced a number of short "video tracts" which he has sold by mail and to various Christian book stores in Ohio. "The Cardinal" is Martin’’s first lengthy film project since rededicating his life to Jesus Christ.
Currently under discussion by New Parable Films is a possible sequel, THE CARDINAL AND THE WRATH OF THE WARTHOG and possible Cardinal biography. We'll send you more news on these potential projects as details are released.
For more information, go to the New Parable web site at http://www.tracts.com/newparablefilms.html.
OTHER APPEARANCES!
The Cardinal has also made a guest appearance in the comic book, HERO TV, #00 from Community Comics. It can be ordered here at the Community Comics website.
A complete Cardinal story, "The Christmas Star," is among many tales appearing in A CHRISTMAS TREASURY, a collection of comic stories by Christian cartoonists. Plus, the graphic novel, PROVERBS AND PARABLES, featuring yet another Cardinal adventure, is also available for purchase. Both are available through Eric Jansen's website: http:ericjansenartist.tripod.com/godandcountrygraphics/
* CARDINAL ADVENTURES, Christian comics since 1990.
* Web Page: http://www.thecardinal.org
"Deadlines are all about courage in the face of the impossible."
--Brenda Starr, Reporter
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CARDINAL NEWS!
(Spring/Summer 2004)
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"CARDINAL ADVENTURES" #14 will be released in June. In this issue, The Cardinal and his girlfriend, Chris McCoy, become pawns of two terrorists playing their own deadly games against the U.S. government. Can they escape with their lives? Also included a Galen the angel mouse story by G. Raymond Eddy and "the Miller Sisters," by Erica Well. For info on how to receive a copy, check out the Cardinal webpage at http://www.thecardinal.org. |
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John Martin of NEW PARABLE FILMS has finished production on THE CARDINAL--The Movie, slated for video release in 2004. The Ohio filmmaker has produced and directed the project from a script supplied by K.J. Kolka. Lucas Scattergood stars as The Cardinal; Roy Symonds as Det. Truth; Jim Harvey as the Scarlet Assassin and Heather Cooper as Chris McCoy. Previously, Martin has produced a number of short "video tracts" which he has sold by mail and to various Christian book stores in Ohio. "The Cardinal" is Martin’s first lengthy film project since rededicating his life to Jesus Christ. For more information, go to the New Parable web site at http://www.tracts.com/newparablefilms.html.
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CARDINAL NEWS!
(Summer/Fall 2003)
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"Cardinal Adventures" #13 was released in May and June. The latest issue of the free publication features a new Cardinal story by creator K.J. Kolka; a Galen the angel mouse story by G. Raymond Eddy; and introduces a new feature, "the Miller Sisters," by former DC Comics staff worker, Erica Well; plus an interview with Christian cartoonist Chris Yambar. For info on how to receive a copy, check out the Cardinal webpage at www.thecardinal.org .
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John Martin of NEW PARABLE FILMS has announced he has begun filming on THE CARDINAL--The Movie, slated for video release in 2004. The Ohio filmmaker is producing and directing the project from a script supplied by K.J. Kolka. The cast was finalized in July and filming has begun. Previously, Martin has produced a number of short "video tracts" which he has sold by mail and to various Christian book stores in Ohio. For more information, go to the New Parable web site at www.tracts.com/newparablefilms.html
or www.tracts.com/NPFCardinal.html.
The Cardinal is and will be making appearances in a number of other publications currently and in the near future. First, the Hero with a Heart makes a cameo appearance in Ben Avery’s "HERO TV" released in July 2003. The comic is available through Community Comics. Next, the Cardinal will be appearing in his own story for Eric Jansen’s "A CHRISTMAS TREASURY," scheduled for release around Christmas of this year. The holiday comic features a collection of Christmas tales by Christian cartoonists, including Gary Shipman, Sherwin Schwartzrock, Kevin Yong, Bud Rogers and others. Finally, the red-garbed hero teams up with several of his peers in Clint DeRon Johnson’s superhero super-saga, "SAINT SEVEN," now under development. Watch this space for updates as they come in.
"Deadlines are all about courage in the face of the impossible."
--Brenda Starr, Reporter
* CARDINAL ADVENTURES, Christian comics since 1990.
* Web Page: http://www.thecardinal.org
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