Sweden's First Superhero, Agent Marc Saunders, is Coming to America

It's hard to believe that Sweden never really had its own superhero. There was a character called Dotty Whirlwind in 1945-1945 but she never carried her own book. It wasn't until 2011, when writer/artist Mikael Bergkvist brought Agent Marc Saunders to comic book life.

Agent Marc Saunders is said to be a cross between James Bond and Doc Savage. He's a super-powered agent working for the American government. He's aided by a team of allies, including the beautiful media tycoon Marion Gold.

Issue #1 of the American version comes out in April from Ardden Entertainment and is available for order through Diamond Comics. It also features a cover by Neal Adams.

Has anyone around here read or heard of Agent Marc Saunders?

Has anyone around here read or heard of Agent Marc Saunders?

Hmmmm. Nope. Never been to Sweden actually. =P

of course someone like @fesak has heard about this.

BB

That lass is pretty skilful with a handgun 

There's plenty of swedish super-heroes, well maybe not plenty, but a handful.
In any case it's a strange way of advertising a comic.

Did Tintin teach them nothing? America isn't overly thrilled with out-of-country comics unless tentacle rape is involved.

I'm Swedish and I have never heard about this, until now. Sure, I don't really keep track of Swedish comic books but I do hang around in comic book shops quite a lot (which says a bit of promotion of our own comics I guess) and to find out about this on here is both surprising and kind of sad -- don't get me wrong, it's awesome that CV posts about it, but it would be even more awesome if someone who lives here had a clue.

The logotype looks horrible by the way. And why use a supporting character on the cover of the first issue, when, at the same time the main character is male and sports his name as the name of the book? Talk about confusing first time readers.

@EugeneSaxe said:

Did Tintin teach them nothing? America isn't overly thrilled with out-of-country comics unless tentacle rape is involved.

...you win at the internet

Can honestly say I've never heard of this superhero. Still, despite how unoriginal he seems, I'll check more of him out.

@The Impersonator said:

Has anyone around here read or heard of Agent Marc Saunders?

Hmmmm. Nope. Never been to Sweden actually. =P

Never heard of him but I might pick up an issue or two

Nope, but yay for Sweden.

If it is a Sweeden character shouldn't the character stay in Sweeden? I am talking about the character, if it is an agent of sweeden should be fighting villains in sweeden, that is what i am saying

Looks cheap o.o

Marc Saunders is the first swedish superhero to have his own title in sweden, and has been published since early 2011. He's american. It's not unlike Blueberry, who's a french character who's also american. It's an interesting country you have.

Either the central character in this image is not Marc Saunders or he has some nice cans.

The artist - me - is online on facebook here, http://www.facebook.com/artofamikael, and there will be associated art and sneak peaks there every now and again. :-/

The first cover in sweden, inked by Joe Rubinstein, the inker of the series.

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/225993_221007407915667_167199353296473_1046030_324156_n.jpg

bork bork bork ?

We're keeping him a bit under wraps because he's a bit of a surprise we think, and him not being on the cover of issue one is a conscious decision. We can only hope that readers will enjoy the surprise when they finally come to meet the 'real' Marc Saunders. Of course, you never know if these high-concept things will work as expected, but as mystery-men goes, we have some hope he'll be a fun ride.

Has anyone around here read or heard of Agent Marc Saunders?

Hmmmm. Nope. Never been to Sweden actually. =P

It's only a year old, but it has grown fast.

http://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/bergkvist_mikael.htm

@G-Man said:

It's hard to believe that Sweden never really had its own superhero. There was a character called Dotty Whirlwind in 1945-1945 but she never carried her own book.

Not hard to believe. Just plain incorrect to believe it. Apart from Dotty Virvelvind, you could argue Pippi Långstrump (aka Pippi Longstocking) - she's got powers, fought criminals and had her own series. If her lack of costume and alter ego rule her out as being a superhero, then Agent Marc Saunders has a similar problem if he is "a cross between James Bond and Doc Savage." Kapten Sverige, a traditional superhero character, debuted in 1990, though not in his own series, and there's been several superheroes showcased in Svenska Superserier

http://www.svenskasuperserier.se/index_2.html

So quite a few prior superheroes. If we're claiming "first with his own series" and discounting Pippi, then Kapten Stofil had his own series back in 1999; no costume but then neither it appears has Agent Saunders. No powers, just gadgets, but again, neither it appears has Agent Saunders. Done tongue in cheek though, so Agent Marc Saunders might be able to claim the first seriously-done Swedish superhero in his own title. I still wish the series success, but claims of first Swedish superhero? Not by a long way.

Just noting that the character debuted in "Wardmaster" 1984, and also in a publication of its own later that year, on the same terms as 'svenska superseriers' publications today. Also, though Marc Saunders has superpowers, basically invulnerability and super strength, it's his true nature which is the fun part. The suit is there too, but it's not apparent. :)

And counting Pippi Longstocking as a superhero is just plain weird, to be perfectly honest..

Well, if the comic comes out over in here in the UK I'll defo pick it up. There's something interesting about characters who're controlled by their creators, there's a certain freedom to it, and frankly, if we didn't try something new then the comics market would be a right state of just a couple of big publishers throwing around 70 year old characters across multiple titles.

Oh, hang on.

a swedish star who works for an american agency &has a random big boobed wonder on the cover... yeh..this doesnt sound lame AT ALL

The only character of Sweden I care about is Lisbeth Fucking Salander:

What's Sweden?

The random big boobed is his girlfriend, so there's a lot more of her.

I don't see the need to discriminate against a big boobed girlfriend.

Sweden's first superhero is and always will be Pippi Longstocking.

With that being the definition, I concede. She wasn't even the first if so, there were several ones before her too.

If the definition is a comic book hero, which is seriously meant to work as such, I think it still stands though.

He debuted back in -84.

The first episode of Marc Saunders (license to kill) got some early reactions..

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/374656_321043887912018_167199353296473_1515324_934107495_n.jpg

So why is he an American and not Swedish?  
 
Also what's the deal with popular European action heroes, like Lazarus Led in Italy, and Tex Willer in Italy and German being American?

Cool.

They make good furniture why not a good comic?!

As an answer to why he's american - I love american comics, and to have a cover by Neal Adams, and be inked by Joe Rubinstein is like a dream come true to me. :)

Call me crazyt but that look like a woman on the cover. Not a guy called Marc.

I ordered this, though I'll pick it up really late like everything else. But, I do appreciate you covering vague things like this G-Man, it's the kind of stuff I want to read about here. Those odd ones under rock that I probably wouldn't know about otherwise. More like this please, not that I don't appreciate reviews of Superman and Spider-man, nor understand your obligation to the high selling books, but I do already know what they are and whats going on there as well.