THE ORIGINAL RED DIARIES SERIES

Red Diaries came out in 1997-1998 as a four issue series.  Each issue was 48 pages with 36-40 pages of art and additional features such as background on the Kennedy Assassination and the relationships between the Kennedys, Marilyn Monroe and all the possible connections between the Mob, the CIA, the FBI, etc.

The story centered on a group of characters that are drawn into the mystery as a man claims to be the son of Marilyn Monroe.  His father? Kennedy.  Which one?  Even he doesn't know for sure.

The investigative group is spun into many different directions as they try to nail down what is truth and what is fictional elaboration. There are plenty of questions but little in concrete answers.  But they do know this...Marilyn kept a diary and the man assigned to watch over her has it and he has continued to update the diary with everything that had to do with Marilyn and the Kennedy's.

How could it possibly affect today's world?  When the people involved are at such a high level and the crimes of killing a president and murdering a Hollywood legend are the concern, it can still have dramatic consequences.

The two pencillers, Christopher Jones and Lawrence Campbell each drew different characters so each of the characters had consistency and the inker, Larry Shuput, handled both artists to give a consistent look to the overall book.  So, although each artist drew about half the book, they always drew the same characters.

The four issues were well received and two of the issues were almost immediate sell outs.  A trade paperback was released but it was primarily for the bookstore market.  The majority of the orders were from mystery stores and major booksellers such as Amazon.  All copies are sold out.  A few copies made it into the direct comics market (about 100 or so).

The investigative team at the center of the conspiracy laden saga are from another Gary Reed creation, The Raven Chronicles.  However, it is expected that readers would be unfamiliar with the group and  they were re-introduced in the series so no prior exposure to the group was necessary to enjoy the series.

Shown to the right are the covers for the first three issues of the original comic series from Caliber Comics.