Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum Geek Out on the “Blue Collar” Supervillain Universe of ‘Minor Threats’

Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum Geek Out on the “Blue Collar” Supervillain Universe of ‘Minor Threats’

Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum‘s first creator-owned comic book series ‘Minor Threats‘ just completed what is sure to only be the first arc of many and is headed back to comic shops and digital with the collected edition, Minor Threats Volume 1: A Long End to a New Beginning. The duo previously worked on Marvel‘s M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games and Hulu‘s M.O.D.O.K. series together and teamed up with creators Scott Hepburn, Ian Herring, and Nate Piekos to bring their “blue collar” supervillain universe to life at Dark Horse Comics.

The upcoming first volume of Minor Threats will not only collect the first set of single issues released but also pin-up artwork from superstar creators Mike Mignola, Kevin Maguire, Francesco Francavilla, and Tess Fowler.

Dark Horse‘s description of Minor Threats reads:

It’s hard out there for a supervillain. Not the world conquerors, chaos engines, or arch-nemeses…but the little guys, the career criminals. The ones who put on uniforms, knock over jewelry stores, and get tied to telephone poles before the hero swings off to face the actual big bad. Times are tough for costumed crooks, and they’re about to get much worse. The psychotic Stickman has done the unthinkable and murdered Kid Dusk, sidekick to Twilight City’s premier crime-fighter, The Insomniac. 

The Insomniac’s teammates, The Continuum, are tearing Twilight apart, turning it into a terrifying police state–desperate to capture the Stickman and stop the Insomniac from “crossing that final line” in which he may never come back from. Caught in the middle are the small-time c-list villains, finding it impossible to pull jobs or even walk down the street without being harassed by these heroes. With a bounty on the Stickman’s head, former villain Playtime decides to put together a ragtag team of equally disgruntled supervillains to take down the Stickman and kill him themselves, leading her on a dark journey into the criminal underbelly she’s tried so hard to escape.

The concept alone should be one that lures a fan of comics in but Patton and Jordan have shown us time and time again that they are a hive mind that doesn’t bring two talented individual minds to a project but instead, they become M.O.D.O.C. (Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Creating). Cheesy, I know but seeing them work together and now having the opportunity to speak with them and hear the passion they have for comics and all mediums of entertainment solidifies why they knock out banger after banger.

Minor Threats Volume 1 will be available at your favorite local comic shop and digitally on June 21, 2023, and everywhere books are sold on June 20, 2023.

Check out our interview with Patton and Jordan below:

Minor Threats #1 preview