It may sound crazy but I was counting on Zuda, as I'm sure a lot of creators were, for the wide exposure and cash prizes for being accepted and winning the competition.  I'm not the only comic book creator who was left a little dizzy when DC announced that they were no longer going to have the competitive arm of Zuda which is now more of a web imprint that I enjoy reading.  As I write this I've just learned that Azure (my favorite of all the Zuda comics) has just had it's 2nd season released to the DC Comics iPad app.

I came up with the Paladin Brigade when more than a few of us where tossing around ideas to submit.  I wanted to do something that was at least a little "superheroish" (something that was always a tad hard to find on Zuda) and yet steering clear of long underwear or mutant characters.  I wanted to do something a little more action adventure oriented with gadgets, tech, vehicles, and intrigue. 

Everyone in the comics community were still buzzing about the first Iron Man movie and I felt that the "armored" character type was something that hadn't surfaced in Zuda as of yet (of course the comics aren't up on the site anymore so I could be wrong about that).  I felt that a single armored character wasn't really going to cut it, particularly after the movie.  There were all ready so many cool ones: Iron Man (Marvel), Brass (Wildstorm), Prototype (Ultraverse), and Mecha (Darkhorse) just to name but a few.  No a solitary armored character wasn't going to cut it, but a team of armored characters might.

So I set about developing the Paladin Brigade: a private law enforcement firm offering tactical support, investigative services, fugitive retrieval & apprehension services, and more for the world court’s ‘Criminal Psionic Consortium‘ in the apprehension & detention of psionic criminals.  It’s largest client/partner is the U.S. Marshal Service, although the Brigade does have a large and successful public division as well.

The following eight pages were to be the Paladin Brigade's entry into Zuda (I've chosen not to post the final 'lettered' pages with the story on them just in case I find a couple hundred bucks lying around one day)...

What could be so valuable that two Paladin's, standing alone after the near destruction of their unit, take on such powerful mutants to protect it?

He may have blue eyes but he's not a crooner, more like "Veego" from Ghost Busters 2.  He looks just as pissed too.

Working with others can be tough.  It looks as if not all the Paladin's want to stick around and protect the principle based on the odds.

Save it for the Mutant's boys!  The wrist mounted lazer sword is a head nod to The Armorines (Valiant) which I always really liked.

"Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice." Here we get to see inside the Brigades west coast command center.  Those pods each house a "Guardian", (another nod to the Armorines) each one assigned to a particular Paladin within the Brigade.

That armor is something else, look at him go go go!

Without the armor you're no longer a Paladin so what's with breaking ranks mr?  TRAITOR!

What was so valuable?  Can just anyone be a Paladin if they put on the armor?  Have you joined our Facebook page?