Image Comics

Emerald City Comicon (ECCC) is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2012, and Image Comics, commemorating its twentieth anniversary, is hitting the fan-favorite Northwestern convention in a big way. Previously announced was the programming guide cover and exclusive poster and T-shirt art by Marc Silvestri. Now, in advance of the March 30-April 1 convention, taking place at Seattle's Washington State Convention Center, Image Comics is announcing a trove of convention-exclusive covers, posters, prints, and T-shirts for some of their hottest titles.

A blood-smeared variant cover of BLOODSTRIKE #26, the relaunch of Rob Liefeld's Extreme title by Tim Seeley and Franchesco Gaston, pays homage to BLOODSTRIKE #1. The cover of the 1993 debut of the series invited readers to "RUB THE BLOOD!" This ECCC exclusive will be at the Image Comics booth, #310 for $5.00.

THE WALKING DEAD ECCC-exclusive T-Shirt will be the shirt to be seen in to show off your love of the undead, featuring an illustration by TWD artist Charlie Adlard. The T-shirt will be available in men's and women's sizes for only $20.00 at the ECCC show booth, #514.

The ECCC booth will also have the exclusive Marc Silvestri IMAGE HEROES T-shirt featuring  the line art of the image that graces ECCC's program guide. The unisex T-shirt is $20.00. The print featuring the full-color Silvestri art will be at the Top Cow booth, #414. The 11" x 17" print is limited to 300 copies and is $20.00.

An exclusive THE DARKNESS signed print by Jeremy Haun will be at booth #514 for $20.00. The 11" x 17" print is limited to 300 copies depicts Jackie Estacado, in the tendrils of The Darkness, atop the Seattle Space Needle, looking   at the nighttime cityscape below.

DEBRIS is a new Image Comics/Shadowline series by Kurtis Wiebe (Peter Panzerfaust, Green Wake) and Riley Rossmo (Rebel Blood, Green Wake) set to debut in July. ECCC attendees will get an advance look at it as Image unveils an exclusive free poster at booth #310.

A night vision variant cover of THE ACTIVITY #4, the espionage series by Nathan Edmondson and Mitch Gerads, will be available at table #C-09 for $10.00. The elite Team Omaha takes on a drug lord in this issue of the cinematic series praised for its accuracy in its depiction of special ops missions, a great jumping-on point for new readers.

An exclusive hardcover edition of Gerry Duggan's and Phil Noto's retelling of The Odyssey, THE INFINITE HORIZON will be at table #P-03 for $20. The near-future interpretation of Homer's ancient epic is 186 pages long and not in stores until April 11, so attendees of ECCC will get an early chance to get the eagerly-awaited collection.

The third SKULLKICKERS adventure begins with issue #13, and ECCC is the first chance for readers to see it! A limited number of Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund sketch cover variant editions of SKULLKICKERS #13 will be available at table #C-11 for $10.00 before the regular issue even reaches stores.

In addition to these ECCC exclusives, Image will also debut the convention-exclusive ALPHA GIRL #2 cover. The first issue of the series by Jean-Paul Bonjour, Jeff Roenning, Robert Love, Dana Shukartsi, and Diego Simone sold out, and the second issue will be in stores on the Wednesday before the convention, March 28. The issue will be available at the Image booth, #310, for $5.00.

The completion of Gerry Duggan's and Phil Noto's Odyssey-inspired THE INFINITE HORIZON hasn't taken quite as long as Odysseus's journey home, but the nearly five years since the publication of the first issue of the Image Comics series to the April publication of the 186-page trade paperback collection (FEB120448) have been a saga of their own.

"When Phil and I began the comic in 2007 we tried to imagine scenarios that would make make a soldier's ten-year journey home believable," said writer Duggan. "I hope we made some interesting choices about the loss of technology and a crippling energy crisis, but I know we did a pretty good job of imagining a world that's pulling itself apart. We could not have imagined the Arab Spring, but the fractured world of The Infinite Horizon seems much less fantastic just five years later."

THE INFINITE HORIZON takes place in the not-too-distant future, with a small group of abandoned soldiers being led home by one man: The Captain. To get back, he’ll have to cross half the globe and endure deadly encounters with mythic enemies.

