Here’s just a quick bit of news coming out of Comic-Con International in San Diego today.
This news is by no means comprehensive, but these are some of the bigger news items of the day.
Neil Gaiman announced that he is writing a prequel to Sandman #1 to be released on the 25th Anniversary of that issue’s publication. The art will be handled by the very talented JH Williams III, whose work on Promethea and Batwoman, Gaiman greatly admires.
Press release
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 debut titles. Creators will be signing exclusives, which are available in limited quantities, 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.
Press release
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.
New MADMAN spin-off from Image in August
Press release
Mike Allred‘s MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS wrapped up in 2009 with issue #17, with Madman and Adam Balm on a universe-wide tour with their band, leaving the rest of the Atomics back on Earth. This is when writer Jamie S. Rich (Spell Checkers, You Have Killed Me) started dreaming up a plan for It Girl, Luna Romy, who can take on the properties of anything she touches.
Press release
HARVEST is the new Shadowline/Image Comics series by AJ Lieberman (COWBOY NINJA VIKING) and Colin Lorimer coming in August!
Harvest #1 (of 5)
Story by: AJ Lieberman
Art By: Colin Lorimer
Price: $3.50
Featuring CMX-HD Capabilities and Better Discoverability
Press release
Image Comics, one of the largest comics publishers in the United States, and comiXology, the world’s largest digital comics platform, announced today the newly upgraded Image Comics iOS App, bringing the critically acclaimed 3.1 version of their app to fans of Image Comics everywhere. This new release includes a major set of feature upgrades — sleek new design, bolstered discoverability, dramatically increased speeds, and an expansive library of over 200 CMX-HD ready digital comics to take advantage of the new iPad’s enhanced display.
Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, continues to generate more demand despite selling out numerous times since being released back in March!
With a FOURTH printing of Saga #1 arriving in stores today, the demand doesn’t seem to be slowing down, requiring a fifth printing of the first issue. There were many indications that his was going to be a big hit, but retailers seemed to have been caught off guard and continued to under order this title several times.
Comic written with cooperation of members of U.S. Military & IntelligencePress release
They do their work in secret, the goals of their missions and the discipline, teamwork, and skills needed to carry them out well out of the sight of the American public. However, on May 2, 2010, an elite team of Navy SEALs carried out Operation Neptune Spear, killing Osama bin Laden and launching "Black Ops" into the American consciousness.
Among the imaginations captured by these elite forces was that of Nathan Edmondson, a writer (WHO IS JAKE ELLIS, DANCER) who was inspired to create THE ACTIVITY, a comic book series that follows the lives of members of the special operations group Intelligence Support Activity. Drawn by Mitch Gerads (with guest issues by Marc Laming), THE ACTIVITY depicts the training and covert missions of Team Omaha within the real-life organization with glimpses of the "regular" lives they live where no one knows about their real jobs.
New dystopian mini-series from Image Comics in July
Press release
The future looks bleak for humankind in DEBRIS, the new Image Comics/Shadowline mini-series by the co-creators of the critically acclaimed GREEN WAKE, Kurtis J. Wiebe (PETER PANZERFAUST, GRIM LEAPER) and Riley Rossmo (REBEL BLOOD, COWBOY NINJA VIKING). Earth itself, covered with the detritus of civilization, has risen up against humans, as ancient spirits called the Colossals take physical forms constructed from the debris to wage war against the destructive species.
Written by Ales Kot (Batman) and drawn by a long-standing Image creator Riley Rossmo (Cowboy Ninja Viking, Dark Wolverine, Debris), WILD CHILDREN, a new graphic novella from Image Comics in July, explores an explosive high school hostage situation that threatens to unfold its own reality like cheap origami.