Image Comics – SMASH PAGES

Andrew MacLean + Alexis Ziritt team for the run-and-gun mayhem of ‘Death Fight Forever’

Prepare for a neon-drenched, full-throttle throat punch of a story.

If your pull list’s been missing a wild brawler of a comic, Andrew MacLean has you covered.

The Head Lopper creator is teaming up with gonzo artist Alexis Ziritt (Space Riders) for Death Fight Forever, a five-issue miniseries crashing into comic shops this February from Image Comics. Think ‘90s beat-’em-up arcade chaos meets heavy-metal energy, and you’re in the right arena.

“Death Fight Forever was born from a love of ’90s beat ‘em up video games and a desire to write a comic that highlights some of the coolest art styles of our time,” said MacLean.

Tyler Boss + Martin Simmonds unmask Skybound’s ‘Phantom of the Opera’

The miniseries featuring the infamous Universal Monster will take the spotlight in February.

For more than a century, The Phantom of the Opera has haunted stage and screen. Now the iconic character prepares for an encore in an entirely new medium.

Skybound, in partnership with Universal, will bring Universal Monsters: The Phantom of the Opera, to comics next year. Tyler Boss and Martin Simmonds will bring the Phantom to the printed page in February, following Skybound’s other Univeral Monsters series, featuring Dracula, the Invisible Man and more.

“What separates the Phantom of the Opera from the other Universal Monsters is that it’s the only ghost story of the lot,” Boss said. “With the Paris Opera House as our haunted site, and a production of Faust about to be performed, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect collaborator to breathe life into the Phantom of the Opera than Martin Simmonds.”

NYCC | Jeff Lemire + Dustin Nguyen reunite for ‘Crowbound’

The dark new series will land in March.

Fans of Descender, Ascender, and Little Monsters have something new to get excited about. Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen are teaming up once again for Crowbound, an ongoing series launching from Image Comics in March. The announcement dropped last night at New York Comic Con during the Lunar Distribution retailer event.

“Crowbound has been a project Dustin and I have been developing for several years, and we are incredibly excited to finally unleash it,” Lemire said. “This is our next major collaboration, something huge in scope like Descender was, but this story will also break new creative territory for us.”

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Crowbound follows Rose, a mother on a desperate quest to rescue her daughter Ava after she is taken by the sinister Factory Men. Along the way, Rose must confront eerie, otherworldly forces, navigate a nightmarish lowland filled with strange creatures, and challenge forgotten gods in a sprawling dark fantasy adventure that blends Southern Gothic dread with Neo-Western grit.

Kyle Starks rings the bell for ‘Wrestle Heist’

The five-issue miniseries arrives in December from Image Comics.

Kyle Starks of Sexcastle, The Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton and Peacemaker Tries Hard fame, will get in the ring with colorist Vladimir Popov on Wrestle Heist, a five-issue miniseries coming from Image Comics in December.

It’s the story of a washed-up wrestler who nearly meets his end thanks to a crooked promoter. So he tags in a crew of fellow wrestlers to rob the promoter blind during the biggest show of the year. Or, for those fluent in wrestling (or even the related “sports entertainment” dialect): imagine if, after the Montreal Screwjob, Bret Hart reformed the Hart Foundation to steal the WrestleMania gate from Vince McMahon. Or for those who don’t speak wrestling: think Ocean’s 11, but everyone’s in tights.

“I am so excited to return to Image Comics—the place where all my Eisner nominations happened—with my new book Wrestle Heist which will be great for fans of wrestling, fans of heists or fans of having a great time while reading a comic!” said Starks. “I believe comics should be fun and I promise this one is a romp you don’t want to miss!”

Marc Silvestri returns to ‘The Darkness’ in December

‘This isn’t just a nostalgia trip—it’s a reinvention.’

Top Cow founder Marc Silvestri will embrace The Darkness once again in December, as he returns to the series he co-created in 1996, promising “a thrilling expansion of The Darkness mythology with fresh twists to surprise even its most devoted fans.”

Ed Benes will draw the first issue, with inks from Matt “Batt!” Banning, Sal Regla and John Livesay; colors by Arif Prianto; and letters by Troy Peteri. Raymond Gay will take over interior art with issue #2.

“The Darkness has always been one of my favorite characters, and I’ve wanted to come back to it for a long time,” said Silvestri. “Fans have been asking for years when Jackie would return, and now we get to deliver something truly special. This is going to feel familiar, but it’s going to take you places you’ve never been before.”

SDCC | Robert Kirkman + Mark Englert return to ‘Capes’

Remastered issues of the 2003 series will arrive in November from Skybound, followed by new issues written by Benito Cereno.

Capes, an early superhero comic by Robert Kirkman and Mark Englert, will get a makeover by the creators as it returns in November.

The story revolves around a superhero business, Capes Inc., that’s set in the same universe as Invincible (and has been seen in the animated series). It employs characters like Kid Thor, Knockout, Captain Cosmic and more, who protect New York when they’re on the clock.

Capes originally debuted in 2003, a month before another Kirkman-written series, The Walking Dead, and many years before Kirkman would form Skybound and become an Image partner. At the time, the young up-and-coming writer had already kicked off Invincible and Tech Jacket at Image Comics, so he was turning into a force for the publisher.

Kirkman and Englert’s original Capes stories will be remastered with new art and dialogue by the original creative team and released as single issues. And then with issue #7, the title will continue with new stories drawn by Englert and written by Blood & Thunder writer Benito Cereno.

