Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Image and Top Cow Solicitations: September 2011 Highlights

As I've come to expect there's some great stuff coming from Image and Top Cow in September - and what better place to start than with the 150th issue of one of my favourite books, Witchblade.

If the issue number wasn't reason enough for celebration this issue will also be the last - for now at least! - from long-time collaborators Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic. Without dismissing the importance of their predesessors in many ways these two guys have made the book what it is today - compelling storylines, fantastic yet believable characters complemented by some of the most eye catching cover and interior art that you'll see in any book.

Truth be told, over the past year or so my enjoyment of the Top Cow U has suffered as a result of numerous delays with publishing the books and I've (reluctantly) dropped a number of the periodicals in favour of the collected edition. I think it speaks volumes for the job that Marz and Sejic are doing on Witchblade that I've been prepared to put up with the delays to allow me to pick up a 'semi monthly'.

The end of an era indeed.

September also sees the publication of a number of notable new #1's, a couple of what look like being enjoyable one-shots along with a number of eagerly anticipated collected editions - if you didn't buy Troy Hickman's Twilight Guardian in single issues then now is the time to right that wrong and pick up the 160 page trade paperback which includes all four issues plus the original Pilot Season issue along with a cover gallery, behind-the-scenes insights and more!

I did buy the single issues and already own the Pilot Season issue and I'll also be picking up the trade - that's how much I enjoyed it!

Here's my selection from the Image and Top Cow solicitations for September 2011:




WITCHBLADE #150
story RON MARZ, art STJEPAN SEJIC, cover A STJEPAN SEJIC, cover B MICHAEL BROUSSARD, cover C MIKE CHOI, cover D MICHAEL TURNER
September 28, 48 pages, FC, T, $4.99
END OF AN ERA!
WITCHBLADE reaches its momentous one hundred-fiftieth issue! The series reaches another landmark as longtime writer RON MARZ and artist STJEPAN SEJIC put a final stamp on the series they helped define for the modern reader with their final issue. Sara Pezzini has long walked the thin line between being the bearer of the Witchblade and a detective for the New York Police Department. Now as Internal Affairs closes in on her, she may be forced to choose between her two lives.

TWILIGHT GUARDIAN TP
story TROY HICKMAN, art SID KOTIAN, BILL FARMER & REZA, cover KEU CHA
September 14, 160 pages, FC, T+, STANDARD SIZE, $19.99
PILOT SEASON WINNER!
The entire tale of a lone, dedicated hero patrolling her nine block suburban neighborhood that captured the imaginations of fans during 2008’s Pilot Season and after heated voting emerged as one of the winning titles is finally collected! Creator and writer TROY HICKMAN (COMMON GROUNDS) along with artist SID KOTIAN (EAT THE DEAD) delves into Twilight Guardian’s past, her motivations for crime-fighting, and even give her an arch-nemesis in the terrifying Dusk Devil!
Collects TWILIGHT GUARDIAN #1-#4 along with the original PILOT SEASON: TWILIGHT GUARDIAN #1 with a cover gallery, behind-the-scenes insights and more!



NEAR DEATH #1
story JAY FAERBER, art SIMONE GUGLIELMINI, cover TOMM COKER
September 21, 32 pages, FC, T+, $2.99
Markham is a professional killer who has a near death experience during a botched mission. Determined to avoid ever returning to the Hell he glimpsed, Markham dedicates himself to balancing the scales. He's going to save a life for every life he's taken. And he's taken a lot of lives...
A new ongoing crime series for fans of Criminal and the novels of Lee Child and Robert Crais.

PIGS #1
story NATE COSBY & BEN McCOOL, art BRENO TEMURA, cover JOCK
September 14, 32 pages, FC, M, $2.99
ISSUE ONE: HELLO, CRUEL WORLD
A KGB sleeper cell has been in Cuba since 1962. And now they’re coming to kill you. NATE COSBY (MARVEL), BEN McCOOL (CHOKER, MEMOIR) and hotshot newcomer artist BRENO TEMURA present PIGS, an ongoing series set to join Image’s elite ranks. Terrorists have descended on America, assigned to destroy everything in their path...but why, and why now?

ARTIFACTS #13 (of 13)
story RON MARZ, art DALE KEOWN & SUNNY GHO, cover A DALE KEOWN, cover B JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER, cover C JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
October 5, 32 pages, FC, T+, $3.99
THE DECISION!
It all comes down to this! The Survivor’s plan has come to fruition. All thirteen Artifacts and their bearers are in their fated place. The stakes are simple – the very fate of the Top Cow Universe. And the only question that remains is, will either Jackie Estacado or Sara Pezzini doom the world as Tom Judge predicted? Legendary special guest artist DALE KEOWN (THE DARKNESS/PITT, Hulk) joins Top Cow Universe architect RON MARZ to bring fans an event conclusion they will never forget!
PLUS: Each issue will also feature an Artifacts: Origin story written by RON MARZ and drawn by a guest superstar artist.

