Additional images and resources may be found at our Electronic Press Kit. Promotional images for issue 25 available here. An extensive interview with Randy Reynaldo conducted by RIk Offenberger is also available at First Comics News.

For Immediate Release

Artist-writer Randy Reynaldo returns to the San Diego Comic-Con with the milestone 25th issue of his long-running globetrotting soldier of fortune series, Rob Hanes Adventures. Reynaldo will be at the show with this latest issue at Booth K-1 in the Small Press Area. Comic-Con is scheduled July 25–28, 2024.

“San Diego Comic-Con has always been a great show for me and very supportive—I consider it my ‘home base,’ where I traditionally debut my newest issues,” said Reynaldo. “It’s been an incredible journey and I’m so grateful to have reached 25 issues! I always have a great mixture of longtime fans picking up the new issue and saying hi, and making new fans for the series.”

Reynaldo has been a regular exhibitor at Comic-Con since the debut of the Small Press Area in 1993. In 2018, he was a Featured Guest at the show and was recognized for his work with an Inkpot Award for Achievements in Comic Art.

For this special issue, Reynaldo has pulled out all the stops to produce a memorable story that nods to the series’ roots as a modern-day continuation of the classic soldier-of-fortune syndicated comic strips of the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. 

Entitled, “Old Adventurers Never Die…,” globetrotting private eye Rob Hanes goes back in time to pre-World War II China and teams up with several characters from the era that fans familiar with those legacy strips may recognize. And even if they don’t, readers will still enjoy a rip-roaring adventure along the lines of Indiana Jones and other adventurers from the period. 

In addition, in keeping with its newspaper comics page theme, each page is designed as a self-contained Sunday newspaper page with the series logo in the first panel. And like all stories in Rob Hanes Adventures, the story is complete and self-contained.

Rob Hanes Adventures is a fast-paced action-adventure series about a private eye, troubleshooter and spy-for-hire from Justice International who travels the world on assignment, facing danger, intrigue and romance at every turn. Inspired by the great soldier-of-fortune comic strips of the 1930s and ‘40s, but set in the modern-day, the series has crossed into other genres, including drawing room murder mysteries, war, sports, and romance. Every story is self-contained, so readers can jump in with any issue.

Reynaldo will have all back issues and trade paperback compilations available at his table, as well as complimentary promotional giveaways like pin buttons, flyers and bookmarks. 

For more information and to order, visit the WCG Comics website at wcgcomics.com. Reynaldo will also be posting on social media live throughout the show, on Twitter (@randywcgcomics), Instagram (@randywcg) and Facebook (facebook.com/rhadventures).

# # #

BELOW: A faux vintage magazine cover that appears in the issue.

For Immediate Release

Note: This story includes quotes from comics industry pros Kurt Busiek and Butch Guice.

Additional images and resources may be found at our Electronic Press Kit. Promotional images for issue 25 available here. An extensive interview with Randy Reynaldo conducted by RIk Offenberger is also available at First Comics News.

In the field of indie comics publishing where small publishers come and go, cartoonist and Inkpot award recipient Randy Reynaldo’s globetrotting soldier of fortune comic book series, Rob Hanes Adventures, stands out for its durability and longevity, and the persistence and commitment of its creator. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the writer-artist working on the same title under his creator-owned imprint, WCG Comics, and will see the release of the 25th milestone issue of his flagship series.

“My only long range plan was to see how long I could keep doing this series, my own creator-owned title,” Reynaldo says. “I have always drawn and written the kind of comics I wanted to read myself, particularly like the serial adventure soldier-of-fortune comic strips that inspired me and captured my imagination as a young cartoonist, even though I only saw this work in reprints years after their heyday. It’s amazing to now look back and see that I’ve now worked 30 years on the same character—actually, even longer since I started it as a zine.”

Formally debuting his creator imprint, WCG Comics, and his signature series in the early 1990s, Reynaldo’s Rob Hanes Adventures is part of the generation of indie comics, both color and black and white, that emerged in that era, like Jeff Smith’s Bone, Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, Paul Pope’s THB, and Batton Lash’s Wolff and Byrd. Indeed, Reynaldo tabled alongside these creators and others at comic book shows in those early years.

