Atlanta, Georgia--August 4, 2003 --Iconoclastic AC Comics publisher/writer/artist Bill Black is affording writer/comic book artist James Ritchey, III an opportunity at fulfilling a life-long dream-- he will be updating one of the most unusual, interesting and suspense-driven comic book series of the 1940's, a closely guarded secret known as The Green Lama. First drawn to the character as a teen, because of the flawless Mac Raboy artwork, Ritchey has had a daunting task ahead of him--to match the skill and finesse displayed by writer/creator Kendall Foster Crossen in both the pulps and the comics and Raboy's defining, almost archetypal imagery.

" These stories weren't for children," opines Ritchey, "They had a 'Film Noir' feel to them, and seemed more aimed at G.I.'s and college students than the kids market, which is probably why GL was never a monster hit. If Wil Eisner could be compared as a 'Frank Miller' of his generation, Crossen could easily fall into the 'Alan Moore/Neil Gaiman' category, and people are STILL being influenced by Mac Raboy's art, after 50+ years." "I'm trying to just go a little farther out there with it than Crossen did, a cross-cultural, East-Meets-West, Carl Jung/Alan Watts/Joseph Campbell/Hermann Hesse sort of thing, but with superhuman fist-fights. I'm maintaining the forties history completely intact, with the events for this series starting after, in about 1952, expanding on existing elements, and even including an alternate reality FemForce in the mix. The characters' origin story originates in a culture (Tibet) that believes in reincarnation, so it was a simple matter to set the new material modern day, and allowing a young Jethro Dumont, II to start his journey to Tibet again. In actually studying Esoteric/Tantric Tibetan Buddhist spiritual beliefs, I ran across material that absolutely blew me away, like the word 'Siddhi' being Sanskrit literally for super powers(!), that anyone can attain thru proper learning and practice, and a form of marriage being allowed among the ranks of the Tantric school Lamas. The Green Tara, a wrathful warrior aspect of Buddha! Constant coincidences and resonances like these made the work start to write itself, as a metaphysical murder mystery"
Ritchey claims he will attempt to maintain as close a similarity to Raboy's artwork as humanly feasable and still have with it a sense of modernity. "There's no topping it. The rendering was texturally like some mutated cross between Miller and Bolland, without any detectable structural quirks; AT ALL. Raboy was fifty years ahead of his time, and at the same time owed more to J.C. Coll, Leyendecher and Loomis--serious illustrators--than to just about any of the other comic book/strip artists of the time, altho' the Hal Foster influence shows through now and again. I'm having to SERIOUSLY warm up for this one. Imagine having to take over for Steve Rude, Dave Stevens or Alex Ross. Ouch."

Who is The Green Lama?

To quote Bill Black from 'The Official Golden-Age Hero & Heroine Directory',
"The Green Lama was a multimedia hero. He first appeared in the pulp magazines (Double Detective Magazine Vol 5, No 5, 1940 through Vol 8, No. 2, 1943) and then in the comic books (Prize and Green Lama) and ultimately on the radio in 1949. He was created by Ken Crossen, a pulp editor who wrote stories under the pen name, Richard Foster.

Jethro Dumont was a well to do adventurer who gained supernatural powers from Tibetan monks. Returning to America, Dumont had but to speak the magic phrase... OM MANI PADME HUM!... and he would be instantly transformed into the mighty Green Lama. He had super strength, invulnerability and could fly. In prize comics he wore a traditional monks' robe that was green but when he got his own book Mac Raboy drew him in a hooded super hero costume, not unlike the futuristic suits he would design for the Flash Gordon newspaper strip a few years hence. With neither outfit did he wear a mask. Dumont has a Tibetan manservant named Tsarong. On the radio, the public knew that Jethro Dumont and Green Lama were the same man. The actor who portrayed him was Paul Frees. It was broadcast 4 years after the comic was cancelled."

In the new series, "Green Lama: The Case Of The Jewel In The Lotus", the first issue "The Man Of Strength", we find that a young Jethro Dumont, II, grandson of the mighty Green Lama, who was mysteriously killed in the late fifties along with his wife, Magga, is completely unaware of his legacy or his true self. A series of events, including the attempted murder of his paramour Madeleine, and the realization that his college professor Dr.Tsarong was a trusted companion in his previous existence, lead him on a journey fraught with great difficulty--and handsome reward.