Image Comics followed up their weekend at New York Comic Con with quite a bit of news, including four of their series will see story arcs collected in trade paperback form. In addition to that, two of their titles first issues will be getting a second printing due to customer demand.
The first piece of news this week is the announcement that the fantasy adventure series FLAVOR from the team of Joseph Keatinge, Wook Jin Clark, Tamra Bonvillain, and Ariana Maher will released as a collected trade paperback this November.
Next up is the news that the Image/Skybound series OUTPOST ZERO will see it’s first four issues collected into a trade paperback this November. The series from Eisner winner Sean Kelley McKeever, Alexandre Tefenkgi, and Jean-Francois Beaulieu will hit comic book stores on November 7th, and bookstores one week later.
Next up is the news that the romantic suspense series UNNATURAL from Mirka Andolfo will have it’s first arc released as a collected volume this November. The trade paperback will be comprised of the first six issues, and will hit comic book shops on November 21st with book stores getting it on November 27th (Hey, that’s my birthday!)
The next series that will see some of it’s issues collected in a trade paperback is the “emotional, bone-shattering account of murder, masculinity, and mayhem” series titled CRUDE. The series from Steve Orlando and Garry Brown will see the first six issues released in a collected volume this November.
Next up is one of the announcements that Image made at New York Comic Con last week. Music producer Jeff Rougvie (who has worked with lots of musicians including David Bowie, Elvis Costello, and more) will team with Moritat on a new series titled GUNNING FOR HITS. The series is set in the 1980’s and will use Rougvie’s experiences in the music industry as background for the stories. The first issue will debut on January 9th, 2019 and each issue will have a background feature as well as a Spotify playlist.
Image and Skybound also announced this week that Daniel Warren Johnson’s new series MURDER FALCON will see it’s debut issue getting a second print due to customer demand.
The second printing will have 2 cover versions; the regular version and a “Heavy Metal” cover by Andrei Bressan and Adriano Lucas.
Last up for this week is the news that Sam Humphries and Jen Bartel’s new series BLACKBIRD will see a second printing of it’s debut issue. The “magical mystery series” will see the second printing hit shelves on November 7th with two covers. The main cover by Bartel with the B cover artwork courtesy of Mingjue Helen Chen.
Full press releases on all the news from this week is below. All artwork courtesy of Image Comics.
DELECTABLE CULINARY FANTASY FLAVOR SERVED UP IN TRADE PAPERBACK
Collecting issues #1-6
PORTLAND, OR, 10/08/2018 — Writer Joseph Keatinge (GLORY, SHUTTER) and artist Wook Jin Clark (Adventure Time: The Flip Side), with colorist Tamra Bonvillain and letterer Ariana Maher, will release a trade paperback collection of their young adult fantasy adventure series FLAVOR this November from Image Comics. Within a strange walled city, chefs are the ultimate celebrities and food is the most valued commodity. But when an unlicensed chef stumbles upon a peculiar mystery, what happens next could bring it all tumbling down. Featuring culinary consulting and an introduction by Ali Bouzari, renowned food scientist and author of the IACP Award-winning cookbook Ingredient: Unveiling the Essential Elements of Food—not to mention the world’s cutest dog! FLAVOR TP (Diamond code: SEP180090, ISBN: 978-1-5343-0882-4) hits comic book stores on Wednesday, November 21st and bookstores on Tuesday, November 27th. It can be preordered via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indiebound, and Indigo. Select praise for FLAVOR: “A fun, glorious book.” —Christopher Sebela “Absolutely delightful.” —Sktchd “FLAVOR is serving up tasty goodness for our reading palates.” —Doom Rocket “FLAVOR is a dark, delicious read about competitive cooking—just not in the way you probably expect!” —Rogues Portal “A beautiful and sweet book that can balance its emotions and tone well. Its characters are believable and endearing, its art looks great, and its concepts are creative. This one easily earns a recommendation.” —Bleeding Cool “For anyone who loved the culinary strangeness of CHEW or the action and intrigue of Space Battle Lunchtime, FLAVOR is a must-read comic.” —Paste Magazine “FLAVOR creates a world that is fresh and exciting, filled with questions and dynamic characters. This is definitely a gem you don’t want to miss out on.” —Comicosity “Smoother than chocolate and hotter than a jalapeño, writer Joe Keatinge and artist Wook Jin Clark breathe new life into all-ages fantasy with FLAVOR.” —Newsarama |
EXPLORE THE MYSTERIES OF THE FROST IN OUTPOST ZERO, VOL. 1
Collecting issues #1-4
PORTLAND, OR, 10/08/2018 — Eisner-winning writer Sean Kelley McKeever (The Waiting Place, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane), artist Alexandre Tefenkgi, and colorist Jean-Francois Beaulieu will release OUTPOST ZERO, VOL. 1 this November from Image/Skybound.
Welcome to Outpost Zero: the smallest town in the universe. The people here work the land, go to the fights every Friday night, and tuck their children into bed…but the Outpost is no place for dreams. To survive is ambitious enough.
