The Exterminators (comics)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Exterminators

Publisher	Vertigo Comics DC Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing
Publication dates	January 2006 – present
Number of issues	14
Main character(s)	Henry James

Creative team
Writer(s)	Simon Oliver
Artist(s)	Tony Moore (interior art) Philip Bond (covers)
Penciller(s)	Tony Moore
Inker(s)	Ande Parks Sean Parsons Tony Moore
Colourist(s)	Brian Buccellato
Creator(s)	Simon Oliver Tony Moore

The Exterminators is a monthly comic book, published under the Vertigo imprint by DC Comics. The comic was created by writer Simon Oliver and artist Tony Moore and follows the employees of the Bug-Bee-Gone extermination company. The book is notable for its graphic and darkly humorous take on the extermination business. The first issue was released on January 4th 2006.

1 History
2 Story
- 2.1 Characters
- 2.2 The Box
3 Collected editions
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] History

The Exterminators initial incarnation was a TV pitch and pilot outline^[1] as writer Simon Oliver was working in the film industry at the time. After consideration Oliver realized the story wasn't really network material. Oliver then decided to pitch it to a comic book publisher. Luckily a Film producer friend of Oliver had became good friends with Karen Berger of Vertigo Comics after they had discussed 100 Bullets. Through this friend the pitch of The Exterminators reached an interested publisher quickly. After some reworking with editor Jon Vankin the project was greenlit and the first issue was released January 2006^[2].

A short preview of the comic before its initial release has been given in an issue of Y: The Last Man.

[edit] Story

[edit] Characters

The main character of The Exterminators is Henry James. Fresh out of jail he starts working for his stepfather's Nils Peterson extermination company Bug-Bee-Gone. Henry lives in an apartment with his girlfriend Laura a high level employee of Ocran Industries, manufacturers of chemical products. One of these products is Draxx a new poisonous gel for exterminating cockroaches. Draxx has some serious side effects which have been discovered by Dr. Saloth Sar, the in house scientist of Bug-Bee-Gone.

[edit] The Box

The box in question is of unknown origins, though it carries a distinct Egyptian motif. Henry James found it in AJ's truck just before AJ died, and the subsequent flashback sequence indicates that the box was found during AJ's stint in the Marine Corps, in the Gulf War. The box appears to be made of stone, and has an elaborately carved scarab on one side. On another are four keyholes and a swastika (presumably of a religious nature, rather than a facist one). It is entirely possible that the box is Egyptian, as it may have been carried by Roman soldiers into Iraq, and then rediscovered sometime before AJ's military service.

The box's significance is unknown.

[edit] Collected editions

#	Title	ISBN	Publication date	Reprinted issues
1	The Exterminators: Bug Brothers	ISBN 1-4012-1064-3	August 2, 2006	The Exterminators #1–5
2	The Exterminators: Insurgency	ISBN 1-4012-1221-2	March 7, 2007	The Exterminators #6-10