The news this week from Image Comics started out with the announcement of a new series from the father and son team of Tony and Curt Pires along with artist Alex Diotto.
The series titled Olympia is about a young, comic book reading, kid. One day his favorite superhero crashes into his life…along with something evil.
Look for the first issue on November 20th with two different cover versions. The first from Alex Diotto and Dee Cunniffe, with the second by Christian Ward.
The news continued with the announcement of a new anthology titled Thought Bubble Anthology 2019 set for release in October.
The release is part of the annual Thought Bubble Festival, which takes place this year from November 4th-10th in Yorkshire, Northern England. All profits from this title will benefit Barnardo’s, one of the largest children’s charities in the UK.
In the book there will be contributions from a lot of creators including Becky Cloonan, Gerry Duggan, Abigail Jill Harding, Lee Garbett, Benji Goldsmith, Jock, Daniel Warren Johnson, Kim-joy, Tula Lotay, Mildred Louis, Pernille Ørum, and Luke Pearson and will feature cover artwork by Helen Mingjue Chen.
Coming this November from writer Rodney Barnes and artist Jason Shawn Alexander will be a new horror series titled Killadelphia.
The premise of the book makes it sound like one for fans of vampire and/or horror stories. “When a small-town beat cop comes home to bury his murdered father—the revered Philadelphia detective James Sangster Sr.—he begins to unravel a mystery that leads him down a path of horrors that will shake his beliefs to their core. The city that was once the symbol of liberty and freedom has fallen prey to corruption, poverty, unemployment, brutality… and vampires.”
Look for it on shelves on November 27th with two different cover versions. The first from Jason Shawn Alexander, with the second being a “Black Friday Variant” by Francesco Mattina.
Killadelphia wasn’t the only new horror title from Image announced this week, as they also announced a new series from Jeff Lemire, and Phil Hester titled The Family Tree will also be released in November.
The very creepy story is about an eight-year-old girl who for some reason begins to transform into a tree. Her mom along with her brother, and her grandfather must travel across the country to find a cure for what’s happening to her.
The first issue is set for release on November 13th.
Full press releases are below.
CURT PIRES, TONY PIRES, AND ALEX DIOTTO EXPLORE HOPE AND LOSS IN POIGNANT NEW COMIC BOOK, OLYMPIA
PORTLAND, Ore. 08/14/2019 — Image Comics is pleased to announce an all-new miniseries by Curt Pires (Wyrd), his father, Tony Pires, and artist Alex Diotto, Olympia, which will launch this November.
Olympia follows Elon, a latchkey kid who spends his days alone reading comic books—until his favorite superhero, Olympian, comes crashing off the page and into reality! But as he nurses his wounded and delirious hero back to health, he discovers Olympian isn’t the only thing that came through… something evil followed him.
“We started working on Olympia just about three years ago when my father was first hospitalized as a means of giving us something to look forward to, to hope for, in dark times. All these months later the book’s finally coming out, even after he’s left us,” said Curt Pires. “Beyond any Extratextual reasoning I can throw at you, though, this is just good comics. Plain and simple. It’s a love letter to the Spielberg movies we loved so much smashed against the cosmic epicness of the Jack Kirby joints that laid the foundation of our modern entertainment landscape. These are the most personal and raw comics I’ve been a part of, and I hope you’ll join us.”
A comedic yet heartfelt love letter to the comics medium, Olympia is also a meditation on hope and loss, co-conceived by the Pires together while Tony was undergoing treatment for cancer.
Olympia #1 Cover A by Alex Diotto and Dee Cunniffe (Diamond Code SEP190047) and Olympia #1 Cover B by Christian Ward (Diamond Code SEP190048) will hit stores on Wednesday, November 20. It can be pre-ordered with your local comic shop or purchased across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.
THOUGHT BUBBLE ANTHOLOGY 2019 WILL FEATURE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM BECKY CLOONAN, GERRY DUGGAN, THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF FINALIST KIM-JOY & MORE
PORTLAND, Ore. 08/15/2019 — Image Comics is pleased to announce this year’s forthcoming Thought Bubble Anthology 2019, which will hit stores this October.
It will feature contributions from such creators as Becky Cloonan, Gerry Duggan, Abigail Jill Harding, Lee Garbett, Benji Goldsmith, Jock, Daniel Warren Johnson, Kim-joy (The Great British Bake Off finalist), Tula Lotay, Mildred Louis, Pernille Ørum & Luke Pearson (creator of the Netflix show Hilda), and cover artwork by Helen Mingjue Chen.
Thought Bubble Anthology 2019 is part of the United Kingdom’s Thought Bubble Festival, which takes place in Yorkshire, Northern England from November 4-10, 2019. All profits from this comic go to Barnardo’s, one of the largest children’s charities in the UK.
Thought Bubble Anthology 2019 (Diamond Code AUG190062) will hit stores on Wednesday, October 9. It can be pre-ordered with your local comic shop or purchased across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.
