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 #115. 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.
(Image via @KenKristensen)
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. There are also plans for the return of another old Icon series called “Dream Police,” as well as a six-issue series with comic superstar Bill Sienkiewicz called “Alone.”
Kurtis Wiebe then took the stage, and began discussing the two adaptations of “Peter Panzerfaust” in the works, the animated motion comic and the BBC adaptation. Wiebe also has “Rat Queens” coming out in September, the web serial of which we’ve been running right here.
(Image via JerryAmsterdam)
Eric Stephenson returned to the stage and began discussing his love for a certain book called “Casanova,” and was joined by surprise guest Matt Fraction. Fraction began discussing upcoming books “Sex Criminals” and “Satellite Sam”. He then announced a new book with Christian Ward titled “ODY-C”, an adaptation of the Odyssey by Homer. Fraction describes the impetus of the book as wanting to develop a good hero book for his daughter, and what better hero is there than Ulyses? With that in mind, the entire story is gender-swapped for a super-cosmic take on Greek Myth for 2014.
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(Image via JerryAmsterdam)
Fraction was followed up by Rick Remender, returning to Image a decade after starting his career with the company. He immediately announced a new book entitled “Black Science,” drawn by Matteo Scalera, colored by Dean White, and is inspired in part by Frank Frazetta and out in November. The series is about a member of the “Anarchist League of Sciences” and Remender notes that fans of “Fear Agent” will surely get into it. Remender also announced “Deadly Class,” a comic about a school full of hardcore assassins that is also partially about his “experiences growing up in the ’80s hardcore scene.” The book will be illustrated by Wesley Craig with colors by Lee Loughridge, and is described more as a slice of life book than an action title.
Jason Aaron then took the stage to announce “Southern Bastards,” a book for Aaron to fulfill a cursing-sized hole in his soul. Illustrated by Jason Latour and is elevator pitched as “Dukes of Hazzard x Coen Brothers” or “The Untouchables vs Boss Hogg,” and features a character Aaron originally created for “Scalped” but saved for this series, a football coach who has as many kills as he has trophies.
Next up is the video head of Mark Millar. Millar thanked readers for supporting “Jupiter’s Legacy” and called it his most ambitious project to date. He compared it to his “Watchmen” and noted that he wanted to do something similar for the Marvel universe, so expect an untitled book (called “MPH” for now?) with him and Duncan Fegredo in January.
Following this, it was announced that Darren Arronofsky’s “Noah” graphic novel with Niko Henrichon will FINALLY be released in the States through Image. “Noah” is a book long in the works and is adapted from Arronofsky’s script for the Russel Crowe-starring feature, previously published in French overseas. I’ve read the French release and its a gorgeous book, and it should be very exciting to see it reach a new audience.
Ron Richards took the site to announce that a new ImageComics.com is now live, which will feature a portal for press and retailers with assets later in the year. You’ll also now be able to purchase digital copies of “Jupiter’s Legacy” through the website, which gives you a PDF, ePub, CBR, or CBZ file, completely DRM-free. This appears to be their policy going forward, and if so — … well, that’s a game changer, isn’t it? You can ALSO get a digital download of Warren Ellis and Jason Howard’s “Scatterlands”, a webseries serialized on Ellis’ website, for a whopping 99 cents.
This brought the keynote to a close. Talk about a mic drop.
The keynote may be over, but Image Expo has just begun! Keep it peeled to Multiversity throughout the door for more from this exciting one day event!
