Peter Facinelli's New Professional 'Protocol'

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Peter Facinelli knows a thing or two about genetically and supernaturally gifted families after six years of leading the Cullen clan in The Twilight Saga. Now Facinelli is focusing on a new bad-ass brood with Protocol: Orphans, a graphic novel he created with writer Michael Alan Nelson, illustrator Mariano Navarro and ... Jeff Probst?

"To be honest, I was inspired by Survivor," Facinelli told ETonline. "I was watching Survivor and wondering why I was so addicted to it. I realized I liked it so much because it's about a group of strong-thinking people that were thrown together and have to work together as a group. That idea inspired me to create this comic about a bunch of highly trained orphans that, to save the world, have to work together as a family. A big dysfunctional family."

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The series focuses on five teens who were placed in intensive training camps as children and have now become America's next generation of superspies under the watchful eye of their "father" and their elders, "grandparent-figures who are the elderly politicians who put this whole secret organization together," according to Facinelli.

The vibrant visuals were partly inspired by Facinelli's love of Spider-Man comics. "Those colors just popped and the drawings were fun and young. I wanted an artist and colorist who could channel that, and I think they nailed it. When you pop open our comic, the colors are rich and youthful; it's a comic I would want to read."

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Should the world feel similarly, this is just the beginning of the Protocol: Orphans story. "I'd love to do this as a TV show," Facinelli reveals. "I love telling stories; as an actor you tell a story, as a producer you find stories to tell and this was just another outlet. I'd never done comics before, but I really thought this was the best way to tell that story at first and if it's successful, we'd love to tell this story on a bigger scale!"


Protocol: Orphans
#1 will arrive in stores on November 13. It's also available for order directly from Boom Studios. Facinelli will be signing copies November 16 at 1 p.m. at Golden Apple in Los Angeles and on November 20 he'll be signing at Midtown Comics at 7:30 p.m.