Jim Krueger scripts Stand In for Ardden

Bestselling Avengers/Invaders and Superpowers scribe Jim Krueger has joined Flash Gordon publisher Ardden and will be penning the four-issue spy thriller mini-series The Stand-In, with art by Alex Cal, who has worked on The Amazing Spider-Man Family for Marvel and drew the North Wind mini-series for Boom! Studios.

The Stand-In chronicles the adventures of Dexter Laumb, a talented but troubled and out-of-work actor who's desperate for money. When he's offered a job to "stand in" for a low level Senator who has double-booked two events for the same evening, Dexter is excited by the prospective paycheck and thinks the job will be a breeze.

Hair dye and make-up transform Laumb into a virtual double of Senator Joe Murphy. However, he soon realizes that he's bitten off more than he can chew when he's partnered with one of the Senator's senior aides, beautiful but acid-tongued Jennifer Forsythe. The two quietly go at it like cats and dogs while Dexter acts the part of the Senator, schmoozing and boozing as necessary. However, when a bullet rips through Dexter's shoulder and the crowd scatters, he soon finds himself on the run with Jennifer, attempting to unravel the truth behind the assassination attempt, and finding himself in the middle of a conspiracy with earth-shattering consequences…

Jim Krueger is a journalism graduate of Marquette University who won two Addy Awards during his first year as a copywriter and a year later became a creative director at Marvel Comics and went on to become a freelance comic book writer/property creator. His original works include the titles such as Foot Soldiers and The Clock Maker and his first short film, They Might Be Dragons, which he wrote, directed, and produced won "Best In Class" at NYU and a "Best Short Film" award from The New York Independent Film Festival.

Other comic book writing includes the award-winning Earth X trilogy for Marvel Comics, as well as Avengers, Star Wars and Batman. He's also president and publisher of his own comic book entertainment company, 26 Soldiers, and was named as one of the top ten writers in comics and an innovator in the field by Wizard Magazine.

"It's a huge honour to be working with one of the most successful comic book writers currently working in the medium," says former Miramax/Dimension Films executive Brendan Deneen, Ardden's co-publisher. "I've known Jim for years and we've been trying to find something to work on together that whole time. The Stand-In is the perfect collaboration and I feel privileged that he's publishing it through Ardden."

Ardden will be debuting The Stand-In #0 at the New York Comic-Con in February 2009. The issue will feature an action-packed story that takes places before the events of the mini-series. Alex Cal's cover for The Stand-In #0 was inspired by John Byrne's classic cover for Uncanny X-Men #141.

Ardden Entertainment is the New York-based publishing house co-owned by British comics creator Ricard Emms, publishers of the new critically-acclaimed monthly Flash Gordon series that has recently seen a complete sell out of issues #1 and #2, with issue #3 hitting comic book stores nationwide tomorrow.

The company -- whose business model is to produce contemporized versions of classic licenses and exciting new creator-owned title -- was formed in mid 2007 and is set announce several more books in the months leading up to NYCC. Joining Deneen and Emms is veteran comic book creator and writer, JM DeMatteis, who was announced as Ardden's Editor-in-Chief at last year's New York Comic-Con.

• For more information visit www.ardden-entertainment.com