Here’s the week that was for Image Comics, including some news that was released after our story from last week, including a title seeing their first issue getting a second print, and some series seeing their first story arc collected in a trade paperback.
First up was the news from last Friday that BITTER ROOT from the team of David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene will see it’s debut issue getting a second print.
The series is set in New York in the 1920s about a monster hunting family who have to deal with a new threat against the human race.
The second printing along with the debut of issue #2 will hit shelves on December 12th.
Joseph Keating, and Bret Blevins’ series STELLAR from Skybound Entertainment and Image will see its first 6 issues released as a collected volume this January.
The title created by Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri about a child who was transformed into a weapon to end a intergalactic war, and eventually becomes a bounty hunter will be released on January 16th to comic book stores with traditional book stores getting it one week later.
Next up was the news that SHANGHAI RED from Christopher Sebela, Joshua Hixson, and Hassan Otsmane–Elhaou will have their first 5 issues of the series released in a collected edition next year.
The historical fiction miniseries collected volume will be released to comic book stores on January 30th, and bookstores on February 5th.
The next series announced for a collected volume is Farel Dalrymple’s
psychedelic science-fantasy action drama PROXIMA CENTAURI.
The series about a teenage wizard who is looking for escape and his brother will have the first 6 issues released in a collected volume on January 23rd in comic book stores and January 29th in book stores.
All press releases for the news from Image Comics is below. All artwork courtesy of Image Comics.
POWER MAN AND IRON FIST CREATIVE TEAM’S HOT NEW SERIES—BITTER ROOT—RUSHED BACK TO PRINT
PORTLAND, OR, 11/16/2018 — Image Comics is pleased to announce that BITTER ROOT #1 by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene is being rushed back to print in order to keep up with overwhelming demand.
BITTER ROOT takes place in the 1920s with the Harlem Renaissance in full swing. The new series will follow the Sangerye Family—New York (and the world’s) only hope for salvation from supernatural forces threatening doom and destruction. Once the greatest family of monster hunters in the world, the Sangeryes must move beyond the tragedies of the past, or be forced to sit back and watch an unimaginable evil ravage the human race.
BITTER ROOT #1 is also available for purchase across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play. Fans can also subscribe to receive the series delivered by mail within the domestic U.S. on Image Direct.
BITTER ROOT #1, 2nd printing (Diamond Code OCT188242), BITTER ROOT #2 Cover A by Greene (Diamond Code OCT180144), BITTER ROOT #2 by Cover B Sienkiewicz (Diamond Code OCT180145), BITTER ROOT #2 Cover C by Cho (Diamond Code OCT180146), and BITTER ROOT #2 Cover D by Woods (Diamond Code OCT180147) will hit stores on Wednesday, December 12th. The final order cutoff deadline for retailers is Monday, November 19th.
ABOUT DAVID F. WALKER:
David F. Walker is a comic book writer, filmmaker, and educator. He has worked for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Boom, Dynamite, and Image. He teaches at Portland State University. He is the writer and co-creator of BITTER ROOT.
ABOUT CHUCK BROWN:
Chuck Brown has written The Punisher and Black Panther comics for Marvel. He is the writer and co-creator of Rotten Apple for Dark Horse Comics and the writer and co-creator of BITTER ROOT from Image Comics. He has been self-publishing for more than 18 years and has written comics for Zenescope Entertainment, 12-Gauge Comics, and Line Webtoon.
ABOUT SANFORD GREENE:
Sanford Greene has worked professionally in comic illustration and related industries for over 15 years, including work for mainline publishers such as Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image Comics. Recent work includes the hit Marvel series Power Man and Iron Fist as well as covers for Black Panther and Luke Cage. He currently works on his creator-owned online comic series for Line Webtoon, 1000, and is the artist and co-creator on BITTER ROOT, a dark fantasy/action ongoing series published by Image Comics and set during the Harlem Renaissance.
STAR-STUDDED STELLAR TRADE PAPERBACK HITS STORES THIS JANUARY
Collects issues #1-6
PORTLAND, OR, 11/19/2018 — Writer Joseph Keatinge (FLAVOR, GLORY) and artist Bret Blevins (Sleepwalker, New Mutants) will release a trade paperback collection of STELLAR—created by Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri—this January from Image Comics/Skybound Entertainment.
Taken as a child, Stellar was transformed into the ultimate weapon, one that would end an intergalactic war. She succeeded…at everything except finding peace. Now she’s a bounty hunter, scouring the worlds she’s broken in a search for redemption. But there are other weapons loose in the galaxy, and some just can’t leave the war behind them.
“Working with Joseph on STELLAR has been a highlight of my career,” said Blevins. “We poured our hearts into bringing her story to you—I’ve never worked so hard on anything in my life. If you enjoy reading it even half as much as we enjoyed creating it, you’ll have a blast!”
STELLAR (Diamond code: OCT180120, ISBN: 978-1-5343-0870-1) hits comic book stores on Wednesday, January 16th and bookstores on Tuesday, January 23rd. It can be preordered via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indiebound, and Indigo.
STELLAR will also be available for purchase across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.
Select praise for STELLAR:
“A fresh retelling of the bounty hunter tale.” —Black Nerd Problems
“Beautiful.” —ComicBook.com
“Impresses with its premise and world-building.” —Bleeding Cool
“This comic looks fantastic—great work from industry vet Blevins.” —The Beat
“A dramatic space opera with a nod to the classics as well as the contemporary.”
