The Liberty Project is a creator owned American comic book series created by writer Kurt Busiek and artist James W. Fry. It was originally published by Eclipse Comics between 1987 and 1988, and concerned a group of super-powered criminals working for the U.S. government in exchange for the possibility of early parole.
Busiek stated "I've always loved the idea of bad guys going straight", citing Marvel Comics' Hawkeye as one of his favorite characters. He had developed several of the characters years before, noting he had been working on Slick since high school; however, Burn-Out took longer to solidify, and went through the working identities of Briquette and Rude Girl at various points in the book's development.[1] Busiek was enthusiastic about Eclipse's recently devised combined universe, and designed The Liberty Project to allow future crossovers with other Eclipse titles.[2] As a result, The Liberty Project #6 would see a guest appearance from Airboy character Valkyrie. The title was Fred Burke's first editorial work after joining Eclipse, and he embraced Gerard Jones' description of the series as "the X-Men the way The X-Men ought to be done".[3]
The Liberty Project ran for eight issues until 1988 before its cancellation - with the book ending with the in-universe closure of the Liberty Project programme itself.[4] Eclipse editor-in-chief Cat Yronwode would claim she was frequently asked why the character of Savage was killed off.[5] Hoping it would draw more attention for further Liberty Project issues, Busiek was eager for the characters to appear in Eclipse's Total Eclipse crossover series, also edited by Burke. He and Fry were then commissioned to produce the one-shot Total Eclipse - The Seraphim Objective to tie in with the series.[6] Burke described the one-shot as "Liberty Project #9", and hoped that the characters' prominent role in the crossover would boost their chances of future appearances.[7]
Busiek and Fry retained the rights to the characters after the conclusion of the series, and in 1993 featured them in Jack Kirby's TeenAgents, part of the Secret City Saga published by Topps Comics, with two new members added.[8] Original member Crackshot was absent from the Topps incarnation of the team; Fry explained this was because he had successfully earned parole through the programme during the publication hiatus, though the artist felt he was still a potential ally for his former team-mates [9] In July 2003, About Comics reprinted the Eclipse series in a single trade paperback.[10]
After the U.S. government quickly learns that the cost of locking up super-powered criminals is prohibitive, the original four team members — Cimarron, Crackshot, Slick, and Burnout — are offered an early parole in exchange for protecting their country against other super-powered criminals under the Liberty Project initiative.
The original line-up of Crackshot, Slick, Burnout and Cimarron was joined by the violent Savage. The team battle the alien Seraphim and super-powered criminal team the Silver City Wranglers, former colleagues of Cimarron. Savage was killed after walking out on the team; the resulting fall-out saw the Liberty Project closed down.
A team of super-criminals based in Silver City, New Mexico.
A group of alien criminals exiled from their homeworld for their crimes; their species has inherent psionic powers. Their members are Aliff, Dofan, Krul, twins Trell and Trill, and Znaid.
Reviewing the last issue of the series for Amazing Heroes, Andy Mangels praised the title's characterisation and Busiek's development as a writer.[4] Don Markstein noted the concept's similarity to DC Comics' Suicide Squad, while Busiek's own Thunderbolts would later touch on similar themes.[11]