Image Expo Keynote Speech News Round Up

Another Image Expo, and with it, new comic announcements!

The first author on stage was Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Invincible), who announced  a new book   with Paul Azzaceta, called Outcast. It’s being billed as a new horror ongoing series. No official release date was given, but it can be assumed that it is scheduled for a release in July 2014. The story will focus around a man who is possessed by a demon, and the first issue will be 40 pages at a 2.99 price tag. In other Robert Kirkman news, the acclaimed author has said that one of his flagship titles, Invincible, will take a turn for the dark and gritty with issue #111. This will be “three number one issues in one book”, in the words of Robert Kirkman. It will also mark the 100th issue drawn by Ryan Ottley, so it is a landmark issue. In the final bit of Kirkman-related news, Tech Jacket, one of his older series, is being relaunched in the hands of Joe Keatinge (Editor, Popgun). It will be a digital first, possibly digital only, mini series, consisting of three issues. It has already been released exclusively to the Image Comics web site, but will be available for purchase on Comixology sometime down the road.

Segueing from  the announcement of his  relaunch, Joe Keatinge announced his own ongoing series. This one is called Shutter, and will be written by Joe Keatinge and drawn by newcomer artists Leila Del Duca. It will be “grounded”, and will star a character named Kate Christopher, and a preview  image was given. This series will begin in April of this year.

Image next brought author Brandon Graham (Prophet, Elephantmen) onto the stage to announce a new series. His series will be called 8 House and will feature collaborations with numerous other creators. Some art was shown, and it was mentioned that this will create a collaborative shared universe of some sort. An art preview was given, but none of the artists were announced for this series.

The next announcement was for a new book called Nailbiter, set to be written by Joshua Williamson (Adventure Time), with art from Mike Henderson (Masks and Mobsters). It is a horror comic that will be about “the serial killer next door.’ Suitably creepy, no? This new series is set to make its debut in May of this year.

Jim Valentino, a founding member of Image Comics, was next to come out onto the stage. He proceeded to announce a new book from Shadowline comics, written  by Ted McKeever ( Art for Spider Man, Batman) . This series will be called The Superannuated Man. The cover of the first issue was shown. This series is set to start in June 2014.

Rick Remender (Captain America, Fear Agent) took the stage next, and announced another Image book in addition to the Black Science and Deadly Class! This one will be called Low, and was described as a “sci-fi aquatic fantasy”, so not too far out of Rick Remender’s comfort zone, in which he continuously excels. 60 issues of this series have already been planned at the time of its announcement. Art will be provided by Greg Tocchini, and they have been working on the series for three years. It will begin in July of this year.

Matt Fraction then took the stage to talk about Ocy-C, his newest Image book, which was already announced. Images of the interior artwork were shown, and it’s announced to be a sci-fi retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey. He also announced a new Casanova series, though it is unclear whether it is a relaunch or a reboot. Nevertheless, this  series will reunite the original creative team, so Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba will be coming back to join Matt Fraction for the relaunch, which is set to be released sometime later this year this year.

Next, Kelly Sue DeConnick (Captain Marvel, Pretty Deadly) took the stage to announce a new series called Bitch Planet. Great name, if I do say so myself. the first cover was shown, and it looks like a new sci-fi book, but that was all that was said about the upcoming series, which will likely be released later in this year.

Nick Spencer (Morning Glories, Action Comics) followed Kelly Sue DeConnick on stage. He announced two new books, The Great Beyond and Paradigms, which will feature art from Butch Guice. The Great Beyond is “in the vein of infinite vacation.” Before leaving the stage, he also announced Cerulean, a post apocalyptic story about the last survivors of humanity, after the world has come to a cataclysm of some sort.

Following this, James Robinson (Starman, Earth 2) took the stage to discuss his new series, Saviors, which began on December 24th of last year. It was announced as a five issue mini series, however its status has been changed to an all out ongoing title. Robinson also announced a new series, that was described as a meta version of Air Boy. However, no official title was given, though some preview art was given for it.

Next up on stage was Nick Dragota. Dragota announced an all ages comic, which will be written be Fred Van Lente. It is a series called Howtoons but is now confirmed as an Image ongoing series.

Kyle Higgins (Nightwing, Deathstroke) took the stage next to announce his new ongoing series Cowl. Anyone who listened to Higgins’ appearance on Fatman on Batman with Kevin Smith will recognize this, project as the adaptation of the short film created by Kyle Higgins. You can watch the short film which is called something different on iTunes.

Taking the stage after Kyle Higgins was the duo of Kieron Gillen (Captain America, Young Avengers) and Jamie McKelvie (Young Avengers), who announced a new ongoing series called “The Wicked and the Divine.” The duo has previously worked together on Young Avengers at Marvel, a fan favorite series that was recently cancelled due to the All New Marvel Now initiative.

After this announcement, none other than Chris Burnham (Batman Incorporated) walked onto the stage, to announce a new horror series in collaboration with Grant Morrison (Batman, Action Comics). The duo worked together on Batman Incorporated. The series will be called Nameless, and will be an ongoing series.

Bill Willingham (Fables, Fairest) then took the stage, to announce a new book in collaboration with Barry Kitson. This new series will be called The Restoration. Preview art was shown for the upcoming series, and it will be released in the fall of this year. This lines up with Willingham’s recent announcement that his Vertigo series, Fables, will be ending next year with issue #150.

And following Bill Willingham was none other than Scott Snyder (American Vampire, Batman)! Collaborating with Jock (Detective Comics, Batman), Scott Snyder will write a horror series for Image, this one focusing on the subject of witches. This new series will be called Wytches. A cover was shown, and it looks creepy, very much like a Scott Snyder book should.

Though Snyder was a tough act to follow, the next writer on stage was Ed Brubaker (Captain America, Gotham Central). He revealed that him and Sean Phillips (Captain America) have signed a five year deal with Image, in which they can “do whatever they want.” With this great news comes the news that their series Fatale will be ending with 24 issues. However, they also announced a new series that will be called Fade Out.

And with that, all of the creators came onto the stage, and that was the end of the Keynote speech at the Image Expo.

So? What do you think of these announcements? Let me know in the comments!