—Comicon.com
SHANGHAI RED IS A BLOODY, BEAUTIFUL REVENGE STORY
Issues #1-5 collected in trade paperback
PORTLAND, OR, 11/19/2018 — Eisner-nominated writer Christopher Sebela (High Crimes, Heartthrob, CROWDED), Joshua Hixson (The Black Woods), and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (Felix & Macabber) will release a trade paperback collection of SHANGHAI RED, their cutthroat historical fiction miniseries, this January from Image Comics.
Red is one of hundreds of people who were shanghaied out of Portland in the late 1800s. Drugged, kidnapped, and sold to a ship’s captain for $50, she woke up trapped on a boat headed out to sea—for years. Now, she’s coming home to find her family and track down the men responsible for stealing her life out from under her.
This blood-soaked tale of revenge, family, and identity stretches from the deck of a ship outside Shanghai all the way to the bleak streets of—and secret tunnels beneath—Portland, Oregon.
SHANGHAI RED (Diamond code: NOV180085, ISBN: 978-1-5343-1034-6) hits comic book stores on Wednesday, January 30th and bookstores on Tuesday, February 5th. It can be preordered via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indiebound, and Indigo.
SHANGHAI RED will also be available for purchase across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.
Select praise for SHANGHAI RED:
“This is a gorgeous, evil book about revenge and the red hand of history. It’s incredibly good.” —Warren Ellis
“One of the best debuts of the year. Sebela and Hixson create the book you didn’t realize you needed.” —Ed Brubaker
“SHANGHAI RED is the kind of series that jumps into the medium and elbows its way through the clutter, expanding what it is comics can be in the process.”
—Robert Kirkman
“It is exciting. It is violent. It is fresh. It is fun. It is, as I reflected a few hours after reading it, why I read comics.” —The Oregonian
“SHANGHAI RED is a cinematic and ambitious read, and one that will deservedly push Sebela and Hixson’s reputations into the stratosphere.” —Newsarama
“Visceral, bloody, and bloody beautiful. This is hands down Sebela’s finest hour as a storyteller to date, and I am furious at how good it is.” —Donny Cates
“Stunning colors and toothy lines paint a dark history of Portland in the late 1800s. SHANGHAI RED combines two of my favorites: blood-soaked history and grim revenge.” —Kelly Sue DeConnick
“A valuable reminder that comics don’t need to wait 10 issues, much less 10 pages, to kick some ass.” —ComicBook.com
“Intense, beautiful, heartfelt, tragic, and leaves you shaken.” —Matthew Rosenberg
“A compelling and engrossing mystery with haunting visuals and a badass lead character.” —Geek.com
“At turns fun, unsettling, and deeply satisfying, the book’s sliding scale of morality makes its extraordinary antihero not only easy to cheer for but even unnervingly charming.” —Grace Ellis
“The lead is interesting, and the art is excellent. This one earns a recommendation. Check it out.” —Bleeding Cool
GENRE-DEFYING PROXIMA CENTAURI, VOL. 1 AVAILABLE IN STORES THIS JANUARY
Collects issues #1-6
PORTLAND, OR, 11/19/2018 — Farel Dalrymple (The Wrenchies, POP GUN WAR) will release PROXIMA CENTAURI, VOL. 1—collecting the first six issues of his psychedelic science-fantasy action drama—this January from Image Comics.
Teenage wizard adventurer Sherwood Breadcoat is trapped on Proxima Centauri, a manufactured dimensional sphere 4.243 light-years from Earth. Looking for escape—and a way back to his brother—Sherwood must also deal with his confusing emotions, alien creatures, and all sorts of fantastic dangers.
PROXIMA CENTAURI, VOL. 1 (Diamond code: NOV180081, ISBN: 978-1-5343-1029-2) hits comic book stores on Wednesday, January 23rd and bookstores on Tuesday, January 29th. It can be preordered via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indiebound, and Indigo.
PROXIMA CENTAURI, VOL. 1 will also be available for purchase across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.
Select praise for PROXIMA CENTAURI:
“Even though he has a shelf of awards by now, Dalrymple still seems to me to be under-read and low-profile in the medium. He’s one of those creators people should be talking about every day.” —Warren Ellis
“Dalrymple captivates from the first ‘panel,’ and never stops captivating.” —Comic Bastards
“A visual feast.” —Barnes & Noble’s Sci-fi/Fantasy blog
“PROXIMA CENTAURI is free-form fun mixed with mind-bending high-adventure and coated in deliberate psychedelics; it embodies everything I love about Dalrymple. One of the best comics I’ve read by one of the best creators of my generation.”
—Rick Remender
“PROXIMA CENTAURI’s visuals are some of the best in comics.”
—ComicBook.com
“PROXIMA CENTAURI is a fun, sweet read from all angles, blending new and exciting worlds with a strong undercurrent of the familiar.” —Doom Rocket
“Nonlinear yet highly immersive, PROXIMA CENTAURI is a vivid, swirling, unpredictable experience from beginning to end.” —Multiversity Comics
“Every once in a while, you come across a comic book that feels different than anything else on the shelves. It takes a certain type of confidence and talent to step so far outside the box. Farel Dalrymple shows that he is not lacking in either with PROXIMA CENTAURI.” —Rogues Portal
