It’s a sunny day in California and all is well (outside of the BART strike, anyway) as Image Expo 2013, a special one-day event, has officially kicked off! As with last year, Eric Stephenson will be revealing several announcements during his keynote speech, which we have collated here in this live blog for your convenience.
It of course begins with some inspiring words from Eric. He notes that Image is here for creators, not for properties or licenses. “Writers & artists […] come to Image because we give them the platform to do what they do best: create.” Their creators are there to tell stories that matter by “speaking to readers and developing characters we’ll continue to care for for ages.”
In reference to Warner Bros and DC — a rather deliberate word choice there from Stephenson — he notes that their output isn’t based on creativity but necrophilia. Shots fired, indeed.
Image’s sales are up, selling 38% more comics from 2011 to 2012 and up another 38% in the last six months, with their overall market share up 80% since 2009. 51% of Image sales are from bookstores as the second largest supplier of trades and graphic novels, with 7 of the top 10 trades in ’12, 14 of the top 20, & 22 of the top 50. and digital sales make up for 15% of all Image sales.
Robert Kirkman took the stage next to discuss plans for the tenth anniversary of “the Walking Dead,” specifically in regards to a series of teasers that debuted on The Walking Dead website. Coming up in the series, a brand new arc entitled ‘ALL OUT WAR’ running 12 issues and shipping bi-weekly over the course of seven months starting in October with issue #113. Stefano Gaudiano will be coming on the book to ink Adlard’s work for the run.
(Image via @JerryAmsterdam)
Next Ed Brubaker took to the stage to discuss his relationship with artist Sean Philips and their work on “Fatale.” He then announced that he had a new book coming out from Image in October entitled “Velvet” with artist Steve Epting. “Velvet is something I’ve been plotting & planning for 8 years now. […] I told Steve about it and he said ‘I wanna draw that!'” Brubaker relayed, and went on to describe the new spy series further: “Velvet Templeton is the personal assistant to the head of one of the world’s largest intelligence agencies, a Moneypenny kind of character.” Given Ed and Steve’s work on “Captain America” with spy thrillers, this isn’t one to miss.
Next, J Michael Straczysnki took to the stage to discuss his time at Image, bringing new books to the Joe’s Comic imprint like “Ten Grand” and “Sidekick.” Most exciting, though, was the announcement that he would be bringing back “The Book of Lost Souls” with Colleen Doran, which was previously published via Marvel’s Icon imprint. The plan is for a series of 12 one-and-dones to form a single new arc for the series.
We’ll be updating this post live as new information comes out, so keep refreshing!