But as Alea and her friends graduate to adulthood under the artificial sky of a faulty biome on a frozen world that was never meant to support human life…something stirs. Something sees.
OUTPOST ZERO, VOL. 1 (Diamond code: SEP180104, ISBN: 978-1-5343-0692-9) hits comic book stores on Wednesday, November 7th and bookstores on Tuesday, November 13th. It can be preordered via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indiebound, and Indigo.
Select praise for OUTPOST ZERO:
“Honestly, OUTPOST ZERO is a comic you could get just for the color art. It’s that good. But you’ll want it for the engaging characters, the charming storytelling, the exotic setting and the building mystery. Welcome back to comics, Sean McKeever!” —Kurt Busiek
“The usual heart, laughs, and action from Sean McKeever! Highly recommended!”
—Patton Oswalt
“A smart and engaging comic that stands out in a crowded field of [science fiction] books.” —Uproxx
“Like a John Hughes film set in the future, OUTPOST ZERO is a coming-of-age tale that’s reminiscent of Lost in Space.” —ComicBook.com
“The premise is solid, the characters are interesting, and the art is excellent. This one earns a strong recommendation.” —Bleeding Cool
UNNATURAL, VOL. 1 COLLECTS THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE SOLD-OUT HIT SERIES
Collecting issues #1-4
PORTLAND, OR, 10/08/2018 — Red-hot writer/artist Mirka Andolfo (Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, DC Comics Bombshells) will release UNNATURAL, VOL. 1—which collects the first arc of the romantic suspense tale—this November from Image Comics.
Leslie J. Blair is a simple pig girl—she loves sushi, lives with her best friend, and hates her job. But her world is anything but simple. It’s dominated by a totalitarian government that interferes in the personal lives of its citizens, punishing transgressors for so-called “unnatural” relationships. Leslie dreams of something different for herself, but these dreams are becoming dangerous. And, when she wakes up, she could swear she’s being watched…
UNNATURAL, VOL. 1 (Diamond code: SEP180132, ISBN: 978-1-5343-0982-1) hits comic book stores on Wednesday, November 21st and bookstores on Tuesday, November 27th. It can be preordered via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indiebound, and Indigo.
Select praise for UNNATURAL:
“UNNATURAL is funny and sexy and smart and so many more things. But, most of all, it is a damning indictment of who we have been and who we continue to be as a society.” —The Oregonian
“Beautifully rendered art, a brilliantly relevant premise and a thoroughly likeable protagonist make UNNATURAL an easy new series to recommend.” —Big Comic Page
“Beautiful to look at and a little scary to read, UNNATURAL is a great piece of writing that eerily mirrors today‘s world.” —AiPT!
“The art is bomb, the story is smart, and the full package is dead sexy.”
—Comicon.com
“UNNATURAL is genuinely unlike anything else being published right now, something that proves to be a pretty surprising positive.” —ComicBook.com
“A wonder to read and sure to become a classic.” —Outright Geekery
“A gorgeous fantasy erotica must-read.” —Geek.com
“I’m totally hooked.” —Comicosity
CRUDE, VOL. 1 IS A RUTHLESS
TALE OF REVENGE
Collecting issues #1-6
PORTLAND, OR, 10/08/2018 — GLAAD Media Award-nominated writer Steve Orlando (VIRGIL, Midnighter) and artist Garry Brown (BLACK ROAD) will release CRUDE, VOL. 1—an emotional, bone-shattering account of murder, masculinity, and mayhem—this November from Image/Skybound.
Killers once feared Piotr Petrovich. Now, they’ve sent his son home to him in a body bag. Haunted by his failures, Piotr journeys across Russia to learn what type of man his son really was while hunting the bastards who killed him. And once Piotr finds them, they will learn to fear him once more…
CRUDE, VOL. 1 (Diamond code: SEP180081, ISBN: 978-1-5343-0861-9) hits comic book stores on Wednesday, November 21st and bookstores on Tuesday, November 27th. It can be preordered via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indiebound, and Indigo.
Select praise for CRUDE:
“Raw, intense and unequivocally tragic.” —Doom Rocket
“The tension never ceases. You feel it in Orlando’s biting dialogue on one hand, and in every wrinkle or cement crack Brown lays down with dark ink on the other.”
—Comicosity
“Filled with real depth and emotion.” —Multiversity Comics
“Everyone on the team deserves a round of applause.” —ComicBook.com
MUSIC PRODUCER JEFF ROUGVIE TEAMS WITH MORITAT TO CREATE GUNNING FOR HITS COMIC SERIES WITH BOWIE INFLUENCES AND A MADMEN-ESQUE LOOK AT THE ’80S MUSIC INDUSTRY
PORTLAND, OR, 10/09/2018 — Award-winning music producer, Jeff Rougvie, known for his work with David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Big Star, Morphine, and many other great artists, will team up with Moritat (The Spirit, Harley Quinn, Hellblazer) for an all-new, ongoing thriller series, GUNNING FOR HITS. The new series will be based upon Rougvie’s rich background in the industry and draw upon experiences during the outrageous period in the ‘80s and ‘90s when record labels were flush with cash beyond their wildest expectations and the business got more criminal and more corporate. GUNNING FOR HITS is set to launch on Wednesday, January 9th, 2019.
