Country giant (literally--the guy's 6'6") Trace Adkins has a lot of fairly hard-won creds to his name. He's played at the Orange Bowl and the World Series, been inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, put out an autobiography, and managed to win over my country-music-challenged in-laws with his performance on Celebrity Apprentice. (That one seriously impressed me.)
Now he's hitting the apex of pop-culture geekdom by becoming a real, actual Action Hero. This Fall, 12 Gauge Comics is releasing the title Luke McBain, a four-issue comic book series featuring a fierce larger-than-life Southern dude as the main character. Hey, it looks just like Trace Adkins...guess what, it IS Trace Adkins! He's reportedly the very first country artist to be portrayed as a fictional character in a comic book.
I find this particular achievement one of Trace's greatest leaps. It's one thing to play a halftime show--after all, sports and good ol' boys go together like beer and cheese fries. However, the genre of comics is not generally a hotbed for country music--fans, artists, or otherwise. It tends to draw the intellectually cool, hipster types at best; the Trekkie-type freaks at worst. I mean, try and imagine Kix Brooks attending a Manga convention. See what I mean?
That said, there really is no reason why Trace should NOT be a brilliant model for this particular world. The storyline for Luke McBain sounds pretty kick-butt: A guy serves 14 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit--returns home to his cowpoke hometown--finds it riddled with corruption. Someone has to set it right! Glowering and clutching a big stick on the cover, Trace looks pretty dang badass.
For those who are still skeptical: Keep in mind that the real-life Trace survived a bullet to the heart, shot by none other than his ex-wife. If that's not larger than life, I don't know what more you can ask for. Well, maybe hanging with Donald Trump for a season?
The first issue of Luke McBain hits stores across North America in November to coincide with Adkins' tour, and will be available for $3.99 in more than 4,000 comic book stores.
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