Writer travels a new road with 'Highwaymen'
Visits Old Bridge to sign copies of DC Comics book
BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer

PHOTOSBY JEFF GRANIT staff Top: Marc Bernardin, Aberdeen, signed copies of his new comic book, "The Highwaymen," at MC Comics in Old Bridge on Thursday afternoon. Above: The first issue of "The Highwaymen" is now available for sale at most major comic book stores.

Imagine a world where a dead Bill Clinton is fond of sending dramatic videotapes of himself to washed-up vigilantes, the Centers for Disease Control imprisons superhuman she-terrorists and the world's most evil villain is a top U.S. government official.

Not that hard, is it?

On Thursday, Marc Bernardin of Aberdeen signed copies of his new comic book "The Highwaymen" at MC Comics in Old Bridge. The 36-year-old father of two co-wrote the comic with his childhood friend, Adam Freeman of Los Angeles. London-based artist Lee Garbett acted as the illustrator.

"It's a one last job story," Bernardin said, describing the plot of the five-issue miniseries, published by DC Comics, the home of Batman and Superman.

A pair of aging has-been outlaws, "sort of like anytime, anyplace, anything guys," receive a video message from the late President Clinton, asking them to rescue a girl from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

"She's a walking, talking weapon of mass destruction," Bernardin explains. "And the bad guys want her for their own nefarious purposes."

The bad guys are led by the deputy director of the National Clandestine Service, which the author describes as "one of those weird government branches that sprouted up after 9/11 and does God knows what, but we pay for it."

Confused yet? Not to worry.

"It operates a lot like 24," Bernardin said. "A lot of information gets thrown out at you. You only absolutely need about 10 percent of it. The rest is flavor."

Bernardin is a lifelong fan of comics and cartoons, but "The Highwaymen" is his first foray into publishing a comic book. His big break came about through his day job as an editor at Entertainment Weekly magazine.

"At Entertainment Weekly, I pushed them to cover comics on a regular basis. ... In the process of starting that up, I met a lot of people in comics," he said.

"Every time they would say, 'Hey, you're a pretty decent writer, ever think of writing comics?' I'd say, just every day since I was 12," he added.

The writer said things like paying the mortgage and having children caused him to postpone making the leap to comics.

"I thought, I'm either going to go quietly into grown-uphood or make one last grasp for the brass ring," he said, explaining his motivation.

Although Bernardin still works at Entertainment Weekly, he's managed to strike a balance between fulfilling his comic book dreams and being a responsible adult.

The first of five issues of "The Highwaymen" was released in June, and the next four will hit the stores on the third Thursday of each month until October. The second issue is due out July 19.

His next project is about the company that cleans up Tokyo after a major monster attack.

"It's called 'Monster Attack Network,' " Bernardin said. "They're like FEMA but for giant monster attacks."

The "Monster Attack Network" will be published as a 96-page graphic novel, due out July 18.