SPAWN SERIES ARTIST JASON SHAWN ALEXANDER TEAMS WITH STARZ’S AMERICAN GODS WRITER RODNEY BARNES FOR NEW VAMPIRE HORROR SERIES, KILLADELPHIA
“The stunning and fresh horror fable I’ve been craving.” —Jordan Peele
PORTLAND, Ore. 08/15/2019 — Image Comics is pleased to announce an all-new, skin-crawling series by writer Rodney Barnes (Wu-tang: An American Saga, Marvel’s Runaways, Starz’s American Gods) and artist Jason Shawn Alexander (Spawn)—Killadelphia—which will launch this November.
“I wanted to tell a story about people who have fallen through the cracks of society. Those who dream the American dream but do so from the back of the line. That is until now,” said Barnes. “Can they who have been shown little mercy themselves be merciful? We shall soon see. I can’t say enough about Jason Shawn Alexander’s art, which beautifully captures the mood and tone of an American city under siege. And I’m excited for all to experience the horrors which lurk in the alleys and low places of a town we call Killadelphia.”
When a small-town beat cop comes home to bury his murdered father—the revered Philadelphia detective James Sangster Sr.—he begins to unravel a mystery that leads him down a path of horrors that will shake his beliefs to their core. The city that was once the symbol of liberty and freedom has fallen prey to corruption, poverty, unemployment, brutality… and vampires. Welcome to KILLADELPHIA.
Alexander added: “Killadelphia has a human element that I don’t often get to see in the horror genre, and rarely get a chance to portray. The story, at times, has me at the edge of my seat and at others, leaves me with a lump in my throat. One gets the feeling you’re reading about real people with real lives in an extraordinarily frightening situation. Luis NCT and my part, at this point, is to bring the art to the level of Rodney Barnes’ emotive words. I think the audience, and myself, have an amazing ride ahead of us.”
Series editor Greg Tumbarello touched on the tone and aesthetic of the comic. “Killadelphia is an enthralling horror story that claws into the most terrifying elements of humanity and a society in chaos, while being balanced against an incredibly personal story of a son searching to break beyond his father’s shadow by solving his murder,” said Tumbarello. “Not only do Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander perfectly complement each other, but the entire creative team has seamlessly come together to make some of the most exciting comics you’ll ever read. This is a series you cannot miss.”
Killadelphia #1 Cover A by Jason Shawn Alexander (Diamond Code SEP190042) and Killadelphia #1 Cover B “Black Friday Variant” by Francesco Mattina (Diamond Code SEP190043) will hit stores on Wednesday, November 27. It can be pre-ordered with your local comic shop or purchased across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.
Advance praise for Killadelphia:
“It’s the best graphic novel I’ve ever read. Five times more graphic and eight times more novel.” —Chris Rock
“Killadelphia is the stunning and fresh horror fable I’ve been craving. This one feels like a classic.” —Jordan Peele
“Jason Shawn Alexander is one of my favorite artists working today, and writer Rodney Barnes is the perfect collaborator for this atmospheric horror story with a terrifyingly real sense of place.” —Brian K. Vaughan
“Sparely written, beautifully rendered and topical, Killadelphia is a genuinely frightening horror graphic. Can’t wait to read the next issue!” —Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due
JEFF LEMIRE AND PHIL HESTER INTRODUCE BODY HORROR IN FORTHCOMING SERIES, THE FAMILY TREE
“The story of a little girl who turned into a tree…”
PORTLAND, Ore. 08/15/2019 — Image Comics is pleased to announce an all-new, ongoing genre-defying series by New York Times bestselling author Jeff Lemire (Gideon Falls, Ascender) and critically-acclaimed artist Phil Hester (Shipwreck, Green Arrow), The Family Tree, which will launch this November.
In The Family Tree, an eight-year-old girl literally begins to transform into a tree, her single mom, troubled brother, and possibly insane grandfather, embark on a bizarre and heart-wrenching odyssey across the back roads of America in a desperate search for a cure to her horrifying transformation—before it’s too late.
“Family Tree has been a story that has been percolating for a long time,” said Lemire. “In a lot of ways it’s a return to the tone, and many of the themes, I explored with my Animal Man run; a look at the many horrors that can threaten to tear a family apart, and the bonds that keep them together in the face of unspeakable events.”
The farther they get from home, the more forces threaten to tear the family apart as fanatical cults, mercenaries, and tabloid Paparazzi close in, determined to destroy the girl or use her for their own ends.
Hester added: “I believe The Family Tree fit pretty squarely into both my and Jeff’s body of work in that it’s undeniably weird, sometimes grotesque, and occasionally violent. But underneath it all is the beating heart of a family that finds a way to stay a family under the most extreme circumstances.”
The Family Tree combines mystery, action, and Cronenbergian body horror into an epic story about the lengths a mother will go to keep her children safe in the face of an increasingly unstable world and unspeakable horrors.
The Family Tree #1 (Diamond Code SEP190021) will hit stores on Wednesday, November 13. It can be pre-ordered with your local comic shop or purchased across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.
