#masonrussell

[identity-stunt]

Happy Sangria Day, folks! Head on down to your local watering hole and slam a few back with your BFF.

(Artwork by Ruairi Coleman and Timothy Brown.)

(c) 2018 Joe R. Khachadourian

[identity-stunt]

“You got me watchin’ your back. What more do you need?”

Nobody can recall for certain if Mason Russell was this batshit crazy before he left for Afghanistan, but one thing’s for sure: there isn’t a movie producer or barman in Studio City who doesn’t shudder at the very mention of his name. Ready to down a shot or crack some skulls at the drop of a dime, this erratic stuntman takes no shit from no man. Watching out for his best pal Sam Nasser since their days in the National Guard, Mason has always been dependable, if unpredictable, in a fight. Now he’s refusing to back down from his newest challenge: protecting his buddy from the lunatic Dominus Smith! Many wonder if this over-enthusiasm to take on a psychopathic killer is par for the course with Mad Mason, or if the one who calls himself “Knuckleball” is really starting to lose it...

© 2017 Joe Khachadourian

[identity-stunt]

WHAT IS IDENTITY STUNT?

Identity Stunt is a four-issue action-thriller comic book created by writer Joe Khachadourian and primarily drawn by artist J. Briscoe Allison, posing the question: “What would you do if a hero’s arch-nemesis mistook you as the alter ego of his mortal enemy?”

Inspired by a mutual lifelong love of comic books and ‘80s action movies, Joe and J. Briscoe are endeavouring to answer that question in as entertaining and thrilling a way as possible.

Over the course of four installments our hero, Sami “Sam” Nasser, must use his wits as well as his skills as a stuntman, martial artist, and former National Guardsman to negotiate the minefield of a life turned on its head by the machinations of a madman: the demonic fiend, Dominus Smith, who is now targeting Sam - as well as his family and friends - with the most twisted and malevolent of intent. 

Although the primary inspirations for Identity Stunt are comic books and action movies, this isn’t just “North By Northwest Meets Batman”. As guys who came up on all those great things, we’re passionate about homaging what we love but as we’ve matured (read: “gotten old”), we’ve come to appreciate the narrative value of complex interpersonal relationships and real-world issues, which we’ve tried to inject into the subtext of Identity Stunt for a more nuanced experience for our readers:

Our hero Sami is a character of Jordanian-American descent, separated from his ex-wife Tracy Hicks-Nasser, an African-American woman, with whom he has a daughter, Alyssa. When we first meet Sam, work is starting to dry up and he’s preoccupied with salvaging his marriage and saving his friend and fellow former National Guardsman Mason Russell from a self-destructive lifestyle. When the “news” that Sam is the notorious vigilante known as Beatdown breaks, his face is spread across the globe by news networks and social media sites in an instant without any concern for the facts or consequences, allowing us to explore the role that mainstream media and public opinion plays in drawing the line between heroes and villains. 

Approaching the superhero mythos from a real-world perspective with a multicultural cast of relatable characters, we seek to provide a fresh take on a much loved genre across four action-packed issues, and we hope you’ll come along for the ride!

© 2017 Joe Khachadourian