The Captain escapes shipwrecks, beats a vicious opponent wearing a cycloptic combat armor...and resists the siren's call of a predatory society, all while encountering everywhere dying breaths of a great and horrible war. Artist Noto depicts the horrors of war and The Captain's long trek home with an understated palette, the violence taking on a haunting quality as The Captain sacrifices more and more of himself to return home.

Duggan found his inspiration both in Homer's 2700-year-old epic and current events in global conflict. "In the years following the 9/11 attacks I re-examined the poem and found it to be very fresh and relevant to our society," he said. "We're now living in a state of almost perpetual war. Contractors and drones will probably remain behind long after combat troops are withdrawn. The burden of these conflicts are not shared. Military families shoulder the load, and I have doubts about whether or not they are adequately supported for their service and sacrifice."

THE INFINITE HORIZON is a full-color, 186-page trade paperback for $17.99. It collects issues #1-6 of the series, as well as bonus material from Phil Noto. The final order cut-off for comic book retailers for this title is March 19, and it will be in stores on April 11.. Its ISBN is 978-1-582409-72-6. An advance PDF review copy is available; please email Jennifer de Guzman at jenniferdeguzman@imagecomics.com to request one.

Top Cow Productions, Inc. and Image Comics invite you to join them from March 30th through April 1st at the 10th annual Emerald City Comicon (ECCC) held at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington.

Special Guest and Top Cow founder Marc Silvestri provides this year’s ECCC program guide cover, which features iconic characters from each of the current Image partners. Witchblade, Spawn, Savage Dragon, Shadowhawk and Invincible crouch atop the iconic Space Needle in an homage to the classic King Kong scene. Silvestri penciled and inked the incredibly detailed image and Sunny Gho of IFS provided the colors.  

To commemorate the decade-long Seattle institution, the artwork will also be available as an Exclusive Print at the Top Cow Booth (#414), and an Exclusive T-Shirt will be available at the ECCC Booth (#514).

“ECCC is known as one of the best comic shows around and I can't wait to hang out with the fans and share the love of comics!” said Silvestri. “I was honored when asked to do the cover for the con program to help celebrate ECCC and the 20th anniversary of Image Comics, and I couldn't think of anything more appropriate than a West Coast version of King Kong! But, unlike the original chest-thumping ape, these Image monkeys aren't falling off the building!”

“Marc Silvestri is a creator that our fans have been asking about for a long time,” commented ECCC Convention Director Jim Demonakos. “To not only have him appear at the show, but for him to have created this amazing piece that celebrates both Emerald City Comicon and Image Comics, is really something special.”

In 1916, twelve-year-old Jack Garron's boxcar-hopping adventure turns into a flight from a ravenous, razor-toothed man who haunts the shadows. SEVERED (FEB120457), the Image Comics series that captures all of our childhood fear, has been collected into a hardcover collection that will go on sale on April 11.

Eisner-Award-winner Scott Snyder (American Vampire) and Scott Tuft weave a tale that conjures up what they describe as "the deep fright that you have as a kid, the kind that takes your breath away, makes your spine tingle... A primal fear."

New York Times bestselling artist Attila Futaki (Percy Jackson) matches their story with art rich with historical details and subtle characterization, capturing both the hope of youth and the terror of the unknown. The hardcover collection includes pages originally in issue four of the series that have been re-inked and colored.

IGN called SEVERED "As good as horror comics get," and MTV Geek described it as "sheer terror in comic book form."

"I just read through the collected SEVERED and I'm so proud of this book," said Snyder. "I think it might read even better as a collected book than the single issues and I cant wait for our existing fans to experience it this way. I am also excited for new fans to discover SEVERED for the first time."

"We couldn't be happier with the way that the collected SEVERED has come together," added Tuft. "The bonus material looks great and we are so happy with the design of the book. Steven Finch, our designer, did a fantastic job. We're also thrilled to have an introduction from the great Jeff Lemire who has been supportive from the beginning even introducing us Scotts to Attila."

Snyder and Tuft will both be in attendance at this weekend's WonderCon in Anneheim, where Snyder will be a special guest.

SEVERED is a 200-page hardcover book for $29.99. Its ISBN is 978-1-607065-29-6, featuring a foreword by Jeff Lemire (Essex County, Sweet Tooth). It will be available in comic book stores, bookstores, and online retailers.

