Oklahoma artist creates Midwestern vigilante with 'Hooligan'

“My biggest inspiration and driving force behind making Hooligan was to give the Midwest and Southern area their own comic book hero,” Evans said. “New York has Spider-Man. Gotham has Batman ... so we need a hero too. Plus, as anyone in ‘our neck of the woods' will tell you, a dark and empty stretch of road in the South is every bit as scary as a dark alley in New York.”

The first “Hooligan” arc is three issues. The first issue is available now; the second issue is set for November, and the third in December.

“After the comics are released, ideally I would like to get Hooligan made into a movie, and I would really like for it to be made right here in Oklahoma,” Evans said. “As long as people keep buying ‘Hooligan' comics, we will keep making them.”

Evans will be promoting “Hooligan” at upcoming conventions in the area, including Wizard World Austin in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 26-28 and OafCon in Oklahoma City on Nov. 10-11. For more information about “Hooligan,” visit www.hooligancomic.com or www.vipercomics.com.

For more about comics and graphic novels, read Matt's blog at blog.newsok.com/nerdage.