Wait…what? A lot of their books are pretty violent.
Doesn’t matter though when artist Chris Giarrusso is involved, as he worked with Image to recreate twelve classic first issue covers. The two titles that are announced so far to earn the GMan treatment are “Youngblood” #71, with a cartoony and adorable take on the first issue’s classic Liefeld cover. Then, the cover that helped generate the idea is “The Walking Dead…for Kids,” an April Fool’s joke writer Robert Kirkman and artist Chris Giarrusso put together for Emerald City ComiCon crowds.
You can see the cover for “Dead” above, and you can click through the jump to find the cover for “Youngblood” as well as the Image press release on the idea.
On April first at Emerald City Comicon, Robert Kirkman and Chris Giarrusso revealed a new project: THE WALKING DEAD for Kids. A panel-by-panel recreation of the original issues using Kirkman’s scripts, THE WALKING DEAD for Kids would be drawn in an art style with kid appeal by G-MAN creator Giarrusso.
The project, of course, was yet another April Fool’s Day prank on a day that saw a few “announcements” come out of the convention.But the image is part of a series of special limited edition variant covers that Image Comics will be releasing in the upcoming year.
In commemoration of Image’s 20th anniversary, Giarrusso will re-create twelve classic first issue covers. First to get the too-cute treatment is YOUNGBLOOD, the very first Image title. The cover will ship in limited quantity as a variant for YOUNGBLOOD #71 (FEB128256), the relaunch of the Rob Liefeld Extreme Studios title written by screenwriter John McLaughlin (The Black Swan, Parker) and drawn by John Malin (AVENGELYNE) and Liefeld. YOUNGBLOOD #71 will be in stores on May 23.
The covers are Giarrusso’s tribute to his youthful love of Image Comics. “Twenty years ago, I was eagerly anticipating the launch of Image Comics,” said the artist. “Maybe it was partially due to my upcoming high school graduation, but it felt like the whole world was changing. I vividly recall the excitement of seeing the Image books on the shelf for the first time. It was a new era, and these cover images were instantly iconic. The opportunity to pay tribute to these classic Image covers is an honor and a privilege, and I couldn’t be more excited about my role and participation in Image’s 20th anniversary celebration.”
Look for more Giarrusso tribute covers in the coming months!
ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.