FATALE #3, the latest issue of the horror noir comic by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, sold out a week before its in-store date of March 14. This marks the third issue in a row of the Image series to sell out, making it the best-selling of Brubaker's and Phillips' collaborations to date. A second printing has already been scheduled and it will be in stores on April 4, the same day as FATALE #4.

Initial orders for FATALE #3 increased from those of FATALE #2, but it still was not enough to meet demand for the issue, continuing the trend for the series. FATALE #1 has already gone into a fourth printing and FATALE #2 has reached three printings.

"I'm completely blown away by the response to Fatale, from even our long-time fans and retail supporters. I feel like we're an overnight success, 12 years into our collaborative career," said Brubaker. "And let me tell you, this story is just getting started."

Centering on a beautiful, mysterious — and dangerous — woman named Jo who has ruined every man who has crossed her path, FATALE holds hints of supernatural horror and more than a touch of evil.

FATALE is a full-color comic book series available in comic book stores and multiple digital platforms. Each issue has 24 pages of ad-free story, plus essays on horror and noir fiction by Jess Nevins and Charles Kelly that will not be reprinted in collections.

THE WALKING DEAD #95, in stores on March 28, will have a five-page preview of Terry Moore's horror comic Rachel Rising, published by Moore's own Abstract Studio. The trade paperback collecting the first six issues of the ongoing series by the Strangers in Paradise creator, Rachel Rising: The Shadow of Death, will be in comic book stores the same day.

Rachel Rising tells the story of a young woman who cannot die. She wakes up at the foot of her own shallow grave, looking at her own freshly-murdered corpse. The events of her last night are hazy, and Rachel must piece together the events that led to her death — so that she can take revenge on the right person. Comic Book Resources described Rachel Rising as being "chock full of decadent mystery, unspeakable horror, strong characters, and beautiful black and white artwork, and it’s on its way to becoming the best of Terry Moore’s already impressive work."

THE WALKING DEAD creator Robert Kirkman decided to include the preview in the latest issue of the Image Comics bestseller to support Moore's work.

"Terry is a personal hero of mine dating back to my self-publishing days," he writes in his introduction to the preview. "I've always been a fan of his work and an admirer of everything he's been able to accomplish independently."

THE WALKING DEAD #95 by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn continues the series' "A Larger World" storyline. Rachel Rising: The Shadow of Death (ISBN 978-1-89259-751-9) is a 120-page black-and-white trade paperback.

THIEF OF THIEVES #2, published by Image Comics, won't be on comic book store shelves until Wednesday March 14, but it has already sold out at the distributor level. A second printing (DEC118235) will be in stores on April 11, the same day as THIEF OF THIEVES #3.

On March 14, the second printing of THIEF OF THIEVES #1 will also be in comic book stores. Robert Kirkman's newest comic book series, co-written by Nick Spencer and drawn by Shawn Martinbrough, is about a master thief who leaves behind his life in the high-stakes world of crime to try to return to being a family man.

THIEF OF THIEVES is a full-color monthly comic published by Image Comics' Skybound imprint, available in comic book stores and on multiple digital platforms.

The first issue of SAGA, the new series from Image Comics by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, has sold out of its first printing ahead of its March 14th release date. The new science fiction series, which marks Vaughan's return to comics after the end of Ex Machina in 2010 and the highest profile work Staples has done to date, has been widely anticipated since its announcement at the 2011 Comic-Con International convention.

The issue has immediately gone back to press and a second printing will be in stores on April 11, the same day as SAGA #2.

SAGA tells the story of one family's survival in the midst of an interplanetary war. Alana and Marko are from opposite sides in the centuries-old conflict, and their newborn daughter's existence creates complications for both sides of the war.

