Image Comics

Working late at the Halloween Land super-store can get pretty soul-numbing, so Eve thought she was pretty lucky to have such a great imagination. But it turns out that her imagination isn't just active — it's dangerous! In the new one-shot comic HALLOWEEN EVE by Brandon Montclare (Fear Itself: Fearsome Four) and Amy Reeder (Batwoman, Madame Xanadu), to be published in October by Image Comics, Eve gets a bump in the night that could turn her dead-end job deadly. Surrounded by masks, costumes, and novelties that have come to life, Eve will have to fight her way through a horde of horror or she'll never make it to Halloween!

Conceived and drawn by Reeder and written by Montclare, HALLOWEEN EVE isn't just a spooky scamper; it's also the story of Eve — an expert costumer who loves to dress up, snarky and able to mercilessly size up others, but not so great at seeing herself for who she really is. The Halloween items that come to life have one goal: to find out who Eve is beneath her masks.

“Halloween Eve will break your heart and blow you away!" said Reeder. "I am so excited to be creating my own characters and story, and I’m glad it’s in the hands of what has lately felt like creator-owned central, Image Comics.”

“Working with Amy Reeder to co-create Halloween Eve was already almost too good to be true," added Montclare. "Being at Image—without a doubt the place-to-be for creator-owned comics—is unbelievable.”

After running a successful Kickstarter campaign that met its goal just six days after being launched, Reeder and Montclare announced that HALLOWEEN EVE was coming to Image Comics in a July 19th interview at Comics Alliance.

HALLOWEEN EVE is a 40-page (32 story pages plus other content) full-color comic, due out in October 2012 to celebrate Halloween. It's a stand-alone, self-contained tale of magic and adventure geared toward teen and adult audiences. It will be available for pre-order in the August issue of Previews.

And now, CYBER FORCE is embarking on a new path, using 21st century social media to make the first five issues (to be published monthly) available for free, both digitally and in print. A Kickstarter campaign launched on July 17, taking advantage of the year-long build-up of excitement for Image and Top Cow's 20th anniversary.

Rewards for backers of the Kickstarter campaign, which has a goal of $75,000, include exclusive variant covers, a signed print, a hardcover edition of the collected first five issues, a smartphone case, original art, and one-on-one sessions with Matt Hawkins and Marc Silvestri. There are also several special rewards for comic book retailers who pledge — including exclusive signings by Marc Silvestri! The funding will not only go toward paying the art team but also toward offsetting print costs, thus ensuring the first five issues are available for free.

With an entire generation of fans who grew up on the series and new fans discovering Image and Top Cow every week, creator and Top Cow CEO Silvestri knew the time was right for CYBER FORCE to return.

“My obsession growing up was sci-fi and fantasy and the concept of Cyber Force has always been ripe for mining those genres," said Silvestri. "The best sci-fi has its soul anchored in social commentary and the human condition and then goes nuts with the concepts. Comic books are unique in that they can add to that the thrill of wish fulfillment," he added. "Mash those ideas together add a healthy dose of 21st century paranoia, and voila! You’ve got Cyber Force.”

Silvestri describes CYBER FORCE as an exploration of the consequences when technology — the product of humanity's own intelligence — has interfered with the order of natural development. "We’re creating a world our species can’t survive in," Silvestri said. "The end is coming and Mega Corporation Cyber Data Industries knows this when it happens. And now, a young girl named Velocity knows too.”

Joining Silvestri on the new series is interior artist Khoi Pham. Hot off of top-selling Marvel Comics titles including Avengers, Daredevil, The Mighty Thor, and X-Men, Pham’s art will bring to life this bold new vision of CYBER FORCE.

The new series will appeal to fans of the original, as well as reach out to a wider audience by creating a cutting-edge world based on real technology. Co-writer and Top Cow President Matt Hawkins (THINK TANK, THE TEST) will utilize his background in science to lead the series in a never-before-seen direction.

While staying true to the core concept of CYBER FORCE, cybernetically-enhanced resistance fighters on the run from a monolithic international conglomerate, the visual aesthetic of the new series will be updated for a modern audience, coined “bio-cybernetic steampunk.”

 
Coming off a whirlwind release day the week of Comic-Con International and supported by special events at comic book stores around the country, THE WALKING DEAD #100 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard will receive a second printing after selling out of its record-setting first printing. At 383,612 copies, the sales of THE WALKING DEAD #100 were the best initial orders for a single issue of a comic book since 1997.