A mainstay at San Diego Comic-Con over the years, the organization honored Reynaldo’s work on the long-running series by presenting him with a prestigious Inkpot Award for Achievement in Comic Arts in 2018.

So while Reynaldo initially may not have been as prolific in the beginning as some of his peers, he can now look back at an impressive body of work, producing to date nearly 1,000 pages and more than 45 stories, all for a single series.

Rob Hanes Adventures features the globetrotting exploits of a private eye with Justice International, a worldwide private investigation, espionage and security firm, who travels the world on assignment, encountering action, intrigue and romance at every turn. This basic premise gives Reynaldo the freedom and flexibility to put the character in a wide variety of settings, taking him from one international hotspot to another, and most notably, to tell stories in a wide variety of genres and tones.

Respected comics writer Kurt Busiek (Astro City, Marvels)—a fan of the series since the very beginning when it was a zine—says, “Rob Hanes Adventures is a labor of love in all the best ways. A callback to the Golden Age of adventure strips told with passion, heart, crisp shadows and a snappy sense of dialogue.” In fact, Busiek so appreciated the series that, shortly after it began, he designed a retro-style logo that he sent to Reynaldo, which adorns the cover of issue 25.

Globetrotting Private Eye

While Reynaldo pitches the series as a high adventure espionage series, in actuality, in keeping with his broad interests, he regularly explores other genres as well, with stories ranging from straight adventure and espionage to outright comedy. Along with the occasional revolution or two, there also has been a sports issue (included in Tony Isabella’s book, 1000 Comics You Must Read), to a drawing room murder mystery, and a romance comic–superhero mashup! 

Think Will Eisner’s Spirit, Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates and Roy Crane’s Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy; which in turn have influenced later master cartoonists like Alex Toth and Darwyn Cooke. The series has also been compared to Hergé’s Tintin and, in television and film, Young Indiana Jones, Jonny Quest and even James Bond and the current Mission: Impossible franchise. But readers don’t need this background to enjoy Rob Hanes Adventures—despite the influences, the series is thoroughly grounded in the modern day and not nostalgic, with stories often ripped from the headlines.

Comic book Butch Guice (Action Comics, Flash) notes, “I’ve long admired and enjoyed Randy’s work on Rob Hanes Adventures for many of the same reasons I enjoy Crane, Caniff, and others. I’m glad to see someone carrying on the adventure strip traditions.” 

On top of that, every story is always self-contained—not only because of Reynaldo’s desire for variety but given the wait between issues, to also keep readers entertained and never hanging.

As one can imagine, over the course of series, Reynaldo has developed quite a deep cast of characters from a colorful rogues gallery of villains to a recurring cast of friends and fellow spies that bring out different facets of Rob’s personality. These include the mysterious international crimelord Nikolai Korda to Rob’s occasional girl Fridays like reporter Tiffany Lance and secretary Julianne Love who nurses an unrequited love for Rob.

The Milestone 25th Issue

For the groundbreaking 25th issue, Reynaldo honors the character’s classic adventure and soldier of fortune roots by taking the character back in time to pre-war China on the eve of World War II. There he meets a colorful cast of characters, who fans of the classic strips may recognize—and even if readers don’t, readers will still enjoy a rollercoaster of an adventure.

“I feel very proud to have reached this milestone,” says Reynaldo. “My enthusiasm for the series remains as high as ever and I still have plenty of fresh ideas for new adventures and the character I can’t wait to explore. Above all, I’m grateful for the support readers continue to give the series—both those who have been on board since the very beginning, and others who continue to discover it.”

For additional information about the series and to order the latest issue and back issues, visit wcgcomics.com. To date, Rob Hanes Adventures issues 1–8 have been collected in two successive trade paperbacks (volumes 1 and 2). Earlier stories pre-dating the current run are available in two prior trade paperbacks, the Rob Hanes Archives and Rob Hanes Adventures, Vol. 0.

# # #

Contact:

Randy Reynaldo
Publisher, WCG Comics
Writer/artist, Rob Hanes Adventures