Backstreet
to the Rescue!
by Emily
Farache
Feb 12, 2000,
5:15 PM PT
The Backstreet
Boys are getting booked. Comic-booked, that is.
The "Larger Than Life" boy band, already superstars for
their poppy tunes, are about to become superheroes, thanks to comic god
Stan Lee, the mastermind behind the likes of Spider-Man, the Hulk, the
X-Men and Fantastic Four.
This time, the fantastic Backstreet five--Howie, AJ, Nick, Kevin and
Brian--will don capes, super-charged weapons and show off their
superpowers in an upcoming comic series published in print form and on
the Web.
"I'm ecstatic to be involved with Stan Lee," says Nick
Carter, who is cocreating the series with Lee and whose comic alter ego
will boast amazing ninja powers. "A comic book is something I've
always wanted to do and we've finally made it happen."
The series kicks off February 19 with comic books sold exclusively at
Backstreet Boys concerts and online at www.backstreetproject.com.
The plot of the comic series, according to Lee, involves aliens,
babes and plenty of action. The setup: a spaceship crashes down during a
BSB concert. Ever the heroes, the Boys rush to rescue "beautiful
alien creature." The "curvaceous" visitor tells them they
must protect Earth from an impending alien invasion. She gives them each
an amulet that changes their DNA, empowering each Boy with superhuman
skills--Nick becomes a fierce martial artist; Kevin gains incredible
strength; Brian has amazing leaping ability; AJ turns into a weapons
whiz; and Howie gets "mind-blowing" telepathic powers. (No
word yet on whether BSB will use said powers to blow away their boy band
rivals, 'N Sync.)
And comic experts think the Backstreet Boys' marketing power could be
a boon to the entire industry. "I think any comic that comes out
that has the potential for bringing in new people is a good thing,"
says Andy Helfer, an editor at DC Comics, one of the industry's biggest
players, whose signature character Superman can be seen online in
animated Webisodes at Entertaindom.com.
Of course, making comic strips featuring celebs isn't really
groundbreaking news. The grandfather of them all, says Helfer, is the
original KISS
comic that bowed in the late '70s. The story is that KISS went to the
printer and dripped their own blood into the ink before the comc went to
press. Hence the infamous tagline: "Printed with real KISS
blood." Says Helfer of the monster rockers, "They are
superheroes anyway."
Since then, DC Comics has had a Muhammad
Ali and a Prince
(before he was The Artist Formerly Known As) strip; Marvel made Alice
Cooper a two-dimensional character; Todd McFarlane, Spawn's
creator, has an updated KISS quarterly and a one-shot Ozzy
Osbourne book; and Image Comics publishes a Wu-Tang
Clan series.
But not all acts translate into comic hits. "A lot of [these
kind of] comics only work if the act is at the top," Helfer says.
"You need to be sure the band will still be at the top when the
comic comes out."
And BSB certainly fit the profile. Arguably the biggest pop group on
the planet, the Backstreet Boys' latest release, Millennium,
has sold
more than 30 million albums worldwide and has spent 36 weeks (and
counting) on Billboard's Top 200 chart.
"We will use the comic book to introduce the superhero story to
fans, so those fans not yet connected to the Internet can share in the
excitement that is created by the animated Webisodes," says Lee.
Adds Carter: "There are a lot of females in our audience. [Comics
are] a really cool way to get guys involved."
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