A harrowing and heart-wrenching event in the lives of Rick Grimes and his band of survivors, THE WALKING DEAD #100 has been critically acclaimed for its examination of violence and mortality.

At The Comics Journal, Sean T. Collins considered the depiction of brutality: "It’s hugely graphic and gory, but more importantly it’s predicated on anguish and agony, on a character begging for their life and slowly losing it anyway, in view of other characters, including children, made to watch as punishment," he wrote. "A 'bad guy' is committing the violence, but its horribleness is quite of a piece with the series’ presentation of human-on-human violence overall."

Augie De Blieck, Jr. at Comic Book Resources wrote, "[T]his issue delivers. It is not, however, the massive rampage of blood and guts I expected it to be. Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard deliver something much smaller, but just as effective, creepy, tense and sad."

The issue inspired Bleeding Cool's Adi Tantimedh to ponder the function of tragic fiction in society. "I wonder if the popularity of THE WALKING DEAD and the zombie apocalypse genre is a kind of atavistic ritual that the culture is partaking in to magickally ward off the worst that could happen, which is societal collapse into full horror," Tantimedh wrote. "...[T]he proxy of fiction allows the audience to mentally put themselves through the horror to find catharsis and feel more secure after the experience."

The second printing of the milestone issue will feature a new cover with art by Adlard. It is available for order now with the Diamond code JUN128066 and will be in stores on August 15, the same day as THE WALKING DEAD #101.

The Image Comics, Skybound, and Top Cow booths at Comic-Con International in San Diego will be host to some of the best and brightest creators in comics today. Many artists will have permanent tables at the Image Booth and special signings will occur throughout the convention, often with exclusives and variants to purchase. The special appearances by creators will culminate in a group signing by Image Comics founders Erik Larsen, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino, Rob Liefeld, and Whilce Portacio.

Some high-demand signing sessions will be ticketed. Free tickets will be available at the Image Comics booth (#2729) on the day of the signing. Tickets will be distributed for each ticketed signing beginning at the start of the show each day and only while supplies last. No purchase is necessary to receive a ticket.

Comic-Con International takes place on July 12-15 in the San Diego Convention Center. The Image Comics booth (#2729) will be the destination for Skybound, Shadowline, and Image central titles, while the Top Cow booth (#2629) will have all the latest in the WITCHBLADE- and THE DARKNESS-helmed universe.

For the complete list of signings taking place at the Image, Skybound and Top Cow booths, please click the title of this post or "Permalink."

In addition to a full schedule of panels, Image Comics is also celebrating creativity at Comic-Con International in San Diego with exclusive covers and editions of popular and debuting titles. Creators will be signing exclusives, which are available in limited quantities and only at Comic-Con International, so be sure to stop by the Image Comics, Skybound and Top Cow booths to make sure you get your copies!

Comic-Con International takes place on July 12-15 in the San Diego Convention Center. The Image Comics booth (#2729) will be the destination for Skybound, Shadowline, and Image central titles, while the Top Cow booth (#2629) will have all the latest in the WITCHBLADE- and THE DARKNESS-helmed universe.

Here is a list of the variants and exclusives. For full descriptions and images, please click on the title of this post.

Image Comics & Skybound (#2729)
CHEW: SECRET AGENT POYO #1 Guillory Comic-Con Exclusive Variant Cover
SKULLKICKERS #15 Kitten Variant Cover
THE WALKING DEAD Michonne Bloody Poncho Variant Action Figure
THE WALKING DEAD #100 Vannen Watch
THE WALKING DEAD Hardcover Compendium

Top Cow (#2629)
ARTIFACTS #19 Broussard Comic-Con Exclusive Variant Cover
THE DARKNESS #105 Portacio Comic-Con Exclusive Variant Cover
THINK TANK #1 Bagus Comic-Con Exclusive Variant Cover
SUNSET Limited Edition Comic-Con Exclusive Hardcover

Fans of THE WALKING DEAD got a sneak peek at the hardcover edition of THE WALKING DEAD Compendium, Volume One at Emerald City Comicon in March, and now they'll get a second chance to purchase one of the coveted tomes at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

The one hundred copies of the gold-stamped, hardbound edition brought to Seattle sold out in a matter of minutes, leaving 900 copies left to sell at Comic-Con, which takes place in the San Diego Convention Center on July 11-15. The hardcover Compendium collects issues #1-48 of THE WALKING DEAD by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn, and is $100.

