''The DNAgents'' is a comic-book series created by writer

Mark Evanier Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series ''Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book ''Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and bl ...

and artist

Will Meugniot Will Meugniot is an American writer, storyboard and comics artist, film producer and director. He is known for his work on animated shows in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Partial list of works * ''The Adventures of Corduroy'' (storyboard artist ...

and published by

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market. It was ...

in 1983. It was later picked up briefly by

Antarctic Press Antarctic Press is a San Antonio-based comic book publishing company which publishes "Amerimanga" style comic books. The company also produces "how-to" and "you can" comics, instructing on areas of comic book creation and craft. Beginning in 1 ...

. In June 2006, reprinted issues were collected into ''DNAgents Volume 1'' by

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

. The series centers on a team of

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

es created through

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...

by the Matrix Corporation to act as superhuman enforcers for the head of the company.

Publication history

Both

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

and

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

expressed interest in publishing ''The DNAgents'', but Evanier and Meugniot decided against signing with them because they would have had to give up the TV and merchandising rights, and since both Evanier and Meugniot had extensive backgrounds and contacts in the television industry, they were confident that they would be able to sell DNAgents as a TV series without help from a publisher.

Mike Friedrich Mike Friedrich (; born March 27, 1949) is an American comic book writer and publisher best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics, and for publishing the anthology series '' Star*Reach'', one of the first independent comics. He is also an a ...

served as an agent for Evanier and Meugniot, submitting ''The DNAgents'' to five different publishers. When all five offered to publish it, they decided on

, a large independent publisher, for the amount of creative freedom they were ready to allow and for their strong plan for promoting the series. Eclipse published ''DNAgents'' #s 1-24, from March 1983-July 1985 and ''New DNAgents'' #s 1-17 from Oct 1985-March 1987. Antarctic Press released a single issue retelling their story. The DNAgents reappeared in a cameo ''The

Savage Dragon The Savage Dragon is a fictional superhero created by Erik Larsen, published by Image Comics and taking place in the Image Universe. The comic features the adventures of a superheroic police officer named the Dragon. The character first appeared ...

'' #41 (July 1997), retroactively setting the series in the

Image Universe The Image Universe (IU) is a fictional universe in which some stories published by Image Comics take place. It was introduced in the early years of the publisher, shared by the various creators who formed the Image partnership. The independent, ...

. In 2004, About Comics reprinted several issues in digest form.

Cast of characters

DNAgents

*Tank: The team's gentle giant with super-strength, and an armored weapon suit. Socially awkward, he seeks friendship and love with other people. *Surge: An impulsive, arrogant hothead who can control and generate electricity. *Amber: She could manipulate magnetic energy to create shields or energy blasts, or enable her to fly. Very outgoing, social and curious. *Rainbow: A telepath who can create and manipulate illusions, and dabbled in nude modeling. *Sham: The youngster of the team, and a shapeshifter and infiltration agent. However, he suffers from a strong, nearly crippling shyness of strangers, and considers the rest of his team the only people he can trust. He is also extremely sensitive to bright lights.

Other characters

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

, another Eclipse comic of the era written by Mark Evanier, was a frequent guest character, and a romantic interest for Rainbow. *In issue #13, an attempt to create a new DNAgent resulted in Snafu, who later became a pet to Sham. *In issue #14, the DNAgents engaged in a "non-crossover" with the

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

comic where each team faced a homage of the other with the DNAgents meeting up with "Project Youngblood" while the Titans dealt with the genetically-engineered "ReCombatants" in ''

Tales of the Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

'' #48. At the end of both stories, the homage/parody teams sacrificed themselves to save the main heroes.

Other media

* In 1986 a sourcebook was printed by Fantasy Games Unlimited for using the characters with their ''

Villains and Vigilantes ''Villains and Vigilantes'' (abbreviated as ''V&V'') is a superhero-themed role-playing game which competed primarily with ''Champions'' and ''Superworld'' in the early to mid-1980s. Origin ''Villains and Vigilantes'' was the first role-playi ...

'' superhero

role playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal a ...

. This book also contained conversion notes for ''

Champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

'' and ''

Superworld ''Superworld'' is a superhero-themed role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1983 that uses the generic ''Basic Role-Playing'' rules system. The game began as just one part of the '' Worlds of Wonder'' product before being published as a stand ...

'' RPGs. * The DNAgents have a brief cameo appearance as guests at the wedding of Barbaric and Ricochet in the ''

'' comic series.''Savage Dragon'' Vol.2 #41 (August 31, 1997)

References

External links

DNAgents Profiles at InternationalHero

Mark Evanier's homepage: News Frome ME

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dnagents Eclipse Comics titles Antarctic Press titles Shadowline titles Eclipse Comics superheroes Comics publications Fictional genetically engineered characters Superhero teams