Set in the shady New York City music scene of the mid-80s, GUNNING FOR HITS stars Martin Mills, a record company talent scout with an inscrutable past. Follow Martin as he attempts to sign a rock band that’ll conquer the world. Plus: each issue will include a background feature and a Spotify playlist.
MURDER FALCON STRIKES A POWER CHORD
Debut issue rushed back to print
PORTLAND, OR, 10/11/2018 — Image Comics and Skybound Entertainment are thrilled to announce that the first issue of Daniel Warren Johnson’s (EXTREMITY) heavy metal action series MURDER FALCON is being fast-tracked for a second printing in order to keep up with overwhelming customer demand.
In MURDER FALCON, the world is under attack by monsters, and mega-talented guitarist Jake’s life is falling apart: no band, no girl, no future…until he meets Murder Falcon. He was sent from The Heavy to destroy all evil, but he can’t do it without Jake shredding up a storm. Now, with every chord Jake plays on his guitar, the power of metal fuels Murder Falcon into all-out kung fu fury on those that seek to conquer Earth. It’s time to shred!
MURDER FALCON #1 will remain available for purchase across all digital platforms, including the Image Comics website (imagecomics.com), the official Image Comics iOS app, Comixology’s website (comixology.com), iOS, Android, and Google Play.
MURDER FALCON #1 2nd printing (Diamond code: AUG188892) and MURDER FALCON #2, Cover A (Diamond code: SEP180192) and Cover B “Heavy Metal” variant by Andrei Bressan and Adriano Lucas (Diamond code: AUG188893), will be available on Wednesday, November 14th. The final order cutoff for comics retailers is Monday, October 22nd.
Select praise for MURDER FALCON:
“Guaranteed to make your ears bleed with the awesome notes of its heavy metal roots.” —Syfy Wire
“Everything in this book is cranked to 11 and that’s what makes it so damn good.”
—Nerdist
“A ton of fun.” —Graphic Policy
“A great book for metalheads, monster fans, and every bonkers misfit in between.” —Big Comic Page
“MURDER FALCON #1 rocks out with sweet beat-em-ups, off-the-wall spectacle.”
—Newsarama
“A fun, high-octane romp that also has a lot of heart to it as well.”
—Word of the Nerd
BLACKBIRD‘S DEBUT LEAVES READERS SPELLBOUND
PORTLAND, OR, 10/12/2018 — Image Comics is thrilled to announce that the first issue of Sam Humphries (Harley Quinn, Nightwing) and Jen Bartel’s (The Mighty Thor, America) magical mystery series BLACKBIRD is being fast-tracked for a second printing in order to keep up with customer demand.
In BLACKBIRD, there exists a secret cabal of ruthless magic users hiding just out of sight in the neon lights of L.A.—and Nina Rodriguez knows it. She’s determined to see it for herself, even if everyone else thinks she’s crazy. But can she unravel this mystery before the Great Beast catches up with her?
BLACKBIRD #1 will remain available for purchase across all digital platforms, including the Image Comics website (imagecomics.com), the official Image Comics iOS app, Comixology’s website (comixology.com), iOS, Android, and Google Play.
BLACKBIRD #1 2nd printing (Diamond code: AUG188950) and BLACKBIRD #2, Cover A by Jen Bartel (Diamond code: SEP180143) and Cover B by Mingjue Helen Chen (Diamond code: SEP180144), will be available on Wednesday, November 7th. The final order cutoff deadline for comics retailers is Monday, October 15th.
Select praise for BLACKBIRD:
“Jen Bartel’s luxe interiors are full of surreal spectacle and irresistible little character details, and Sam Humphries’ scripts teem with gleeful worldbuilding and genuinely surprising twists. Do not miss this!” —Greg Pak
“Much like Bartel’s art, the world of BLACKBIRD thrums with a fantastical undercurrent, and the moments when it spills through to the surface are supremely satisfying.” —Kelly Sue DeConnick
“The art on display in BLACKBIRD is nothing short of fantastic.” —Doom Rocket
“Blackbird is easily one of the best-looking, jaw-dropping, visually engrossing comics of 2018 so far, and will likely hold that title… Humphries and Bartel play brilliantly off each other.” —Black Nerd Problems
“BLACKBIRD #1 is magical in all aspects.” —ComicsVerse
“The creative team for BLACKBIRD is stacked with skill…and the whole book looks like a magical Lisa Frank true-crime fantasy mystery, which is bound to capture a lot of imaginations.” —Paste Magazine
“Bartel and writer Sam Humphries have all the makings of a must-read indie series here.” —IGN
“This debut issue might be one of the most heartbreaking, and intriguing, indie comics to come out right now.” —ComicBook.com
“BLACKBIRD is a beautiful and, without a doubt, magical success.” —Comicosity
“Well written and beautifully illustrated, this is one comic you do not want to miss.”
—Monkeys Fighting Robots