Because of the limited quantity, attendees will draw tickets at the Image Comics/Skybound booth (#2729) for a chance to purchase a Compendium. Attendees will draw from a bowl of tickets, and if the ticket they draw is a winner, they will get to purchase one copy of the Compendium. A limited number of Compendiums will be sold each day and are limited to one copy per person. Each attendee may draw tickets only once per day. The tickets will be available each day at the opening of the convention, beginning on July 11 (Preview Night), and will be available until all of that day’s compendiums are sold out.

A paperback edition of the Compendium will also be available at the Skybound for $59.99. A second paperback THE WALKING DEAD Compendium, collecting issues #49-96 was announced today at USA Today.

Independent publisher spotlights creator-owned titles in seven panels

Image Comics is gearing up for Comic-Con International in San Diego with seven panels lined up on the programming schedule for biggest comics event of the year! Ranging from introductions to new Image creators and craft-oriented conversations about comics writing to room-busters like THE WALKING DEAD panel and the Image Comics 20th Anniversary panel featuring Image's founders and partners, the Image Comics programming has something for every kind of fan.

Here is the schedule for the panels. Click on the title of this post for full listings, including descriptions, panelists, and room numbers.

Thursday, July 12
2-3 p.m. — Image Comics Presents
3:45-4:45 p.m. — The Walking Dead

Friday, July 13
4:45-5:45 p.m. — The Writers' Room with Jonathan Ross

Saturday, July 14
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. — Top Cow: We Create... Innovation!
2:00-3:00 p.m. — The Image Comics Experience
3:00-4:00 p.m. — Take to the Sky: Skybound and the Next Generation of Independence

Sunday, July 15
1:00-2:00 p.m. — Image Comics' 20th Anniversary

Comic-Con International takes place on July 12-15 in the San Diego Convention Center. The Image Comics booth (#2729) will be the destination for Skybound, Shadowline, and Image central titles, while the Top Cow booth (#2629) will have all the latest in the WITCHBLADE- and THE DARKNESS-helmed universe.

PLANETOID #1, the debut of comics creator Ken Garing published by Image Comics, has sold out at the distributor level and will be reprinted.

Entirely written, drawn, and lettered by Garing, PLANETOID tells the story of Silas, a hardened space pirate who finds himself stranded on a barren sphere made of scrap metal with no way to escape.

"Ken Garing is off to a spectacular start with this bit of survivalist SF. This is just an introduction to the ruinous, dystopian world of Planetoid, and I’m eager to see what horrors yet remain in its crevices. Highly recommended."
- iFanboy

"Every month, more and more evidence piles up that it is a good time to be a fan of science fiction comics. If this first issue is any indication, “Planetoid” is sure to be a favorite for those who enjoy the genre...."
-Multiversity Comics

"Garing has done a brilliant job on both the story and art front."
- Comic Book Therapy

The second printing of PLANETOID #1 will be in stores on July 11, the same day as the second issue. It is available to order now with the Diamond code MAY128123.

At the close of the 1980s, Howard Chaykin pushed every limit in comics with Black Kiss, a hardboiled, erotic series that controversially merged sex, violence, and religion. The story took its protagonist from '80s Los Angeles to the Vatican as he uncovered the secrets of bizarre vampire cult. Chaykin now returns to that sordid world with BLACK KISS II, a new miniseries with Image Comics, debuting in August.

Of the original Black Kiss, Chaykin has commented that "The California-ness of it is a really big deal," but in BLACK KISS II, he takes readers to New York City in the early 20th century — to a country on the brink of monumental changes, where the melting pot of steaming filth, lust, and fantasy threatens to boil over. And where, as the century moves on, the fantasies that appear on flickering film will present a means for an insatiable evil to spread.

"The original series generated far more attention, notoriety and, frankly, income, than I ever anticipated." said Chaykin. "That said, after fielding offers and requests for a follow up, it wasn't until I was listening to Stephen Sondheim's Follies, specifically the anthem that closes act one, 'I'm Still Here,'  that I had any idea how or what to do with a sequel.  So thanks to Image for being there at the right time, and blame Stephen Sondheim."

The six-issue BLACK KISS II miniseries tells the story behind the events of the original Black Kiss. And like the first series, it is in Chaykin's finely drafted black-and-white. The first issue will be in stores on August 1 and is available to pre-order now from the June issue of PREVIEWS (JUN120423). It is rated Mature for graphic depictions of sex.