DEL REY ANNOUNCES PENNY ARCADE’S MIKE KRAHULIK

AS VARIANT COVER ARTIST ON ISSUE 1

OF STEPHEN KING AND PETER STRAUB’S THE TALISMAN

NEW YORK, NY – August 14, 2009 – Del Rey, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today Mike Krahulik, artist and half of the creative duo behind the hit gaming and geek culture-based webcomic Penny Arcade (www.penny-arcade.com) as the variant cover artist for Issue 1 of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s The Talisman, on sale in November.

Penny Arcade is the online phenomenon which debuted in 1998 whose global readership generate over 50 million pageviews a month. Mike Krahulik is also known as Gabe, his online persona in the Penny Arcade comics. Krahulik has lent his distinctive art style to promotional comics for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Prince of Persia, Fallout 3, and other video games, as well as advertisements for the Entertainment Software Association.

The epic saga of The Talisman debuts with Issue 0, a never-before-told prequel to the story, to be published by Del Rey Comics in October. The Talisman novel, originally published in 1984, is the story of a teen boy named Jack Sawyer, who can save his dying mother only by retrieving a magical talisman. To find it he must cross back and forth between our world and the frightening and dangerous landscape of its “twinner” counterpart. Issue 0 explores the separate lives of Jack’s father—in our world, and in the mysterious realm known as the Territories—and how evil scheming will forever change Jack’s peaceful life.

The series is being adapted by Robin Furth and illustrated by Tony Shasteen, with regular cover art by Massimo Carnevale and coloring by Nei Ruffino. The Talisman Issue 0 will be available in comic book stores everywhere on October 21, 2009, and The Talisman Issue 1 will hit comics stands on November 18, 2009.

Both The Talisman and its sequel, Black House, are in print with Ballantine Books. Television rights to The Talisman are under development by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy.

ABOUT PENNY ARCADE:

Equal parts online comic and commentary, Penny Arcade (www.penny-arcade.com) keeps its finger on the pulse of the gaming industry, prompting conversation and controversy alike from community members and industry experts. What started as a hobby in 1998 for Jerry "Tycho" Holkins and Mike "Gabe" Krahulik has grown into an online phenomenon serving over 50 million page views a month to millions of readers worldwide. In addition to the comic strip and PAX (www.paxsite.com), Penny Arcade has expanded its reach to include a growing line of merchandise, a video game and management of Child's Play (www.childsplaycharity.org), a gamer-driven charity for children that spans the globe.

ABOUT DEL REY:

Del Rey Books (http://www.delreybooks.com) was founded in 1977 as an imprint of Ballantine Books, a division of the Random House Publishing Group, under the guidance of the renowned Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband, Lester del Rey. Del Rey publishes the best of modern fantasy, science fiction, and alternate history. No stranger to comics, Del Rey launched Del Rey Manga in 2004 in conjunction with Japanese publisher Kodansha, and quickly began to acquire original graphic novel projects as well. Current and upcoming projects include a four-color graphic novel developed with pop singer Avril Lavigne, Make 5 Wishes; the graphic novel In Odd We Trust, by Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan; the first-ever graphic novel set in the world of Terry Brooks' Shannara universe, Dark Wraith of Shannara; original manga starring Marvel characters in X-Men: Misfits and Wolverine: Prodigal Son; and a four-color original graphic novel set in the Outlander universe, scripted by author Diana Gabaldon herself.