For more than three decades, Joseph P. Illidge has played a role in shaping superhero universes across the comic book industry. Beginning his career at the legendary Milestone Media, then becoming the first Black editor to work on DC’s Batman line of titles, he went on to spearhead Lion Forge’s Catalyst Prime universe, and most recently he was one of the co-writers on DC’s New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident, which ushered in the return of the Milestone characters to prominence. Not to mention, he co-created The Winterfields with artist ChrissCross for FarSquareGraphics’ Noir Is The New Black, which earned a recent Eisner nomination for Best Anthology. Illidge has built a career not only in comics and literature as a whole, but he has worked to expand the voices and perspectives that represent the medium as a whole. Now he’s helping create one of the most ambitious collaborations in Black independent comics.
Illidge is joining forces with Advent Comics as well as over 43 Black comic publishers for Epiphany Engine, a massive 224-page crossover graphic novel. With Illidge serving as Editorial Director and Co-Art Director, the Kickstarter-funded project unites decades of independently created heroes, worlds, and creators for a multiverse-spanning story that’s taken several years to come to fruition. Publishers including Stranger Comics, Konkret Comics, 4th Wall Productions, Wingless Comics, Wise Acre Comics, Studio Sky-Tiger, and more are all coming together to create a groundbreaking experience. The logline:
A family of adventurers is thrust into chaos as a threat emerges from beyond that looks to destroy them and reality itself. To survive, various heroes must step up and come together to protect the multiverse, as nothing will ever be the same again!
The graphic novel that originally raised over 62k in funding back in 2024 features a cover by the previously mentioned ChrisCross (The Winterfields, Static: Season 1, Firestorm, Blood Syndicate), with colors by Wit Quintana (X-Men: Age of Revelation), as well as interiors by Sean Damian Hill (Predator vs. Black Panther), D.C. Alonso (Avengers), N. Steve Harris(Catacomb of Torment), and Walt Barna (Dark Blood).
“This year of great cooperative accomplishments in comics and the Black Comics Community, from the overwhelming success of New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident to the introduction of the Ink Alliance of Black-owned comic shop owners, continues with Epiphany Engine,” said Illidge. “Serving as Editorial Director and Co-Art Director on this graphic novel has been an honor and a mission of service, working with so many amazing creators and characters from dozens of Black-owned publishers. Advent Comics’ Tony Kittrell, Jiba Molei Anderson of Griot Enterprises, Marcus Roberts of Second Sight Publishing, and I have put in many hours over the last two and a half years to shape this book into a work that will stand the test of time alongside Crisis on Infinite Earths,Secret Wars, and the massive superhero sagas of popular culture. Epiphany Engine is a love letter to comics, the Black Independent Comics Community, fans, and families everywhere who stand together in the face of impossible odds.”
“This is a dream project fans have been asking for over many years, and we’re incredibly proud to finally bring it to them,” said Tony Kittrell, owner, publisher, and editor-in-chief of Advent Comics. “For too long, people said a crossover like Epiphany Engine could never happen because the Black comics community couldn’t come together to make it work. I had an issue with that assumption, and proving it wrong became one of the reasons I wanted to lead this project. With fulfillment of the graphic novel now underway for our Kickstarter backers, we’ll have a very limited number of copies available at Baltimore Comic-Con. I also wanted to allow the general public to experience the story, so we’re releasing a special Epiphany Engine comic book collecting the graphic novel’s first chapter on a future date to be announced.”
Fulfillment of the completed graphic novel has begun, and Advent Comics will also have more of them available at Baltimore Comic Con, September 25-27. Check out The Beat’s previous interview with Illidge about the project
