Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Hangman, Vol. 1 | 2016 | Chuck Wendig | Buy |
| 2 | The Shield, Vol. 1: Daughter of the Revolution | 2016 | Chuck Wendig | Buy |
The Red / Dark Circle Graphic Novels by Chuck Wendig collect his work for Archie Comics’ Dark Circle imprint, which took classic Archie superhero properties and reworked them for a modern, adult audience. Wendig wrote both The Hangman and The Shield, two very different takes on characters that most readers probably had never heard of.
The Hangman, Vol. 1 reimagines the Golden Age character as a hitman who is killed and resurrected as a supernatural figure tasked with executing the wicked. The Shield, Vol. 1: Daughter of the Revolution follows a woman who has been America’s living weapon across multiple wars but wakes up in the present with no memory of her past. Both books have a darker, grittier tone than typical superhero fare.
Wendig’s work on these titles was part of a broader wave of Dark Circle revamps in the mid-2010s. The collected editions bring together the single issues with additional material and are a good entry point for readers curious about Wendig’s comic book work.