DEL REY ANNOUNCES TOMMY LEE EDWARDS

AS VARIANT COVER ARTIST ON ISSUE 2

OF STEPHEN KING AND PETER STRAUB’S THE TALISMAN

NEW YORK, NY – September 22, 2009 – Del Rey, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today Tommy Lee Edwards as the variant cover artist for Issue 2 of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s The Talisman, on sale in December.

Tommy Lee Edwards is an illustrator whose comics credits include The Question, published by DC Comics, and Marvel 1985, published by Marvel Entertainment. Edwards also illustrates for books, advertising, and films, working on projects such as the style guide for the film Batman Begins, and concept art for the upcoming Denzel Washington epic The Book of Eli.

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. The Talisman Issue 2 will hit comics stands on December 16, 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 THE AUTHORS:

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Peter Straub is the author of 17 novels which have been translated into more than 20 languages. He has won numerous awards for his work, including the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, for Koko.

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.