Mario Ruiz has announced the formation of Valor Comics in order to self-publish a trio of graphic novels with religious themes, the first of which is scheduled for the summer of 2005.  Ruiz, the artist on the Samson, Judge of Israel graphic novel (see 'Testament Cheers Up the Bible') had a falling out with his previous publisher, Metron Press, a division of the American Bible Society.  He now plans to self-publish his Son of Man trilogy of graphic novels, which will attempt to make Biblical stories more relevant to our modern age in part through the creation of an alternate history timeline for a world in which the Roman Empire has never fallen and where Jesus had not yet been born. 

The first book in the series, Magdalene, by Ruiz and writer Jerry Novick, should be out in the summer of 2005 followed shortly by Jesus Christ: Son of Man and The Revelation of John Devine.  Valor Comics plans to distribute the trilogy to comic book shops and bookstores as well as to the large Christian bookstore market.