Advance reviews of the series have added to the expectation that SAGA will be one of the best new comic book series of the year:

"Saga is [as] beautiful and enrapturing as it’s daring and expansive…. With one issue, Saga has already earned its spot as one of the best new comics series of 2012."
— iFanboy

"This is one of the best first issues I have seen, and will hopefully set a precedent for other comics to follow."
    — Multiversity

"This is your chance to get on board from the beginning, not just of the next Brian K. Vaughan title, but also the next big story in comics. Years from now, when someone asks what’s a good title to hand to someone whose never read comic books before? Saga will be at the top of the list."
— MTV Geek

"It’s a terrific book, and another sign of the new resurgence at Image Comics.  It is a wonderful thing to welcome Brian back to the medium, and a wonderful thing to discover the art of Fiona Staples."
— Warren Ellis

"Saga #1 deftly establishes entire cultures and presents a wide-ranging cast of characters who we understand almost instantly. "
    — Tor.com

"Saga is full of great dialogue, insane imagination, textured craft, the list goes on. If you don't want to at least try this comic then perhaps you need to get out of comics. You might be missing the point."
    — The Weekly Crisis

"This is a definite buy if you like Vaughan, wonderful art, or science fiction/ fantasy, as this book has them all. Rating: 5/5"
    — Comic Attack

"Blending equal parts Sci-Fi and Magic, Saga is a big budget entertainment extravaganza, one with a chewy, heart-filled center."
    — Top 5 Comics

"The combination of writing and art meets at a level where it is possible for the outside world to fade away. You can float into these stories created by Vaughan and Staples."
    — Why Not Indie

"[Brian K. Vaughan] and artist Fiona Staples have created a promising, ambitious and gorgeous new world that I can't wait to explore further. Saga blends together big ideas like magic, blasters, robots, intergalactic war with smaller, character-based notions like family, loyalty, honor and hope in one hell of a first issue."
    — Inside Joke Theatre

"Amazing. I would marry this book. I would bear this book's children."
    — Three Chicks Review Comics

SAGA is a full-color monthly comic book available in comic book stores and multiple digital platforms. The first issue, in stores on Wednesday, is 44 pages long, with no ads.

PETER PANZERFAUST, the Image Comics/Shadowline series that places the classic character Peter Pan in World War II-era France, has sold out of its second issue at the distribution level a week before its in-store date of March 14. It has immediately gone back to press and a second printing (JAN128290) will be in stores the same day as PETER PANZERFAUST #3 (FEB120514), April 11.

The first issue of the series by Kurtis Wiebe and Tyler Jenkins also went into a second printing after an enthuisastic reception by critics, readers, and retailers. The second priting of PETER PANZERFAUST #1 will be in stores on March 21.

After having two issues in a row sell out, PETER PANZERFAUST has been expanded from a five-issue miniseries to an ongoing title, with PETER PANZERFAUST #6 shipping in September.

Wiebe is the writer of several Image series, including GREEN WAKE and the upcoming GRIM LEAPER (May) and DEBRIS (July).

PETER PANZERFAUST is a monthly, full-color comic book series published under Image Comics' Shadowline imprint, available in comic book stores and multiple digital outlets.

HELL YEAH #1, the debut of a new Image Comics series by Joe Keatinge (GLORY) and Andre Szymanowicz has sold out ahead of its release today, March 7. The issue has immediately gone back to press and a second printing (JAN128123) will be in stores on April 4, the same day that HELL YEAH #2 (FEB120507) is released.

Keatinge made a splash earlier this year, penning the relaunch of Rob Liefeld's GLORY (drawn by Ross Campbell), but his own series explores superheroics in a different way. The sons and daughters of superheroes, lost in the shadows cast by the glow of their idealized and idolized parents, have grown up to be just like any kids of rich and famous parents — some of them are rebellious, some of them are spoiled, some of them are overachievers with something to prove. And all of them need to save the world.

"I'm very stoked the reception for Hell Yeah has been so intense," said writer Keatinge. "Andre and I are putting our all into what's our ultimate passion project. We're very excited to know there's an equally passionate readership eager to give it a read."

"I'm very grateful to the awesome comic readers, retailers and Image for taking us on," added artist Szymanowicz. "This comic just gets more and more exhilarating for Joe and I with every issue, so I can't wait for everyone to see what's next!"

Comics writer Mark Millar (Kick Ass), co-creator with Frank Quitely of the upcoming Image series JUPITER'S CHILDREN lent his support to the new series. "With Hell Yeah and Glory, Joe Keatinge has established himself as the latest new writer I want to undermine and destroy," he said. "It's just top class stuff."

HELL YEAH is a full-color monthly comic book available in comic book stores and mutliple digital platforms.