The life of a sports star. Physically demanding, in the public’s eye, the stamina needed to endure and the rewards that follow. As glamorous or appealing a sports star’s life may be, with it comes a tremendous amount of responsibility. Conditioning yourself, training, not getting crazy in public for fans or paparazzi to witness. Now, as big as that responsibility may be, imagine you were blessed with superhuman abilities. Abilities bestowed upon you for the purpose of protecting humanity. How heavy would that burden be?
NFL defenseman Israel Idonije wondered that same thing. So what did he do? He took this idea, his love for the game, and his passion for comic books to acclaimed writer Ron Marz and artist Bart Sears and, along with Athlitacomics (the publishing company he created), the trio collaborated to produce “The Protectors.”
The former Chicago Bear is attending this year’s C2E2 (Booth 607) and PopCultHQ will be meeting with the gridiron great to discuss his creation “The Protectors” and his comic book publishing company Athlitacomics.
So who is Athlitacomics? The brainchild of Israel Idonije, Athlitacomics is a comic book publishing company created to unite, entertain, and engage both comic enthusiasts and sports fans. The are the premiere company offering a high-level blend of professional athletics and super-heroic mythology. They are dedicated to creating and developing unique comic content, properties, and merchandise in an amalgamation of sports and comics. Current titles on their roster include:
The Protectors is a comic book series about a chosen group of athletes who learn they are gifted with more than elite athletic ability. The Protectors are a chosen handful of professional athletes who learn they are blessed with more than elite athletic ability. Football superstar Isaac Chike seems to have the perfect life of success, wealth and fame. But this life is turned upside down when he discovers his true purpose. Isaac learns he is destined to be one of The Protectors, a small group of gifted heroes blessed with miraculous powers. Now Isaac and a handful of other star athletes (baseball’s Miguel Montiero, basketball’s Douglass Larter, soccer’s Danielle Peters and hockey’s Gerard Rioux) must choose between the lives they know and the greater good of protecting mankind from enemies intent on enslaving the world. It is an epic adventure perfectly uniting sports action with classic superhero excitement. The first story arc consists of issues #’s 1-5.
Sports Heroes showcase the extraordinary capabilities of top professional athletes through the platform of comic artistry. Sports Heroes capture the elite abilities that make our favorite athletes “larger than life” – their speed, strength, power, and acuity. Through comic artistry, Sports Heroes showcase the extraordinary capabilities of top athletes in a unique and impressive way, as they are now available on a wide variety of merchandise to give sports fans the opportunity to support their favorite players on a whole new category of wearable and collectible products. Be sure to check out the NFL Sports Heroes clothing line!
Digital downloads of The Protectors issues #0 and #1 are available for purchase on Groupees. They are also in all 80 locations of the Chicago Public Library.
The Protectors has gone mobile! You can access Season 1 of The Protectors on the free Madefire App, a comic and motion book app for Apple TV, phones, and tablets. How sweet is that!
Stay with PopCultHQ as we cover C2E2 and get an exclusive interview with NFL great and comic enthusiast Israel Idonije!
And be sure to follow Israel Idonije on Facebook and Twitter.