SDCC | Tyler Kirkham levels up to ‘Final Boss’ in November

Kirkham will write and draw the new series, which debuts at Image Comics this November.

Tyler Kirkham started his career at Top Cow, and has since done work for DC and Marvel — enough to get his own The Marvel Art of Tyler Kirkham book from Clover Press — but hasn’t done any creator-owned work at Image, until now. In the lead up to this week’s San Diego Comic-Con, Image has announced Final Boss, a new ongoing series written and drawn by Kirkham that will debut in November.

“Final Boss is a culmination of everything I loved growing up as an ’80s and ’90s kid,” said Kirkham. “From the fan-favorite action heroes and beat ’em up arcade games to the groundbreaking energy of early Image comics. It’s a no-holds-barred nostalgic action adventure!”

David Brothers + Nick Dragotta bring ‘Good Devils’ to Image Comics

The three-story anthology one-shot arrives in October.

David Brothers and Nick Dragotta will bring their two-man, three-story anthology Good Devils: Don’t Play Fair with Evil to Image Comics this fall.

The 64-page one-shot features stories about the apocalypse and a boxer, among others, and the three stories were previously featured in the Cry Punch anthology, at the ShortBox Comics Fair, and as a back-up tale in Chip Zdarsky and Jacob Phillip’s Newburn.

“If you like fight comics, blood and honor, you’ll like this collection of short stories,” Dragotta said. “I’m so happy Image is collecting them all together for the first time in floppy form.”

Robert Kirkman + David Finch’s brutal fantasy epic ‘Skinbreaker’ arrives in September

An old chief and his reluctant heir try to keep their world from falling into ruins.

The Walking Dead co-creator and Skybound chief Robert Kirkman continues to fill up his dance card for the fall. In addition to taking over writing Transformers, Kirkman is also teaming with artist David Finch of Batman and New Avengers for Skinbreaker.

The fantasy epic is about a tribal chief who attempts to pass his mighty sword, Skinbreaker, down to his reluctant heir. Kirkman and Finch are joined by colorist Annalisa Leoni and letterer Rus Wooton on the title.

“I have wanted to work with David Finch for the entirety of my career,” said Kirkman. “We’ve gotten close many times over the years, but we wanted our collaboration to be something truly special. Skinbreaker is that series. I feel like this book is a high-water mark for both our careers. An action epic that is unrelentingly brutal but also contains a ton of emotion and heart. It’ll shock you and make you cry.”

Robert Kirkman + Dan Mora take over ‘Transformers’ with #25

A new era for the Energon Universe title begins in October with an oversized issue.

Robert Kirkman, the founder of Skybound who briefly sat in the writer’s room for the Transformer films, is getting his chance to chronicle the adventures of the Autobots and Decepticons. After ushering in the Energon Universe era with Void Rivals, Kirkman and Superman artist Dan Mora will take over the ongoing Transformers title with issue #25 following Daniel Warren Johnson and Jorge Corona’s epic run.

Kirkman and Mora will join colorist Mike Spicer and letterer Rus Wooton in October with an oversized issue that celebrates the series’ second anniversary. The issue will also feature a second story written by Kirkman and drawn by Corona.

“Holy smokes, I’m writing a Transformers comic!” said Kirkman. “I’ve been so invested in this series since the beginning. I’ve marveled at what Daniel Warren Johnson and Jorge Corona have brought to some of my all-time favorite characters. When Daniel’s run came to an end, I could stand on the sidelines no more! I just had to get in the ring! It’s a tremendous honor to be a small part of the legacy of these amazing characters. This world has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I can’t wait for everyone to see what the legendary Dan Mora and I are cooking up!”

Here’s a look at issue #25’s main cover by David Nakayama:

The Laphams return with ‘Good as Dead’ this fall

David and Maria Lapham reveal ‘how far a small town will go to keep its secrets’ in a new crime comic coming from Skybound this September.

Legendary Stray Bullets creator David Lapham has a new series, Good as Dead, launching at Skybound this fall with co-writer Maria Lapham and colorist Dee Cunniffe. The story was co-created by Chris Black, creator and showrunner of the Apple+ show Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Skybound CEO David Alpert.

“I can’t tell you how excited Maria and I are about this book coming out,” said David Lapham. “Chris Black and David Alpert provided us with their initial concept and outline and generously gave us the room and edict to ‘do our thing.’ And we went for it. It’s both completely what you’d expect from us based on our Stray Bullets work and at the same time, it’s unlike anything we’ve ever done before, combining elements of the surreal, science fiction, conspiracy, horror and, of course, classic noir.”

Ed Brubaker + Sean Phillips return to ‘Criminal’ with a new graphic novel

Image Comics will release ‘The Knives’ in August.

It’s been about half a decade since we’ve seen new Criminal material from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, but that dry spell ends this year with The Knives, the first Criminal story since 2019.

The Knives arrives from Image Comics in August as an original graphic novel. Previous volumes of Criminal started as comic series that were eventually collected, so it’s a shift to the OGN format the duo has been excelling in for the past several years with Pulp, Night Fever and other projects.

“A few years ago someone reached out to me to return some of my uncle’s lost possessions, after his family estate had been plundered, and bizarrely, that sparked the inspiration for what I hope is the biggest and best Criminal book yet. A crime story about one generation growing up in the life, another growing older and trying to get out of it, and Hollywood, somehow, too,” said Brubaker. “This book is an epic, the longest original graphic novel we’ve ever done, and it’s been a joy to return to this series and these characters, especially after spending most of the last three years watching them come to life on set and screen. I can’t wait to get this book into readers’ hands.”

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