Brian Azzarello at the Hopleaf. (DNAinfo/Josh McGhee)

ANDERSONVILLE — In 2002, a bartender at Hopleaf poured a glass of "something you're going to love" for Brian Azzarello, who then took his first sip of Three Floyds Brewing Company's Alpha King.

More than a decade later, the 52-year-old DC comics writer huddled in the same dark corner of the Andersonville bar at 5148 N. Clark St. with the decision makers of the Indiana beer company as they asked him to tell the anthology of the company in graphic novel form.

While his response was "S--- yeah... This sounds fun," his peers were a bit surprised.

"A lot of people were like 'why are you doing this' because at this point in my career I had done so many big characters. ...I did it because of who I'd be working with. That's why I got into writing comics," said Azzarello, whose lived in Andersonville since the late '90s.

"What's not fun about hanging at the pub and hanging out with Nick Floyd [the co-founder of Three Floyds]," he said

At the time, Azzarello's stock had been rising in comic book circles since the mid-'90s when he began writing for DC Comics. Between 2001 and 2004, his "100 Bullets" series from DC's Vertigo imprint, which explores more mature themes, won nine Harvey and Eisner Awards.

While the project may seem different than his previous work for DC like "Joker," "Batman: Gotham Knights" and "Lex Luthor: Man of Steel," he says it's "nothing I haven't done before.

"What is different here is [Floyd] had all these characters already in his head, so I'm not creating any just a story for them to all be in."

From the beginning, the company created each of its brews with a character and history in mind, which it would illustrate with caricatures on its label, starting with its flagship brew Alpha King. "From there everything was connected and just sprouted out," said Floyd, 45.

The "3 Floyds: Alpha King" series will become available at the cult brewery's annual festival commemorating the release of its Russian-style Imperial Stout — Dark Lord Day, which is Saturday.

The initial story follows the birth of the Alpha King. Along the way, readers are introduced to other characters the company has brewed up, such as Gumballhead, Pride and Joy, Artic Panzer Wolf, zombies and, of course, the Dark Lord.

"We can't fit them all, but there's going to be a lot," said Azzarello, adding Dark Lord will make an appearance in the first story arch.



Art for "3 Floyds: Alpha King" was done by British artist Simon Bisley. [Courtesy of Image Comics]

For the art, the group tapped a British artist that Azzarello had been dying to work with since they hung out at a tavern in Poland about five years ago — Simon Bisley.

Bisley, who's known for his work on "ABC Warriors," "Judge Dredd" and "Lobo," will also paint a mural at the brewery for Dark Lord Day, said Azzarello.

"When we were first considering [making the comic], if you would've asked me who the perfect artist for this is, I would've said him. ... It's totally in his wheelhouse," he said. "Originally, he was only supposed to do the first issue, but he was having such a good time. So he was like 'let's keep going.'"

At comic conventions, it's now commonplace to have a panel discussing comic books and beer "where the connection is made" and "how they kind of feed off each other," said Floyd, who grew up a big fan of comics especially independent ones.

Though he sees the comic as "a thing of it's own," Floyd believes the comic will help grow the brand.

"It can go out to market anywhere our beer can't. Three Floyds is only available [near] Indiana — it's a regional beer. The comic can go anywhere," he said. "It's still a very separate thing, but we want to be the best of the best. Have the best beer, the best art and the best comics."

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