'68: JUNGLE JIM (one-shot)
story MARK KIDWELL, art NATE VAN DYKE & JAY FOTOS, cover A NATE VAN DYKE, cover B NAT JONES & JAY FOTOS
September 28, 32 pages, FC, T+, $3.99
Vietnam, 1968: Behind enemy lines, a soldier stands alone. A one-man army...armored against the risen, hungry dead under burlap, bamboo and Army green. Armored against the living with a Bowie knife and a mobile arsenal.
If you got left behind...he’ll find you. If you’re the enemy...you’ll never see him coming. If you’re a zombie...he’ll kill you again.
Sometimes, to slay monsters...you have to become one yourself.
Jungle Jim is a stand-alone one-shot comic story set in the grim world of ’68. Meshing smoothly with the ongoing military horror series, Jungle Jim is a savage new slant on the Vietnam/Zombie apocalypse scripted by MARK KIDWELL with stunning artwork by NATE VAN DYKE and JAY FOTOS.

THE BIG LIE #1
story RICK VEITCH, art RICK VEITCH & GARY ERSKINE, cover THOMAS YEATES
September 7, 32 pages, FC, T+, $2.99
A lab tech travels back in time to the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 to try and get her husband out of the world trade center before it falls, but will the facts convince him before it's too late? A riveting tale of 9/11 by award winning master storyteller RICK VEITCH that exposes “The Big Lie!”

DEADLANDS: HOPELESS ROADS (ONE-SHOT)
story STEVE NILES, art/cover FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA
based on the game DEADLANDS from PINNACLE ENTERTAINMENT
September 21, 32 pages, FC, T, $2.99
Visionary Comics and Pinnacle Entertainment bring the weird Western world of Deadlands to comics! When evil takes over a sleepy western town it will take a heartless father to save the souls of the innocent in the final of four one-shots by masters of horror and noire, Steve Niles and Francesco Francavilla. Backup series also wraps up the origin of Billy the Kid in the world of Deadlands! Do not miss this!

PILOT SEASON: DECLASSIFIED 2011
story TOP COW’S FINEST, art/cover TOP COW’S FINEST
September 7, 32 pages, FC, T, $1.00
TAKE CONTROL!
After five years, the annual Pilot Season has become a comics institution and a unique engine for debuting new ideas and properties into comics! Get your first look at this year’s competition, which begins in October, including the list of creative teams, this year’s concepts, and an early look at the art from each book. You’ll also get an early look at upcoming series from previous winners like GENIUS and 39 MINUTES. We can’t tell you much more, because it’s still Top Secret, but we will give you this hint: 8. 4. 2.

CARBON GREY, VOL. 1: SISTERS AT WAR TP
story HOANG NGUYEN, KHARI EVANS, PAUL GARDNER & MIKE KENNEDY, art/cover HOANG NGUYEN, KHARI EVANS & KINSUN LOH
September 14, 96 pages, FC, T+, STANDARD SIZE, $9.99
To a noble family twins are born; Mathilde and Giselle, the Sisters Grey. For centuries the Greys have protected the Kaiser, ruler of Mitteleuropa – but this is a different time. At the dawn of the industrial age a great war rages. When the Kaiser is found dead Giselle is accused of his murder. Pursued by her sisters and hunted by the enemy Giselle must unravel the prophecy of the Carbon Grey before history itself is rewritten. ‘Sisters at War’ includes all three issues of the sold-out first arc plus deleted scenes, concept art and additional new content.

MORIARTY, VOL. 1 TP
story DANIEL COREY, art/cover ANTHONY DIECIDUE
September 7, 128 pages, FC, T, STANDARD SIZE, $14.99
“THE DARK CHAMBER” Part One
It is the dawn of World War I, and Sherlock Holmes has been dead for 20 years. Holmes’ enemy — Professor James Moriarty — is a lost man. MI5 blackmails Moriarty into finding Holmes' long-lost brother, Mycroft, but what at first appears to be a routine case leads to a web of intrigue that involves a psychic box and its creator, a woman from Moriarty’s past, and a new villain that threatens to be greater than Moriarty ever was!
Collects MORIARTY #1-4

MAGDALENA #9
story RON MARZ, art/cover NELSON BLAKE II, DAVID MARQUEZ, SAL REGLA & DAVE McCAIG
September 21, 32 pages, FC, T, $3.99
BACK MONTHLY!
After a sabbatical, the fan favorite team of RON MARZ (ARTIFACTS, WITCHBLADE), NELSON BLAKE II (PILOT SEASON: MURDERER) and DAVID MARQUEZ (Secret Warriors, Days Missing) return with a monthly MAGDALENA series. Once more under the employ of the Catholic Church, Patience, the current Magdalena and her mentor, Knight of Malta Kristof, are called on to find a piece of the One True Cross.



Full Image Comics and Top Cow solicitations for September 2011 can be found over at Newsarama.

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